17x5.5 wheels on a beetle

Hi Everyone,
Has anyone ever fitted 17x5.5 wheels to a beetle, woukld they fit ok and what size tyres would fit.
the beetle is 1964 body with 2.5 inch lowered spindel


thanks

first i want you to show me where your getting 17x5.5" wheels from!

then
http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp
punch in your current size tyre then work from there, i cant say ive seen much in the way of skinny 17" rubber

also useful...

http://www.willtheyfit.com - for a rough idea what your wheels/tyre combo will look

and

http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp useful for offset changes, stock is approx +36
hope that helps

and mods PLEASE STICKY THESE LINKS WHEEL/TYRE COMBO QUESTIONS COME UP WAAAAYYY TOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

thankyou 🙂

im getting them custom made (billet wheels)

and tyres? narrowest 17s excluding space saver rubber i see is 205/40... that may end up looking quite strange, might be worthwhile going 6.5 wide at least...

A 205 should fit a 7" rim, you will still end up with the same tyre width with the 5.5" rim, good chance of having it come of the rim.

i use to run 205s on my 15 x5.5 with no problems

I'd agree with STIDUB, make sure that you can use a readily available tyre size. Custom-made wheels are fine, but you can't get your tyres custom made every time you need a new set! I haven't found or heard of any 17" tyres narrower than 205mm section width, which ideally needs a 7" wide rim. On 5.5" rims they may not fit correctly.

barls wrote:i use to run 205s on my 15 x5.5 with no problems

But what was the aspect ratio? With a 15" rim you will have a much taller sidewall, which allows for a much wider range of rim widths to fit. With a full inch out of the sidewall height, a 17" rim will be much more picky about what rim width it will fit on in my opinion.

Hi

Tyres will be the issue. I was pricing some rear tyres for my sons Skyline, popular car sizes are cheaper. 225/45x17 $95 each or 255/40x17 $145 each.

Steve

Agreed, stretching the tyres outwards is bad enough without going the opposite way.

Dunno what these custom made rims are gonna cost you but you may find they're one expensive defect.