Epic Fail.

[dc10]

hey, this may prove that i am an idiot but i've got to ask. the other day i tried a set of rims on my mk3 vr and not only did it scrub bad, it tore off the end cap from the side skirt, peeled the arch back at the bottom and gouged a deep slit into the rubber that as the car moved forward, went right around the edge of the tyre. the guy at the tyre company assured me beforehand that the rims i liked would fit, even though they started at 17", and went ahead and ordered them, so when i went to collect my car and noticed the carriers had been savagely grinded i knew something was wrong.

this leads me to my question, how is it that people are rolling 17's and even 18" rims on their mk3's??? even if i had the guards rolled of mine, the scrubbing up in the well was so bad the tyres would have been gone in a few weeks

[Manaz]

The rolling diameter needs to be kept the same (wheel + tyre - if you increase wheel size, you have to run lower profile tyres to match).

And you also have to get the offset right.

Read up on the "Wheel and Tyre Bible" (it's either linked in a sticky here or you can find it on Google) - it explains everything you need to know.

The tyre place should be paying to fix your car, incidently.

[fuzion]

as manaz said

take it back, speak to the manager
if they do not offer to pay for repair and refund you your money i would advise them that you will be taking this to the police and your lawyer will contact them.

thinks happen, dont stress about it.. get to the solution and ask around where another wheel/tyre place is who has been used by other vw'ers and go there so least you will find it a bit safe.

always test fit wheels, never fit without testing.

[dc10]

yeah i had to turn around only fifty mtrs down the street and get them to change them back because the noise sounded like my car was going to internally combust. the only reason i went to this particular company is because a friend who deals with them on a daily basis thru his dealership is fronting the bill as part payment for a trade-in,,, so getting the carriers paid for and the return of the now damaged wheels was unquestioned. when he seen the damage to my car he went over to the tyre shop to rip someone a new arse. but i cant understand how one of perths best known tyreshops, with 20+ yrs experience, could pull this one off..
anyways now moving back to a 16 inch with a profile of 35, but i think id better consult this "wheel bible" first coz one fail is enough. cheers guys

[MattyT]

Perth's best known tire shop? If it isn't wheels world or wilkinson suspension, I seriously wouldn't bother with them.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune at the hands of obviously incompetant tire folks. Read up good and best of luck next time!

[dc10]

nah the culprits were out in midvale. in all, leading up to this final show of true professionalism, the golf had been down at their workshop a total of six times. the first two times they chose the rims themself and neither fitted because of brakes, then the third set that was supposedly correct size was knocked over in workshop, cracking one. then i started to get impatient and told them just to get something, anything that fitted.. watever size, style. id taken too much time off work and was gettin reamed for it. they did and the rims fitted but bolts were not long enough. airbag over night for correct bolts only to find that when nuts were torqued up the rims skimmed my carriers on the front. so they used a grinder just to feather skim the high points resulting in this......

pics shortly

[rayray086]

That's terrible, I'm wondering why you returned! And as for the wheels cracking after getting knocked over... I wouldn't want to be using those type of wheels again!

As for your original question, apart from using smaller tyres, you gotta watch out for the offset and width of the new wheels too. Use the link in this thread to see where an aftermarket wheel would sit relative to stock.

[dc10]

if you look at the left edge of the carrier setup in the picture you can see a flat edge. this is where they just "feather skimmed" 10-15mm of the actual carrier body from top to bottom. now thats the midas touch...

sorry if i am goin on about this but i havent had a chance to spit it all out in one go so if it seems like im having a whinge well......wah!
thanks for listening

[Manaz]

anyways now moving back to a 16 inch with a profile of 35, but i think id better consult this "wheel bible" first coz one fail is enough. cheers guys

I'm guessing 35 offset - 35 profile tyres on 16" wheels being appropriate would surprise me. Definitely read the "bible".

You shouldn't have any problem going to 17" wheels as long as the offset and centre bore are correct, and correct profile tyres are put on to keep the rolling diameter close to the same (you're only allowed a few percentage points variation by law).

Other things to consider are the width of the wheel (my Bora had 16" wheels which were 6.5" wide with a +38 offset on it as stock, I've upgraded to 17" wheels which are 7.5" wide (the widest I can go without engineering) with the same offset. Tyres have gone from 205/55R16 to 225/45R17 to keep the rolling diameter roughly the same.

[mikinoz]

This is a terrible saga.

I have purchased rims in the past that have needed to have spacers, and a touch with the grinder for clearance for the brake carriers but if a tyre outlet ever considered that doing that to a customers car without consultation I would be upset.

[KI11Z]

bro! you should NOT rush choosing wheels, do PLENTY of research on here and vwvortex.

For an example of a correct fitment, i'm running 17x8 et25 all round on coilovers to what I would say pretty dumped. tire size is critical! if you can stretch (running the smallest or smaller tire than recommended) your tires do it as it will give you more clearance; I'm running 205/40 on the front and 215/40 on the rear. yes I had to roll the guards extensively but the end result is no scrubbing.

It can be done and the only advice I would give to you is don't listen to most if not all tire shops because they just get out their little Bible from under the desk and read. Work out how to measure offsets and rim widths to choose your own wheels.

[chris.]

bro! you should NOT rush choosing wheels, do PLENTY of research on here and vwvortex.

For an example of a correct fitment, i'm running 17x8 et25 all round on coilovers to what I would say pretty dumped. tire size is critical! if you can stretch (running the smallest or smaller tire than recommended) your tires do it as it will give you more clearance; I'm running 205/40 on the front and 215/40 on the rear. yes I had to roll the guards extensively but the end result is no scrubbing.

It can be done and the only advice I would give to you is don't listen to most if not all tire shops because they just get out their little Bible from under the desk and read. Work out how to measure offsets and rim widths to choose your own wheels.

x2
do some research & with some simple maths you can work out everthing, nobody taught me i just stayed up for endless nights on the net learning and cross checking things & triple checking thing until i had it down pat then i knew exactly what i needed and what the outcome would be & never trust a tyre shop



and that wheel is pritty damn close to the caliper, lol there is about a foot gap between mine

[patanga]

Another bit of advice:... If you are going to lower your car and get a set of wheels do it in that order... Here's why... Most people get all warm and fuzzy about the wheels and then go to the tyre shop and fine a style they like. The tyre shop, keen to make a sale will do their best to get the style the customer wants and then fit it, often times even if the wheel offset is completely wrong. then when you go to get the car lowered a few months later when cash allows you now have a scrubbing problem. This is not a problem caused by the lowering and I will prove it to you. When you lower a car (legally) it will still sit the ride height within the range of suspension travel as allowed by the manufacturer. the only thing that can change therefore is the wheel width, the rolling diameter and the wheel offset. Assuming that the rolling diameter remains the same (which it usually does), then that only leaves wheel width and offset... Starting the get the picture...? The usualy culprit from my experience has been wheel offset. A few months after the wheels have been bought the tyre guy is not likely going to be helpful and so often tries to blame the lowering.... Remember it is rare that the lowering is the problem...Sure you can go too low but for the majority of legal street situations lowering is not the cause. It has everything to do with the new nominal ride height (still within the range of suspension travel) now having exposed the incorrect wheel offset as the cause... The answer is to get your car lowered before you buy the wheels. This forces the tyre shop to take responsibility for what they should have in the first place. Good luck folks.