Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 10:29:07 -0700
Reply-To: Ty Graham <tyg@OZ.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ty Graham <tyg@OZ.NET>
Subject: Rhein 15" Alloy wheels
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I just installed the Rhein 15" alloy wheels I bought from Ken months ago.
Here's a quick status report and a question.
I replaced the 14" VW alloys on my '91 Syncro Westy. (Not for sale, yet)
The wheels were the Rhein seconds from Ken http://www.vanagain.com . I
bought five wheels plus center caps. They were drop shipped from Overland.
These wheels were near perfect and certainly good enough to go on any car of
mine. I don't remember the price.
I used Pirelli Scorpion A/S tires in size 205/75/15 from Discount Tire.
These were a three day special order, costing $67 per tire. I paid Discount
to balance and mount.
I had some problems fitting the rear wheels on my brake drums. The wheels
hit a bolt head in two places on each wheel, ~1/4 by 1/2". The guys at
Discount caught this and wouldn't install the wheels until I Dremeled a
couple of small divots in the back of each wheel. Once my 20 minutes of
machine work was complete, these wheels installed with no further problems.
I think this wheel and tire combination is fantastic. I really like the
look of the larger tire. I have updated my web site if you want to take a
look. http://www.oz.net/~tyg/Westy.htm I road tested this setup on a 600
mile road trip to the Oregon coast this past weekend -- these larger tires
have really smoothed the ride. Freeway expansion joints, curbs and other
rough stuff now make only a dull bump in the cabin. There was no rain; I
can't make any comment wrt wet handling. Wheel diameter is increased by 2".
I definitely feel the effectively taller gearing, especially when pulling
long grades with a full water tank. You have to get over any hang-ups about
shifting down to third gear. The upside to the changed gearing is a truer
speedo reading, or at least a closer match to that of my buddies EV. The
taller gearing also keeps the engine RPM down a little bit which seems a
little less fatiguing (for me, not necessarily the van) on a long trip. My
new spare will not fit the stock carrier without some fooling around. I am
investigating the mods necessary and have found some ideas in the archives
and on David Marshall's site.
If you are still with me, I would be interested in hearing from anyone else
with the Rhein wheels recommended solutions to my little Dremel problem. My
two little divots work fine for getting on the road now, but I need a long
term solution. Until I modify all five wheels, my rotation will be screwed
up. With two divots my wheels will only fit one way, this could be a real
pain while horsing a wheel around in the dark, in the rain, etc. To get
around these issues, I really need to notch all five wheels in five places.
25 notches means this needs to be set up in some kind of semi-production
fashion. I'm not sure the Dremel is the best tool for this. I almost think
a router with a straight bit and some sort of plywood template might be the
way to go on this. I'm not sure about routing aluminum, though.
Any input?
Thanks
Ty Graham
'91 Syncro Westy
'86 Syncro Doublecab with Eurospec conversion (don't ask)
