WTB 4 lug 5.5" Silver (Painted) Wheels

Check "The Samba" website.

Greg, not sure if you have a price in mind, but they are $70 with free shipping from Cip1

 

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDe...D135%2D601%2D025%2DP

 

 

I checked The Samba site a while back but I will give them another shot.. 

 

Thanks Paul, I will check them out.. I did come across some on Sierra Madre that are a little better price.

 

http://www.sierramadrecollecti...-x-5-1-2-p19583.html

The Samba has over 25 pages of "wheels/tires" to wade through.

 

I saw an ad for powder coated wheels for $90 each.

 

I'm sure there are better deals buried there for those with more patience!

Check with Carey @ Special Edition www.beckspeedster.com. He carries 4-lug wheels with a 10-hole pattern. With hubcaps on you can't tell them from wide fives.

> On Sep 3, 2015, at 6:00 PM, SpeedsterOwners.com <alerts@hoop.la> wrote:
>

Thanks for the replies, I should have mentioned that I was hoping to find some for a bargain as this is only going to be a temporary set up. I'm going to go with a wide 5 set up eventually. I just happened to see some silver powder coated/painted wheels with nipple caps that look pretty sharp. 

All VW's came OEM with 4.5" rims - even the 4 lug ones on the '74 412.  Only the Porsche/VW 914 (with the appearance group) came with 5.5 x 15" steel rims (others were 4.5 x 15") . They would be ET40 --- which isn't zero offset. Even the Sport wheels used on later VW were 4.5". SO you'd be looking at aftermarket wheels.

 

Think you said your chrome Mangels were starting to rust?  I'd just either sand the heck out of them to get chrome off or have them sand blasted then paint them. Might be easier/less costly to have them powder coated even at $80 rim. 

 

Good reference for ET -

 

http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

 

Thanks for the info. Actually my chrome Mangels are in excellent shape, I just want a little different look. I will most likely sell them with the tires when I figure this out. 

 

Since I'm so new to the madness I'm sure I don't really ask all the right questions. I was assuming that them Mangel's I have on the car now were zero offset. What I would like to get my hands on is a set of 4 that are identical to what I have now just powder coated or painted silver. 

 

I will check out the link. 

 

Thanks again! 

Plasti dipping wheels is now very popular.  I've seen lots of them done black.  I bet the plastic dip come in a dull silver or grey. That might be answer as it could be peeled off to restore wheel to chrome.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Performi...erosol/dp/B007SPWTTK

There are oe VW 5 1/2" rims in the 4x130mm pattern; they came on the 1973 Sport Bug. Looking at pics, it looks like the extra inch (or most of it) was added to the outside of the rim so they may not be much use to us. 914's also used these rims, but with more backspacing, so they would be a better fit.

 

Sport bug rims- 

 

 

 

ALB - Knew you'd find that 5 1/2" one. References I found said produced in July 1973 only.  Seems like it would have made for nice handling!

I don't know when they were produced, Greg; but I do remember they were on the Sport bugs, which where Saturn Yellow and Marathon Blue with blacked out trim and a red/black stripe along the belt line. They had Recaro seats and a leather steering wheel as well. Oh- and they were Super beetles. Found all this here- 

http://www.sebeetles.com/sport/

Al

 

PS- Because of their offset I don't know how the 5 1/2" sport bug rims would fit on a regular beetle. 

I bought one of the Super Bugs in Aug '73. I remember it handling very well driving in the mountains and since the one I bought was a 'dealer demo' model from Denver's largest VW dealer that also had an Empi parts house it came with a lot of Empi 'bling' on it. Didn't have the car all that long before trading it in on a CJ-5 Renegade.

 

This was another one of those 'should've kept it' cars because today they seem to be very rare and the going prices are up there according to my VW fiend buddy, Mike

Those are neat wheels, but not really the look I'm going for. The attached picture is exactly what I want. My car is the exact some color combo other than I have black tonneau covers. I found some at Car Craft for ($44.95 - 4 Lug Later Model (68-on 4 on 130mm) I need to make sure that they are the same specs as the ones I have on it now. 

 

 

 

Is there a way to tell what the offset is for the Mangels 5.5J x 15 wheels that Vintage Speedsters uses?  I can't find any indication on the inside of the wheel.

 

 

Google search on "offset of 4 lug mangels vw 5.5 x 15" wheels" --- most seem to list wide 5s. Easy to measure yours - put straight edge across back and measure to where bolts surface is.  It it's 2.75" then you have zero offset.

This might help

 

"

Bolt pattern or lug pattern or bolt circle is determined by the number of bolt holes and the bolt circle diameter. Hub Diameter or center bore is the hole at the center of the wheel. Rear spacing or back spacing is the distance from the backside of the wheel mounting pad to the outside of the rim flange. Offset:  The distance from the centerline of the wheel to the mounting surface of the wheel. Negative offset:  When the back of the bolt pad is closer to the inside of the wheel; when mounting surface is inboard of the rim centerline. Positive offset:  When the back of the bolt pad is closer to the street side of the wheel; when the mounting surface is outboard of the rim centerline.
	Bead-Loc  A device which captures the tire bead between it's flanges, usually secured by bolts to keep tire be

 

 

Vintage Speedsters got back to me and said the offset is 3.5" 

 

 

That must be the backspacing, which would give you an offset of 6mm.

If the offset was 3.5 inches that would work out to 88.9mm.

 

Whoops, I asked what the offset is, guess I should have ask for the back spacing.  I'm so confused...  I just want to find out what specs I need to match the Mangels that came with the car..  Seems like most vendors just describe the wheels as 4 lug 5.5 mangels style wheels. The quest continues.. 

Here's a steel wheel that Cip1 sells:

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDe...de=VWC-135-601-025-P

 

The ad states that it has a 4  5/16" backspacing and a 25mm ET or offset.  Offset numbers is what I use when trying to figure out what wheel will fit.  To a point, the higher the offset the better.  25mm is decent and something in the 35mm to 45mm is even better (wheel sits inward more and gives you more fender clearance.  Too much offset can cause the inside of the tire/wheel to rub against the suspension bits.