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Offline Cole

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The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« on: May 18, 2015, 10:45:33 am »
The question comes up often "what tires" and "what wheels"?

This is just a place holder at the moment. So let's fill this thread with pictures and information about what fits, availability, cost, mileage experience, etc.

Links and pictures to certain tires and pictures of them on your van would help a great deal!

Cole

Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2015, 12:55:43 pm »
Well I'll kick this off and state that if looking for new wheels or tyres for your van then a few things need to be taken into consideration.
First off,  the wheel stud  pattern or PCD, on the T4 eurovan, this is 5x 112. So this is the first factor when looking for a suitable wheel.
Secondly the centre bore, this is the hole in the centre of the wheel that locates in spigot on the wheel hub, on the eurovan and 99.9% of all VWs this is 57.1mm.
So armed with the above figures you can start looking for your next set of wheels, which would include most wheels from Audi, VW and Mercedes, although Mercedes have the same pcd of 5x112 as VW, the centre bore is larger than VW , this can be overcome by buying spigot rings. ( search VW to Mercedes spigot rings on eBay ) .

Some other points to consider:
Early eurovan as standard may have came with 14 inch wheels, fitting these to newer vans may not be possible as they may not clear the brake calipers.

Wheel ET , is also a consideration , this is how far the the wheel sits of centre ( or away from the hub ) a too high of an ET may cause problems as it may foul on suspension components, or scrub on the fenders or not allow full lock on steering, the ET of a wheel is also effected by the with of the rim, a 5j rim is narrower than a 6j rim etc .

Also remember that your Eurovan is based on a commercial vehicle and is heavy, so when considering what wheels to choose, the load rating needs to be considered, usually the manufacturer will be able to advise on this and is usually stated on their website and is stamped on the inside of the wheel, where as fitting VW or Audi wheels etc don't usually have these markings but you may be able to Google the part number stamped on the wheel to obtain this, but generally car wheels will not be rated for van use even tho they physically fit, which is common sense as a VW Golf weighs far less than a Eurovan.

Tyres:
As above tyres need to be load rated too, you can fit car tyres or commercial tyres, car tyres generally have a lower profile than a commercial tyre and will wearout quicker. Load rating for the tyre is on the tyre after the size, eg. 205/65/16c 101.
205 is the width of the tread area. 65 is the side wall aspect ratio , that is in this case 65% of the tread area. 16 is the rim size in inches. " C" designates a commercial tyre. 101 in this example is the load rating, in a car tyre of the same approx size the load rating may be around 91 or if its extra load tyre 94 which is too low.

That's enough for now, I'll edit this post of typos and will add further info as it comes to me.

Further reading here:
  http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html
« Last Edit: May 18, 2015, 01:32:01 pm by mudyf0x »

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Offline Cole

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2015, 07:01:14 am »
A few comments on wheel "ET"

Every wheel should have a stamp on the back side of the spokes indicating its "et". It will say something like "et35" or "et45". This measurement is in mm.

The LOWER the number the further OUT the wheel will stick.

The HIGHER the number, the further IN the wheel will sit.

An et35 wheel will stick out 10mm further than an et45 wheel for example.

Many people run aftermarket et35 wheels because these are very common in the Audi/VW world. This makes the edge of the tire stick out past the edge of the fender on a Eurovan. Not far, but enough that it will effect what tires you can run.

When a wheel sticks out too far it puts it closer to interfering with the corners of the fender when turning and the upper lip of the fender when going over bumps.(wheel won't go up inside the fender but hits the lip)

To make these common et35 wheels work you must limit the height and width of your tires and be okay with the edge of the tire sticking out just a touch.

I've found that an et42 is a much better fitting wheel on a Eurovan. This puts the edge of the wheel 13mm further in.

Keeping them just under the fender lip of the Eurovan and allowing the maximum height and width tire.   

An 8" wide wheel will clear the suspension components with et42!!

Using et42 wheels I've been able to fit 255/45/18" tires  and also 225/70/16" tires!!


Both of those wider and taller than many people have thought possible!  The 255/70/16 require a small .75" lift for best fit.

Cole

Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2015, 01:05:27 pm »
My wheels are after market AEZ Quadro alloys which have a high load index and suitable for heavy campers ,  they are 16 inch 6.5j width and are ET43 the rears have a 20mm spacer fitted as they where too far tucked in at the rear  for my liking ..
Tyre size is 195 65 16c on front and 205 65 16c on rear,
« Last Edit: May 19, 2015, 01:11:00 pm by mudyf0x »

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Offline trbowgn

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2015, 12:37:53 pm »
I have 225/70/16 BFG ATs on a set of 16" rims that came off of a late model Jetta.  Not sure what the ET is on them but I will looke tonight and post.  They fit good with no problems upfront and only a small amount of rub on hard turns on the lower rearl lip of the plastic bumper cover.  Just a little trim and it was all good.

