Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 19:44:06 EDT
Reply-To: JordanVw@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: JordanVw@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: Flogging way-dead horses
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
In a message dated 99-04-09 18:41:48 EDT, TVReporter@STRATOS.NET writes:
<< So I got a set of very cool Audi Turbo 15"rims and then I realized that by
the I have them machined there won't be anything left of the center hubs, not
to mention my piggy bank and I realized these things may not be right for me.
I mean they have a ridiculous offset which can only be overcome by spacers
(which can't be a good thing) and they're too wide (8 1/2" vs. 7" for the
Passat steel wheels) and they're painted (which goes against the laws of
nature, after all if God had wanted us to paint aluminum why would he have
made it so shiny when polised.) So I got to thinking . . .>>
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There is PLENTY left of the center hubs...think about it!!!!.. the bolt
pattern is the SAME as the Carat wheels, and THEY have at least a 2 5/8 dia
hole to fit over the front hubs!!!!! right?
As far as your piggy bank - let me say if your local machine shop is
charging you more than 10 bucks each to machine your wheels - then go
somewhere else.
i got all 4 wheels machined for $40, and that seems to be the consenus.
the spacer is only needed on the fronts...8mm..or 3/8 of an
inch...MINIMAL...you use the audi 5000 lug bolts up front....which are
longer...so you get the same bite on the rotor as before..
also, 90% of cars with alloy wheels have them painted silver.....look at some
alloy wheels on other cars...when you polish and clearoat a wheel - the
finish doesn't last as long. Are the vanagon Carat wheels polished?? no.
they arent. they're painted silver.
a) what the heck do you use for center hubs once you've machined away the
original centers?
what do you mean by this???? center hubs???? are you referring to the
decorative center cap?? the Carat alloy wheel center cap fits after youve
machined the centers of the wheels to 2 5/8 dia.
b) does the aluminum rim's ridiculous width work with anything smaller than
a 215/75 ?
how is it ridiculous? those wheels came with 205-60-15 tires when they were
on the audi... i have run 205-60-15 on the vanagon...i have also run
bigger...think about it!!...you have more options with 15" than with the 14"
rim....15" opens up a whole new world of LT tires that arent available in 14"
....
c) is there any way to remove the paint and polish the rims, or does
everybody just repaint to match their Vanagon's color?
i left mine as is..looks as good as the carat wheel.
d) why would a Passat steel wheel have to be machined to clear the Vanagon
hub?
a '98 up passat wheel IS an audi wheel. (same as audi A series)
e) does the Passat steel wheel neccessitate spacers/longer rear studs?
not the steel wheels.
f) does bright red really trigger epileptic fits? :-)
no, but you're making people unnecessarily have them with all this
misinformed statements you're giving about these wheels :<)
chris
w/ audi turbo wheels on my ex '87 vanagon
(too see pics of the audi turbo wheels on a vanagon go to:
http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/turner/
and scroll down.
>>
