18" Wheels for a Multivan

[Tombi]

There is a set of 4 , 18x8 alloy wheels to suit a T5 on ebay today.
Sorry I didn't copy the link .

[rob64981]

Was it these?

VW T5 Caravelle & Transporter 18 in alloy wheels tyres - eBay Wheels, Wheels, Tyres, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 26-Jul-10 23:21:46 AEST)

Rob

[Tombi]

Yes that's them Rob.

[Ivo]

I was talking to a guy yesterday with a T5 Transporter with 22's fitted! He got them secondhand off a jeep and was not exactly sure of the width but they looked like 8's. Tyres were 265/30/ZR. He said they did not rub anywhere but....they were terrible. Looked great but a very harsh ride and if you hit a big pothole etc the wheels would need to be straightened and rebalanced.

His van was an ex-cop car and now has almost 200k on it and he has had no troubles with it.

[Robear]

That's the sort of thing that needs to be taken into consideration. You can have a fully pimped out beast with 22',s but the ride would be stiff and very uncomfortable, as well as costs a lot more. 18 or 19 inch wheels for me, is a compromise of lower profile than 16's giving better handling, but not as extreme as 20's or 22's which would be problematic with ride comfort and wheel maintenance. I do about 30000km's a year, so I want a wheel and tyre that looks good, handles well and is comfortable...and 18, maybe 19 is around the mark. Still looking

[Transporter]

Talking about the harshness, the 17" that are 235/55 look good and for me they're the right compromise between comfort and handling especially with 4motion there is tons of grip when it comes to cornering, even on completely flooded road and almost worn out tyres you get the feeling that the road is dry.
Stopping distance in wet is what sends me to the tyre shop.
The Hankook Dynapro RA23 tyres are good for 50,000km, if you rotate them every 5,000km and pump them up to 50PSI (van fully loaded).

[Robear]

Can anyone enlighten me about deal with the Load rating? I went to look at some whees and tyre outlets, they all told me they have nothing that would suit my T5 that has a 103 Load rating. All the aftermarket wheels and tyres are only good to 680 or 690Kg's. I rang NRMA and they said it doesnt bother them if I put bigger wheels on, as long as it meets RTA requirements...so does it really matter? I certainly want to do it properly so I may have to hold out for the real deal...

[Splitn]

Robear,

If you are going 18" wheels the BMW X5 and Range Rover wheel options have a very high load rating 106 or 109 I think, which well exceeds load rating on a T5.
They are also very strong and well made rims, unlike the flood of cheap imported wheels we find in most tyre retailers these days.

tyre size, try 255/45/18. Most have a load rating 103.
I have this size in a Sumitomo HTR on 18" X5 wheels on my T5.
I'll post some pics when I can.

This size is a standard VW size on some multi vans overseas, but not too many here in Australia.

Cheers Greg.

[Tombi]

C'mon show us your pics Gregory!

[rob64981]

Seeing as people want to see a T5 with BMW X5 wheels here is a picture of the T5 Multivan i owned in the UK with the 19" BMW X5 wheels.

Do i wish i brought this over in the container?
You bet i do...

[Robear]

Looks great with the 19"s, so were they 19X8 fronts and 19X10's on the back? and was it loweredf at all? That is a very appealling option, similar to BLogs Van, fills out the guards well. Did you have any rubbing or turning issues?

[rob64981]

You are correct on the wheel sizes.
It was lowered 40mm.
The only place they rubbed was the sliding door inner panel rubbed on the tyre.
Nothing worth getting stressed about.
I was looking at putting a spacer on the door hinge (2-3mm) to push the door out a little.
No rubbing on the front even on full lock.

[GUV]

Even lowered the 19's don't really fill the guards out, these are 10's on the rear & 9's on the front, when I replace the tyres I'll go to a higher profile to fill the guards better. Currently has 275's on the rear but it had 285's without any tyre rub, the LWB has a little better sliding door clearance.
The lower you go with the LWB the more it looks like a Dachshund.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Robear]

These are BMW X5 rims too? they look fantastic!! I think BMW wheels are the way to go. I would like to keep a factory look and maintain the load rating...Thanks for the pic!

[Robear]

I finally got some rims, I went with the X5 wheels with 235/55/18 Kuhmo's. They have a sufficient load rating of 104. Now to get it lowered...I wanted to get the 19's in the pic above but my tyre man says they wouldnt fit...I guess these will be a better ride anyway