Sorry not the best picks and the van is very dirty but I will snap some tonight that should show them a little better.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 10:47:42 am by trbowgn »
Kyle O.
95 EVC 5cyl 5spd

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Offline 42pvan

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2015, 08:04:03 pm »
Just coming home from our first trip this summer. Bad news is that there is a slow leak in from a previously fixed tire. Time for new tires ad looking for suggestions. 99 EVC with GoWesty lift and level kit and probably original tires from that. Looking for a good all year tire for mostly highway and back roads driving. Maybe a bit of off road to get to campsites. A fairly significant amount of dirt roads to run shuttles for River trips. What would people recommend?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Offline Itsamoto

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2015, 11:54:14 pm »
Just coming home from our first trip this summer. Bad news is that there is a slow leak in from a previously fixed tire. Time for new tires ad looking for suggestions. 99 EVC with GoWesty lift and level kit and probably original tires from that. Looking for a good all year tire for mostly highway and back roads driving. Maybe a bit of off road to get to campsites. A fairly significant amount of dirt roads to run shuttles for River trips. What would people recommend?

Looking for highway and backroad -- not sure it can happen in one tire. If you bought the GoWesty kit -- were those Geolanders? I'm very interested in hearing a review on those from an EV-owner standpoint.

I've been running an 02 EVW on 215/70r16 BFG ATs on the stock rim with a small lift (all set up by the PO). Tight fit on the van but have been very durable and get great grip "off road"  ;)  They look great, however they sure are noisy and rumbly on pavement -- which is ample evidence that they are not so fantastic for fuel economy. The tread wear has been really good -- but I'm still leaning on something more highway oriented for the near future.

Currently I've been looking at upsizing to either a 17 or 18" rim where there seems to be a lot more choice in tires that are weight rating appropriate -- thanks to all the SUVs out there. I'm interested in fitting up some 225/55/18s (perhaps Geolanders?) which are about the same diameter as my current set up. I figure the Geolanders keep some of the rugged looks but improves matters by decreasing the rolling resistance.


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Offline trbowgn

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #7 on: May 27, 2015, 10:49:11 am »
I have been happy with our BFGs ATs so far.  A little noiseier on the highway but I am slowly doing Fat Mat everywhere and the wheel wells I have done are much quieter.  I fit 225/70/16 on ours after the lift and they work but it is tight.
Kyle O.
95 EVC 5cyl 5spd

Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #8 on: May 29, 2015, 12:36:11 pm »
Hello everyone,
I got a 2002 EuroVan (used to be a GLS).
I want to put on 17" wheels.
The commends I was reading sofar explained really well what I need to watch out for.
What are the best looking combination vs the best gravel road setting vs comfort on highways or faster turns???

I like low profile tires or at least lower than the standard tires used with a 16" rim.
As more pictures you guys post as easier it will be for me to pick 17" or 18".....

I can not make up my mind and I'm on the fence since a year.
Thanks!!!!!

Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #9 on: May 30, 2015, 10:55:06 am »
Cole,

Are you running spacers on your Mercedes wheels or just hubcentric rings? Do you have a good source for the parts required? I'm looking to get a similar set, just need to do a lift first!

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Offline Cole

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #10 on: May 30, 2015, 03:00:46 pm »
Cole,

Are you running spacers on your Mercedes wheels or just hubcentric rings? Do you have a good source for the parts required? I'm looking to get a similar set, just need to do a lift first!

Yes, the stock ML wheels are et62 so I have them spaced out to et42

I used a aluminum spacer made for Mercedes 66.5 center bore the added an aluminum 66.5 to 57.1 ring.
Cole

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Offline albertr

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2015, 08:51:27 am »
Will the following MB ML350 wheels work on late model EVC? They have ET 56...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-ML320-ML350-R350-17-2006-2007-06-07-FACTORY-OEM-RIM-WHEEL-65366-/121100256315

I have stock 16" wheels at the moment but looking to upgrade to 17"  since there're much more tire choices.

-albertr

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Offline Cole

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2015, 09:12:37 am »
Will the following MB ML350 wheels work on late model EVC? They have ET 56...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-ML320-ML350-R350-17-2006-2007-06-07-FACTORY-OEM-RIM-WHEEL-65366-/121100256315

I have stock 16" wheels at the moment but looking to upgrade to 17"  since there're much more tire choices.

-albertr

Those would look cool on a EV.

A 15mm spacer would put them at et41, or a 10mm spacer would put them at et46. Either one would work well on the Eurovan.

Will also need hub centric rings to convert the 66.6 mm Mercedes center bore to 57.1 VW.

All of the above can be found on eBay too.
« Last Edit: August 17, 2015, 09:17:24 am by Cole »
Cole

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Offline albertr

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2015, 02:25:06 pm »
Great, thanks Cole! I'll take a look to see if I can get them on ebay... 15m spacers - I guess I'll need longer lug bolts for them?

-albertr

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Offline Cole

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Re: The ultimate tire and wheel guide thread!
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2015, 02:31:22 pm »
15mm longer  ;)
Cole