GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => Cosmetic and bodywork matters => Topic started by: mbGti on 17 May 2009, 13:03
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Help!!
Bought a set of 17" fuel "04" alloys for my wifes mk3 colour concept. They were previously fitted to a beetle. I checked the offsets of the new beetle and the mk3 gti and they were within the same et range.
The wheels came with 215/45/17 tyres. When first fitted to the rear of the car these, with 215/45 tyres, they fouled the suspension turrets. So i found a set of 205 40 17 tyres going cheap and have had these fitted. The wheels fit the back of the car fine now.
Being stupid before going to the hastle of changing the tyres i didnt bother trial fitting the fronts.. Needless to say when attempting to fit the wheels to the front of the car they dont work.
The spokes of the wheel when fitted to the front foul the brake caliper..
The Fuel wheels dont seem to have an actual offset stamped on them. They have "ET" stamped on one spoke but nothing else.
Im a bit fed up with the whole thing now.. after taking the wheels on an off for god knows how many times, when the fronts didnt fit i could of bitten a chunk of rubber off them :angry:
whats my best and cheapest option here..
a) Spacers.. Ive never used them but i presume i need to fit them all round.. and i presume id need longer wheel bolts. These wheels have lugs with really narrow heads so there may be an issue obtaining new bolts.
b) Chuck them on fleabay and sell them on and find some wheels which are a better fit for the car.
My partner really likes the wheels as they are black and chrome so go well with her black gti.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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have a read of this thread, similar problem:
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=116685.0
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Easy to fix, run a 3mm spacer on the front.
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Thanks for the replys fellas.
Am i right in thinking that a 3m spacer would be ok under all circumstances, theres no way under force the claiper could hit the wheel.
Is it ok just to run a 3mm spacer on the front?
Would the standard wheel bolts be suitable with an extra 3mm of spacer between them and the hub?
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Thanks for the replys fellas.
Am i right in thinking that a 3m spacer would be ok under all circumstances, theres no way under force the claiper could hit the wheel.
Is it ok just to run a 3mm spacer on the front?
Would the standard wheel bolts be suitable with an extra 3mm of spacer between them and the hub?
Yes it will be fine and you would not need longer bolts.
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Cool, i will give it a go. Il try and refit the front wheel tomorrow just to be sure 3mm is enough. What is the maximum spacer width before longer bolts are required?
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Cool, i will give it a go. Il try and refit the front wheel tomorrow just to be sure 3mm is enough. What is the maximum spacer width before longer bolts are required?
5 to 7mm is about the max, if all else fails you can try and take the edges of the cailper with a grinder.
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Just been out to measure up the size of spacer needed to fit these wheels and clear the caliper. Looks like in reality they will need something like a 15mm spacer. Resting the flat surface of the wheel centre against the spigot of the hub provides about enouogh clearance and the distance from the flat surface of the hub to the end of the spigot plus about 2mm is approx 15mm...
The wheels look like theyd be in like with the edge of the wheel arch and wouldnt stick out much at all.. But the cost of the spacers may make it cheaper just to sell the wheels on, especially as the wheels use very small headed recessed bolts. Would it be practical to run that sort of width on the front only.
Im really suprised that they came off a new shape beetle. The new beetle must have a completely diff front caliper set up.
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Also what is the most accurate way of measuring the required spacer width?
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I would suspect they are et42 to suit a Beetle, et35 will fit a mk3 all ok, I would try a 5mm spacer first as I cannot see you would need 15mm to be honest.
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I think you might be right as thinking about it when i tried to estimate the gap the hub was slightly higher than the wheel..if that makes sense so the caliper was further up the spokes to the outside of the wheel where the clearance reduces. Just dont want to keep chucking money at them.
Is there any way i can work out the Et .Its not stamped on the wheel. There is the letetrs "et" then nothing. Not sure if there was a sticker there or something..
Measuring the distance from the inside of the wheel, from the flat face of the centre to the edge of the rim, the fuel alloys have the depth as the bbs wheels..
Actually just seen this https://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html#backspace (https://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html#backspace)
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Have now measured how much gap would be needed to measure the caliper. Did this using 2 spigot rings back to back. They gave 7mm clearance and the caliper only just scraped.
From the measurements i took this would mean i would need to get 10mm spacers.
Do you use your existing wheel bolts on 10mm spacers or will i need to get longer bolts. The problem as described earlier is that the bolts for these wheels have fairly narrow heads with a spline/torx type head to them and they recess into the wheel.
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To be honest, if they fitted a Beetle then they should fit a Golf, if you really need 10mm spacers then yes you will need new bolts and that could be tricky as they are special bolts.
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To be honest, if they fitted a Beetle then they should fit a Golf,
Thats what I thought. I may contact the guy I bought them from and see if he was running spacers with them as somethings a bit odd thats for sure.
The offset of the wheels on my gti (rs4 replicas) is 32 and the offset of the standard bbs which i took off my partners gti is 43..
The fuel wheels have a dished rim with set back spokes thats all i can see different.
Think it might be time to sell them.
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To be honest, if they fitted a Beetle then they should fit a Golf,
Thats what I thought. I may contact the guy I bought them from and see if he was running spacers with them as somethings a bit odd thats for sure.
The offset of the wheels on my gti (rs4 replicas) is 32 and the offset of the standard bbs which i took off my partners gti is 43..
The fuel wheels have a dished rim with set back spokes thats all i can see different.
Think it might be time to sell them.
sell them, wouldnt suit a mk3 anyway :undecided:
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sell them, wouldnt suit a mk3 anyway
lol they look quite good black and chrome on a black car and she likes them.. but i think its just too much hassle.
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Ok bit of an update... and advice from any one whos been in this situation would be good.
To cut a long story short one of the rs4 alloys on my gti were cracked and the tyre loosing air. I went up to elite in essex to sort out a new one. I also took the one of the fuel alloys with me for the chap to look at. In line with what Wayne said, he also said that any wheel which fit a mk3 gti will fit a beetle.
He looked at the wheel and said it would be way above an et45. The mk3 gti both pcd100 would take bettween a et 35 and 42 give or take 1 -2mm. The way the fuel alloy fit it was more than a et42, more like an et 45 or above. In his opinion there was no way it would fit on a beetle, or any 5 stud pcd 100 vw on the front wheels without spacers.
I bought these wheels from a car dealer via ebay who has a shop. I paid via pay pal and used a mastercard. Has anybody had this sort of sitaution before. Should i persue him for a refund. He advertised them as being suitable for a golf/beetle etc..
What would mt best option be. Go for him or try and sell them on
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i would try the seller first and see what he says, selling on may be harder for you due to not really knowing what car they would fit on.. :undecided:
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5 x 100 is not a very common fit was only used by VW and scoobys which had a lot lower offset (et32), not sure why they would be more than et45 offset, I would speak to the sell and go from there.