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Date:         01 Feb 97 03:42:01 EST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Turner,Ronald L." <102660.66@CompuServe.COM>
Subject:      Audi Turbo wheels on a Vanagon

Hey, folks, the Audi TURBO wheels WILL fit on a Vanagon. I have a set that I have machined out and are hopefully already sold. I can give anybody who wants - the numbers of at least 3 other people that I know of (and have seen others) that are currently running the 15" Audi TURBO wheels on their Vanagons with NO problems.

It is a relatively simple process.

the Audi Turbo wheels are the SAME lug pattern as the '71-'91 VW Van.

the rear wheels bolt right on without machining the centers (but I machined all 4 anyway, so less hassle when tires are rotated)

the centers of the wheels have to be machined out to a 2.5 inner dia. radius. to clear the front axle grease cap (hub).

Nothing is done to the Lug holes.

There is NO rubbing in the wheel wells (of course that always depends on how big a tire you use, it could rub with a 14" wheel too)

machining the centers cost me a whopping $10 a wheel.

You will need to use Audi 5000 lug bolts up front, as they're longer than the V-gon/Bus ones.

You will need to run a thin wheel spacer up front between the wheel and the rotor. or I know someone who has ground off the inner lip of the wheel, eliminating the need for a spacer.

then the fronts are done.

on the rears, you need to remove those two useless little bolts that hold the drum to the stub axle (once you have your lug nuts on - they serve no purpose - when I got my '84 Van, they were missing, and my van had the stock steel rims - they'd been missing like that for years)

One guy I know is running the Audi turbo wheels on his rear wheels without elongated studs - feasable, but to be safer, you will need to do what I did and get elongated rear studs, which you can tap/press in. The elongated rear studs give the lug nuts more thread to hold onto.

and that's pretty much it.

with the 15 inchers, you have more of a variety of what kind of tire sizes to choose from. They'd be great on a syncro.

the wheels look just like a Vanagon "Carat" 5 spoke Alloy, but they have 6, instead of 5 spokes. These are from the "84-'88 turbos. There are about 3 other styles of Turbo wheels too - a multi spoked style ('82-'83 turbos), a "BBS" mesh style ('89-'91turbos), and a 5 spoke "Fuchs" wheel ('87-'91 turbos). The last 2 are hard to find.

If anyone has any questions about the process, I've done it, e-mail me.

chris


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