Custom Volkswagen Parts :: Airkewld.com

Wheels, we all need to run them. Some of us run what was on the car when we bought it, some are swayed by what other have. What if I said you can put any wheel that you desire on your ride? Would you believe me? You should because you can!

Lets start with the bolt pattern. Stock pre-67 VW's have what is called 5x205mm aka WIDE 5. 1968 and later cars have 4x130mm. Now the easiest thing to do is to pick a wheel that comes in those bolt patterns and call it a day. But, how are you making your ride stand out? Make your ride your own. In the event you would like to update to a different wheel, you will need to do one of three things. Install adapters, change over to disc brakes with the bolt pattern you need or if they make it for your particular year, purchase blank drums and drill and stud them to the pattern you need. Click here to see the saftey of all three options.

Close your eyes and think of the ultimate wheel for your ride. You are going to need some specifics of that wheel. Bolt pattern being one of them. To measure bolt patterns, check out these diagrams. The next spec you will need is the offset or backspacing. To figure out what back spacing you need. In this diagram, "A" is the back spacing, but "B" is the key to everything working. For example, we will start with the popular 17" diameter, 7" width wheel. This particular wheel has a back spacing of 4.50". What does that mean? It means that from the back face of the wheel, where it would touch the drum or rotors to the back edge of the wheel, measures out to 4.50". If you take a 7" wheel and minus 4.50 " you have 2.50" that will need to go towards the outside of the car. Does that make sense?

• A = 4.50"
• B = 2.50"

Those two measurements equal the width of the wheel. So, you need at least 2.50" of gap between the rotor and the inner fender lip for that particular wheel to fit.

So, you go out and measure your front offset or "B" and you come up with 2.00". That means the wheel will stick out 1/2" on each side. Does that work? The answer is no and yes. It will not work with the configuration you have now but you can now narrow your beam to compensate for the amount needed. So if you install a 2" narrowed beam, you would be tucking under the fenders by 1/2" on each side.

For all pre-66 Beetles, in stock configuration, you usually have @ 2" of front spacing in the front and 2" in the rear. But this is just an estimation. To get an accurate measurement, you will need a carpenters square or something similar to verify what the front offset or "B" is. These particluar pictures are from our Project 73 Super Beetle. It had 3" front spacing or "B" and 5.250" back spacing or "A" in the rear with stock fenders. We put 17x7" wheels on it that had that a 2" front spacing and they fit like a glove.

To check out back spacing of your rims, check out this article.

The keys to being able to put any set of wheels you want on your ride come down to these products.

1. Wheels Choice
2. Bolt Pattern (Adapters, Disc brakes or Drilled Drums)
3. Narrowed Beam or Coil Overs for Supers
4. Wider Fenders.

Any coloboration of those could be needed to make your dream wheel fit on your ride.

Just a note of caution, rule of thumb here at Airkewld, keep the width of the wheel to 7" - 7.5" and the diamter no larger then 18". Anything larger can and will damage or wear out your chassis components faster than you can imagine.

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