Merc Alloys

Post by **maximus** » 28 Oct 2006, 10:50

Has anyone got a set of these on there bus?? If so do you need spacers/longer nuts, or do they go straight on??

thanks

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MERCEDES-E-class- ... dZViewItem

Post by **g60steve** » 28 Oct 2006, 11:01

Depends on what offset(ET)they are.
When you know it check out:
http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/forum ... asp?FID=20

Post by **maximus** » 28 Oct 2006, 11:15

Depends on what offset(ET)they are

Bit of a novice Steve

what is this??

Post by **Westy.Club.Joker** » 28 Oct 2006, 13:50

Wheels will be marked with the diameter and the offset, eg 16x 7J x ET42 which means 16" diameter, 7" (7J) width and an offset (ET) of 42mm, which is the distance from the wheels contact face to the theoretical centreline of the wheel, so if you have 7J rims (7" wide), then 3 1/2" will give you the centreline of the rim, and then the ET will show you how much that is offset to the contact face, in this case 42mm (I know, mixing metric and imperial). The bigger the ET number for a given rim width (7J for example) the further out away from the suspension strut they will be, so if you got a small ET number you may be too close to the suspension, and will have to space the wheels out with a spacer plate between the rim and the brake disc/drum.

My rims are 7J x 16 x ET42, need a 20mm spacer front and rear to clear everything, and also to make it look like the arches are filled. No clearance probs, and I have a 40mm spring drop kit fitted. Note: camper can have front drivers side wheel clearance problem in the arches, due to the extra weight on that side with all the camping kit, tanks etc.

Read the Brickyard wheel info, it gives plenty of examples of what will fit, and what spacers you might need.

Note you will need longer rear wheel studs, and long conversion studs for the front end (to make life easy). Budget £60 for that lot, and then some locking wheel nuts to suit, watch for type of nut seat in the wheel, some are radiused seats, some are conical (taper) seats, you CANNOT mix `em.

Watch for small centre bore diameters as well, Merc are usually OK, you`ll need to make some VW wheel centre caps though, unless you want Merc stars, although I think you can get plain caps as weel for Merc wheels, I couldn`t find any when I was looking though.

Post by **maximus** » 28 Oct 2006, 15:05

Cheers Westy mate

While your here mate, have you ever changed any led lights on the water and battery level board? The 2 greens (battery and water) only showing Orange for battery and Orange for water when full up, do not work on mine I took the front off and had a look on the circuit board they don't seem to turn or pull off for you to change??

And what's the other switch for that just shows Red light

cheers

Post by **g60steve** » 28 Oct 2006, 15:49

[quote="Westy.Club.Joker] The bigger the ET number for a given rim width (7J for example) the further out away from the suspension strut they will be, so if you got a small ET number you may be too close to the suspension, and will have to space the wheels out with a spacer plate between the rim and the brake disc/drum[/quote]

Good explanation apart from you've got the ET bit the wrong way round.....the higher the offset(ET)the closer the rim is to the suspension hence the need for spacers/adaptors(examples-Merc wheel with ET42 requires a 10mm spacer at least(preferably 15mm)whereas a Porsche wheel with an ET of 50 requires the adaptor to be 25mm(ish)to form the required ET of 25).The lower the offset(ET)means the wheels stick out more and the use of spacers with low ET wheels mean you become Carlos Fandango