Merc wheels finally fitted

[pionte]

Its been nearly 2 years since I bought these ML wheels , They have been shot blasted and painted ( as recomended by KEVTHEREV ). Redundancy put opay to spending any non essential money !

But this week I bought some nearly new Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme tyres ( yes I know its nearly summer ) some Brickwerks 25mm adapters with suds ( great bit of kit ! ) if a little pricey.... anyhow , here is the result...















I didnt realise but the fronts are out further than the rears.... I kinda like it , but am thinking that maybe it would be better the other way round ??? what do you think ?

next job - 50 mm new shocks and springs all round....

[Titus A Duxass]

You just need to finish them off with some nut covers and centre caps (wiki).

I don't think the fronts are any further out than the rears.

[pionte]

Thanks for the reply t.a.d, I have the original Merc cemtre caps ...just need to spray them ! I have seen the ones in wiki ( and on kevtherevs) they look good, but as my wheels are black I want them to blend in so that you cant see them, rather than make a feature with the VW caps.

[g60steve]

I always put slightly bigger spacers(5-10mm) on the rear when fitting wider alloys.
It makes the van "look right"

May I ask what ET the ML alloys are because coupled with the spacers they do look a bit too far out.....on a lowered van that's not a good thing as you'll be joining the curly arch club.

[Titus A Duxass]

Those ML rims have an ET of 47.

[pionte]

Those ML rims have an ET of 47.

yep and IF i have my calculations correct ? 47-25= 22, I think this is ok for lowering ??? I am doubting myself now off to wiki for a looksee....

[pionte]

Those ML rims have an ET of 47.

yep and IF i have my calculations correct ? 47-25= 22, I think this is ok for lowering ??? I am doubting myself now off to wiki for a looksee....

Ok having just gone back and re read the Brickwerks website, this is what it says....
A word on offsets...
The recommended rage for wheel offset for the T3 is between 30mm and 40mm. Having said that, a number of well respected German tuners who produced kits for the T3 supplied wheels with offsets as low as ET23 with good results. Projektzwo and Oettinger being 2 of them.
For this reason we'd say dont go much lower that ET23. Remember, by adding a spacer between the wheel and hub you lower the offset by the thickness of the spacer. So, if you start with ET48 and fit these you'll end up at ET23. This is what the people who spent a lot of money developing aftermarket kits for the T3 decided was ideal.

Generally the VW/Audi stuff from the bigger saloons tends to be between ET45 and ET55... so ET20-35 with these spacers.


So at ET of 22 I am just under the " ideal " Its in for its MOT tomorrow so I will have a drive and see what it feels like..... I must admit that I may decide to go 5 mm narrower on the front, just to make it look better...

Martin

[Titus A Duxass]

I have 20 mm spacers on each wheel.
I've driven about 6000 km and had the wheels + spacers checked by the TüV people - everything is okay.

[pionte]

I have 20 mm spacers on each wheel.
I've driven about 6000 km and had the wheels + spacers checked by the TüV people - everything is okay.

what wheels are you running on ? whats your ET ? how do you find the steering ?

[Titus A Duxass]

I have 20 mm spacers on each wheel.
I've driven about 6000 km and had the wheels + spacers checked by the TüV people - everything is okay.

what wheels are you running on ? whats your ET ? how do you find the steering ?

I am running the same as you.
Merc ML 16 x 6,5 ET47 - Part Number 163401010E
For tyres I have 215/65C 106/104T - 5% over size.

The steering is heavy when parking but stable when doing 160 kmh.

[pionte]

well she passed the MOT no advisories

Actually the drive was really good, no tram lining, straight as a die and not too heavy, apart from when parking... but not restrictively so.

I still may drop the fronts to 15 -20 mm spacers.... I am concerned that if i dont then when I fit the lowered springs I will have contact whilst on lock

Thanks for all the advice just for Info I am running with 215 60 16, tyres... the rolling diameter is 1.6 % longer than stock.... 10mm more aparently, I certainly didnt notice any change over the stock wheels RE gearing, I will put the Sat Nav in later and check the speedo reading .... which before was "cock" on !

Martin.

[Titus A Duxass]

well she passed the MOT no advisories

I still may drop the fronts to 15 -20 mm spacers.....

At least that's the easy end, just get the stud adaptors from Brickwerks and trim them to fit - easy peasy lemon squeezy.

[pionte]

Just a quick update.... I e-mailed Brickwerks over the weekend to ask them to clarify what advice they NOW recommend....

As in one section they say Dont go below an offset of 30 ish as very bad things will happen, then in the link selling these adapters they say 23 is fine and even "ideal" .... slightly confused and confuddled !

I am still waiting to hear back, guessing they are busy. I will post their response as soon as I hear back.

In the meantime all I can report is the can drives really well , I just dont want to wreck my front wheel bearings and I am unsure which lowering kit I can use with these spacers fitted, originally I intended to go -50 .... but this may not be possible, so will have to hang fire ordering these untill I hear back.

Martin

[Titus A Duxass]

Oettinger and, I think, Projekt Zwo went down to 23 ET.
VW went down to 30 with the Carat wheels.

I am at 27 ET and have done 5000 kms, mostly autobahn mileage.

[g60steve]

Ok it's 1mm less than the accepted minimum ET but it won't kill you're wheel bearings any quicker than ET23.
Here's a photo of a P2 Bus with ET23 alloys fitted.



You're main concern with ET22/23 alloys would be the brand and quality of lowering kit you intend to use because some,depending on the weight of the van,may end up lowering the front more than the advertised drop....if so you will get arch/tyre contact when turning over rough ground/going up kerbs etc.

I'd personally say go for -30mm springs on a camper with ET22/23.
If you're intent on going -50mm then I'd say change the front spacers for 20mm ones.