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My rear wheels dont seem to be the same width!!

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Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#499653
was looking at lowering my squareback, but then noticed that the drivers side rear will foul the wheel arch, where as the near side has about an inch of clearance. The wheel are banded steels and its the first time I have ever had them on a car. Is it common for them to be so different?
A quick look, looked like one may have a bigger offest than the other, so are they just shonky wheels?
Mind you the chap I bought the car off didnt even realise they were wider then standard....
Is there a check that I can do to make sure the back of the car is straight?
They dont have any obvious toe in, and the wheels seem straight

cal 68 Casual Dubber

28 posts · joined Mar 2006 ·

#499707
Smart Cookie... I would have bought a new set of rims, preferably Flat Four Fuchs copies.

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#499715
Just tried to swap wheels around, using the vw jack, which wont actually jack up the car high enough to get the fecking wheel off!!
Will go and buy a proper jack and try again soon. That said has anyone got a set of whhels for sale?

pod i`ve got to finish this thing one day

4,980 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#499717
Fireball xl5 wrote:That said has anyone got a set of whhels for sale?
people will need to know if 4 stud or wide five
meetings 1st sunday of the month
check wbsite for location
All Welcome
http://www.flatfour.org/
and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FlatFour

barls Administrator Causer of Chaos and Mayhem

9,473 posts · joined Jun 2004 ·

#499720
what are you after i might be able to help as i have a set of globes, hotwires and possibly a set of stocks as well
“We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free.” Bill Hicks
the chaos project - click me

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#499723
anything that will fit without fouling the guards!, do any of the wheels have tyres?

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#499725
oh and its a 4 stud 69

barls Administrator Causer of Chaos and Mayhem

9,473 posts · joined Jun 2004 ·

#499729
they all have tires on them at the moment, 215s on the globes and im not sure whats on the hotwires as im not sure which set i was left with after i sold 1 set but could check with the old man in a couple of days or you could ring him direct on 0265523190 during work hours. he should be coming to sydney in a couple of weekends if not im heading up there in two weeks
“We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free.” Bill Hicks
the chaos project - click me

barls Administrator Causer of Chaos and Mayhem

9,473 posts · joined Jun 2004 ·

#499730
they are all 4 stud as well
“We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free.” Bill Hicks
the chaos project - click me

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#499731
sounds good, how much do you want?

68AutoBug Beetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --

11,654 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#499735
type 3s had wider rims than beetles....

they get mixed up easily as they just look the same....

One could be a beetle rim and one a type 3 rim....

or they could be different as someone may have had them
widened differently for the front & rear of car,
and they have been mixed up.....

Lee
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---

empi Compulsive Aussie Vee Dubber

4,131 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#499751
Type 3s had thinner rims than beetle ,

Remove the hub caps look between the bolts there should be stamping indicating the width, is you car swing axle or IRS??

Adam
"If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you." - Anonymous 🥷

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#499757
the wheels say they were 4" to begin with but now measure about 7" so were tey beetle wheels?

empi Compulsive Aussie Vee Dubber

4,131 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#499761
Widest standard wheel for veedubs were 5.5 may be 6in.

Bloody hard to lower with that width wheel also depends on off set , what about the rims on the front may be u have 2 fats and 2 thins. U could remove wheel and measure offsets, u will need plank of wood and a ruler.

Ad
"If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you." - Anonymous 🥷

empi Compulsive Aussie Vee Dubber

4,131 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#499763
Post a pic of car.
"If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you." - Anonymous 🥷

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#499773
would do but camera broke today! it has thinner on front, just spoken to previous owner and he has got another widened as a spare, so this could be the matching one for one of the rears, or maybe not!
Think the wheels are a bit bodgey to say the least, will try and get a second hand set of mags to keep the car rolling (and lower) and go from there.

68AutoBug Beetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --

11,654 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#499799

Type 3s always had wider rims than beetles....

they had 4 1/2 J x 15 inch rims

and the tyre size was 165 x 15...

On Beetles it was 155 x 15 tyres...

and they had 4 J x 15 inch rims

Lee

- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---

Joel Now containing 100\% E-Wang

9,368 posts · joined Feb 2006 ·

#499807
about 72 73 i think it was they widend them beetle ones to 4 1/2"

my 74 has 4.5"

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Joel Now containing 100\% E-Wang

9,368 posts · joined Feb 2006 ·

#499815
oh yeah the reason that wheels off the car
it got a bit of a shudder happening

hmmm tyre bent much? LOL

tyre has the hugest warp in it


Joel

1303Steve Scirocco Rare

8,650 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#499822
68AutoBug wrote:
Type 3s always had wider rims than beetles....

they had 4 1/2 J x 15 inch rims

and the tyre size was 165 x 15...

On Beetles it was 155 x 15 tyres...

and they had 4 J x 15 inch rims

Lee

Later bugs had 4 .5 inch rims also

Hi

VW bodies are often off centre on the chassis, which can cause tyre fouling.

If your car is a swing axle dont be deceived by the wheel tuck whens its jacked up.

Steve

[ Edited on 12-6-2006 by 1303Steve ]

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#499842
Unfortunatley its a IRS, Do any of you chaps live anywhere near Newtown?
And do you have a trolley jack I could come over and use to try and solve this problem once and for all?
I know its abit rude but Cant really afford to buy a trolley jack (as just boght the car, rego etc, etc) and the wheel thing is really bugging me.

dangerous 23 Windows of Awesome

5,901 posts · joined Jan 2005 ·

#500149
Barls you have u2u.
westi wrote:That's mad Alan.

68AutoBug Beetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --

11,654 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#500150
DUB74L wrote:about 72 73 i think it was they widened the beetle ones to 4 1/2"

my 74 has 4.5"
Yes DUB74L,
You are correct..
None of MY Books go that far....
but I do remember they did get wider or they used type 3 rims on the beetles... as all the later ones in the USA have the 4 1/2" size....

Lee
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#500174
they are also only 14" rims, did beetles come with 14's?
What are my wheels from?

Joel Now containing 100\% E-Wang

9,368 posts · joined Feb 2006 ·

#500193
14" rims where never factory
they'd be something someone made up in the 80's when 14's were cool

Joel

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#500238
Ahh bugger it, Guess its how you learn!
So the wheels are still beetle centers? Or some other VW?
They still have the fitting for the VW crome Hubcaps

Joel Now containing 100\% E-Wang

9,368 posts · joined Feb 2006 ·

#500296
yeah they're just vw center hubs fitted to 14" wider rims from some mainstream car

there always easy to pick as to make a 15" vw hub fit the 14" rim they need to be cut down and the cuts are made half way through the cooling slots on 4 stud rims

if u look closely btwn the wheel studs on 4 stud rims u'll see a few markings if theyre not buried under layers of paint.
one is the size eg 4 1/2Jx15 the other is month and year of manufacture and my 74 rims also have the offset ET41 on them

hth
Joel

Fireball xl5 Seriously Crusin Dubber

193 posts · joined May 2006 ·

#500479
yeah the centers are beetle, not type 3.
Its just one of the things I really should have picked up on when I first looked at the car. Like I said its just a big learning curve jumping from Mini's to aircooled VW's!