Will Merc Vito / Viano wheels fit my crossover??

[nobbly]

Hi Earlybayers,

I fancy some bigger steelies and need to get tyres sorted for upcoming MoT (first one in 15 years for this bus!!!). So, rather than buy some 185R14 tyres for the test, just to swap them off soon after, I thought I'd seek your experiences with larger Mercedes steels to try and get it right first time.

As it says in the title, Merc van wheels 6Jx16", 5x112 PCD and ET54 will they fit? I appreciate I will probably need spacers, so..

1. Anyone done this fit before?
2. What (load rated) tyres should I run to keep speedo accurate(ish)?

Thanks in advance for your help! :beerchug:

David

 

[purpledog07]

hi, not sure if the wheels will fit. but i can hopefully help with selecting a tyre size. this may be stuff you already know but here goes: if you have a 16"/6J wheel this means 16" diameter x 6" width. tyre sizes are given for example 235R/45/16 this means 235mm wide radial tyre with a sidewall aspect ratio of 45% of the width and 16" rim diameter. the mixture of metric and imperial dimensions makes it annoying to calculate but any dimension in mm can be divided by 25.4 to give the inch equivalent. this can then be used to calculate the overall diameter in inches. the sidewall is 45% of the width so 235x45%=105.75mm which is 4.16". so add the rim diameter and the sidewall height to get the overall height, in this case 20.16". the .16 can be ignored, (the speedos have never been that accurate anyway), so you have 20" overall diameter.
the standard wheel and tyre combination of 185R/14C where the aspect ratio is not given it is almost always a standard 80 or 82% and can be calculated as: 185x80%=148. 148/25.4=5.82" this is roughly 6". so 6"+14"=20".
you can use the same calculation for narrower or wider tyres to try to keep the rolling diameter the same as stock, this will keep the speedo and odo readings as accurate as they can be.
hope this helps you select a tyre once you find a wheel that fits. bare in mind though side clearances as these tyres would probably be too wide, i just used the size as an example. The wider you go the more wind resistance and the greater the rolling resistance = higher fuel consumption. the lower the aspect ratio the harder the ride and greater strain on unsprung weight, that is anything which is below and not carried by the suspension will be under higher stresses as the tyres will not absorb the bumps and potholes as well as stock. Also remember the 185R/14C, well the C is for commercial rated tyres, these are made with stronger construction to carry higher loads than car tyres, whatever you do i would recommend using these. you may struggle to find some sizes as they are made for vans and trucks but they are definately worth getting as they are more rigid and you will get less wallow on corners and less buffeting on motorways.
finally even if you are buying them online any decent tyre fitters should be able to recommend a good tyre and size for your motor and wheels, just ask them for a quote.
a bit of a rant i know but worth considering well if you are going to spend good money and time on this.
good luck with it all.
post what you end up doing, would be interesting to see a pic of the result and what the ride is like after.

cheers, dave

 

[purpledog07]

haha, didnt read the date on that post...

 

[nobbly]

Never too late Dave! Due to the large amount of work going on underneath my old bay!!

I've gone for 15" Merc rims in the end, they only arrived today though. ET54 looks fine and the rims look sweet in standard stealth black finish, though I've yet to try them on the van with tyres on them.

I had the same 'commercial' tyre debate when I put alloy wheels on my VW T4, after doing some research, I decided to fit tyres with a load index of 95 as a minimum which has been fine for the past seven years and 100,000 miles.

I'll apply the same logic to the bay. Once she's off the axle stands, I'll post up a pic.

 

[AxlFoley]

My mate has just fitted Mercedes 15" steels to his late bay, they look good, he even has VW hubcaps fitted.

 

[purpledog07]

Never too late Dave! Due to the large amount of work going on underneath my old bay!!


I've gone for 15" Merc rims in the end, they only arrived today though. ET54 looks fine and the rims look sweet in standard stealth black finish, though I've yet to try them on the van with tyres on them.

I had the same 'commercial' tyre debate when I put alloy wheels on my VW T4, after doing some research, I decided to fit tyres with a load index of 95 as a minimum which has been fine for the past seven years and 100,000 miles.

I'll apply the same logic to the bay. Once she's off the axle stands, I'll post up a pic.

Didn't expect a reply. I'm interested to find out what happens as I have a 72 also. currently lowered about 6" or so, not slammed, I can just get my chest under with a shimmy, and I recently replaced all 4 tyres for mot with firestone 185r14c. Expensive, and I sort of regret it as I really wanted lower profile commercials but couldn't get hold of any locally and ended up settling. These are on standard 14 steels and do look good as the wheels are white and caps are polished. So let us know how the Merc rims pan out...
Cheers, dave.

 

[nobbly]

Sorry @purpledog07,

It's been a while, but I got Merc Vaneo wheels with a 'near enough' ET and 15" diameter. Tyres 195/65 15 (rear) and 185/60 15 (front)

http://s1024.photobucket.com/user/_nobbly/media/Merc%20Wheels%202_zpscp28ozxx.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://s1024.photobucket.com/user/_nobbly/media/WP_20151009_16_41_34_Pro_zps2qvza8hv.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

regards,

 

[purpledog07]

nice nobbly, they could look so sweet. they resemble very old porsche steel rims. those photos take me back years to when i was restoring mine in an open ended barn with leaky gutters creating a waterfall down the walls when it rained. i spent many, many hours lying in a huge puddle welding in the dark with only a lead lamp and a doobie for company. i even sprayed the bus in that dusty barn (was summertime when spraying), and it didn't come out too bad all considered. Although its been mostly repainted again, on my drive at home! Ahh the good times... anyway good luck with the wheels. have you chosen a colour yet or are you sticking with the standard black? i hope you keep the thread open so we can see your progress.
keep on keepin' on. vw restos never end, you'll always be fettling something or other. i'm always having ideas on improvements, just covered the dashboard top with some very posh italian leather i scrounged as it was previously painted to match the outside in "klm blau", looked fantastic but i couldn't see through it when the sun shone! bought a vintage sewing machine tonight to reupholster the rapidly falling apart front seats in the bay.
i would like to have documented all the work i've done but the internet was young when i first bought her, i'm gonna try to find the time soon to start a blog or something.
cheers dave

 

[nobbly]

Yes, I thought they had a look of the Porsche or some splitscreen wheels. I'm very happy with them and the wheels only cost £60 from eBay. I needed new wheelnuts (different radius) and these cost another £40.

The early work on my van is documented on camera films, not yet developed!! She is in a nice heated workshop now, getting ready for paint and a 2 litre engine :mrgreen:

I have just got a restoration thread going, it is good fun and the comments keep me motivated.