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<< can someone give me some pointers about doing it, and what wheels/tyres are good to avoid rubbing on the arches? Pref a cheap solution, >>
There is a lowering write up on the Samba, it's in the FAQ of the type 3
section. As for rims to avoid, the imfamous empi 8 spoke copy, as the off set is
completely wrong for a type 3. John J. posted his discovery to the Samba forum,
and it was very imformative. I think he did something similar here, but it's
probably buried in the archives. I hope this helps.
Here is the info I posted previously on tire and wheel sizing....
OK, I did a little digging around on the web and in my CIP catalog and came up with some interesting numbers.
First, lets talk tire sizes. I made one assumption that our stock tire aspect ratio is 80%. We have discussed this before with 80%, 83%, and 85% as possible answers. I don't ever remember coming to a confident answer as to which was right. So for the sake of comparison I picked 80%. I have also ignored that fact the all tires bulge out some and am only comparing the tread width. So here we go.....
Tire Diameter Width Comments
165/80R15 25.4" (645mm) 6.5" (165mm) Stock tire size
185/65R15 24.5" (622mm) 7.3" (185mm) Jordan Wilks tire size
195/50R15 22.7" (576mm) 7.7" (195mm) Common aftermarket tire
195/55R15 23.5" (596mm) 7.7" (195mm) My front tire size
205/55R16 24.9" (632mm) 8.1" (205mm) My rear tire size
As you can see Jordan's tires are a full inch bigger in diameter and nearly as wide as my front tires. Still seems like they would be ok until you look at the wheels. I looked through my CIP catalog, which fortunately lists backspacing for most of the wheels they sell. I have made an assumption that the difference between the bead width and maximum width of the wheel is 1 inch since this is important in converting from backspacing to the more useful offset. This is where it gets more interesting....
Wheel Diameter Bead Width Offset Backspacing Frontspacing
Stock Type 3 15" 4-1/2" 1.8" (46mm) 4.56" (116mm) 0.95" (24mm)
EMPI 5-spoke 15" 5- 1/2" 0.44" (11mm) 3.7" (94mm) 2.8" (71mm)
EMPI 8-spoke 15" 5-1/2" 0.75"(19mm) 4.0" (102mm) 2.5" (64mm)
Chrome VW 15" 4-1/2" 1.8" (46mm) 4.5" (114mm) 1.0" (25mm)
Chrome VW 15" 5-1/2" 1.0" (25mm) 4.3" (108mm) 2.2" (56mm)
AR Aero 15" 7" 1.6" (40mm) 5.6"(142mm) 2.4" (61mm)
AR Aero 16" 7" 1.7" (42mm) 5.6" (142mm) 2.4" (61mm)
So if you look at the frontspacing (a term I made up to describe the distance from the mounting face of the wheel to the outside wheel lip (frontspacing + backspacing = beadwidth + 1")), the EMPI 5-spoke and 8-spoke both stick out more than the 7" wide rims that I have on Sophy! The 5-spoke sticks out nearly 2" more than the stock Type 3 wheel! Doesn't surprise me that you are getting fender rub with the nearly 1" wider tire moved outward nearly 2" and being lowered 2 notches.
Offset is important and most of the aftermarket VW wheels are not going to be right for a Type 3. That being said it looks like the Chrome 4-1/2" VW wheels are actually type 3 wheels! Of course that assumes that CIP did not make a typo in their catalog. I would be leary and call there tech support and have them measure one before ordering. Anyone have first hand experience with the aftermarket chrome 4-1/2" VW wheels? Are they really 46mm offset?
Hope this is helpful and not too confusing.
Later, John Jaranson '66 Square (Sophy) '71 Fasty (Jane - darkside project in waiting) various parts.....don't we all. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jaransonT3/jaransonT3/ http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jaransonT3/2006Invasion/ http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jaransonT3/notavwclub/
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