Wheel Anger !!!!!

[mbGti]

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 

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.

[Mikester]

have a read of this thread, similar problem:

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=116685.0

[Wayne]

Easy to fix, run a 3mm spacer on the front.

[mbGti]

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?

[Wayne]

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.

[mbGti]

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?

[Wayne]

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.

[mbGti]

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.

[mbGti]

Also what is the most accurate way of measuring the required spacer width?

[Wayne]

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.