Date:         Tue, 15 Jun 1999 23:29:33 -0700
Reply-To:     Stephen Overmyer <s.overmyer@UWS.EDU.AU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Overmyer <s.overmyer@UWS.EDU.AU>
Subject:      Re: A4 wheels on a Vanagon
In-Reply-To:  <199906160140.LAA06956@ob1.uws.EDU.AU>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

At 06:41 PM 15/06/99 -0700, you wrote:
>i might be getting a set of Audi A4 wheels, 5 spoke, 16".
>
>they are both ET 45, but 7" wide, instead of 6" wide like the 5000 turbo 15".
>
>the 5000 turbo wheels can be sucessfully mounted on a vanagon, how about the
>16" A4 wheel?  is one inch taller, and one inch wider going to ba a problem?
>
>chris

 Chris,

 I can't say for sure but assuming they fit over the brake discs & drums,
 the other possible problems I could see would be with the rear wheels:

 Clearance of the rear suspension arm  (just fwd of the wheels)
 unless you had a very low profile tire (like a 50 )

 Snow chains,should they be required may pose a problem with respect to
 clearance in the same spot as well.I seem to recall something in my
 owner's manual about chains not being able to fitted to 16" rims,but
 that's presumably with the standard profile tire a 16" syncro would
 be fitted with.

 With a 7" rim,tire clearance of the sliding door must be considered when
 choosing tires.
 I have 15x7" rims on my Transporter with a 215/60 tire fitted and that
 gives me about 10mm clearance (3/8") when the sliding door is open and
 I don't open the door fully if I have (albeit rarely) chains fitted.
 Unless the offset on your Audi rims is different it's an issue to note.

 The above are my opinions only,not necessarily a fact in your case and
 I hope they fit 'cos they'll look very cool...

 BTW,my van is a 5 seat passenger van with rear bed/seat,not a fully decked
 out camper so please no more tire wars.
 Cheers,

 Steve O.
 Blue Mountains NSW Aus.

 '92 Transporter WBX
 '76 Crew Cab
 '68 Beetle Deluxe
 '48 Fairmont speeder