Brakes & Suspension

Wheel Upgrades

CLK320 p/n 208 401 0002

16" preferred Mercedes CLK 98-00 5x112

With the CLK you don't have to have a spacer, unless you want to go with 225 or wider or use certain center caps.

You can go up to an 8.8" section width, which generally means up to 215.

I recommend using a 37/64" drill bit to drill the lug holes, but people have gotten away with a 9/16" bit. With a 9/16" bit, if the holes are not drilled fairly straight, the wheel studs and lug bolts can hang up on the holes and you don't want that. 37/64" give you just hair more room.

http://www.t3technique.com/media/pdf/Wheel%20mounting%20facts%20as%20they%20relate%20to%20the%20Vanagon%20and%20Syncro.pdf

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=203519&highlight=wheel+rims

Tires:

Tire Calculator

http://www.syncro.ca/tiresize/

The Nokian WRC and Hakka tire both come in 205/65-r16 and 215/65-r16. The 205 has a diameter of 26.5, which is only 3.3% larger than the stock 25.7. The 215 however has a diameter of 27, making it 5.3% larger than stock.

205/65/16

215/[65|70]/16

Most 2wd Vanagons came with ET39 wheels and narrow 185 tires. When VW wanted to use wider tires they needed to change the ET so they chose ET30 for 205 tires. So nothing wrong with ET37 for 2wd but it all depends on the tires to be installed on them. My family has a couple of 2wd vans using C Class Mercedes 7x16 ET37 wheels and 215/65-16 tires. The upper control arms were clearanced slightly to prevent rubbing. That concept might terrify some.

215/60/R16 Yokohama Geolandar a/t-s

215/60/R16 Nokian WR G2

215/65/R16 Nokian Entyre 102T XL

215/65/16 Nexen CP521

I'm running 215-60-16 Falken 912 tires on my 16 inch CLK wheels. Highly recommend. This is on a full camper running Carat springs, and I have no rubbing issues whatsoever. The Falken 912 tires are rated at 99 load index and XL (extra load) designated.