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Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:58 pm

Quote: Syncrodoka-What do you mean by this?
PM'd you the answer.

Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:07 pm

Come on SyncroDoka, out with it man!

Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:13 pm

Soon my friend. Soon

Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:23 pm

Before you all go away thinking the factory 16" wheel is the holy grail, you need to know that they are only 5.5" wide. If you are being very "by the book" it is hard to find a tire narrow enough to run on a 5.5" wide wheel. The 16" wheels are a good chunk thicker than the Passat wheels, but they are also MUCH heavier. A 16" wheel with a D rated tire on it weighs a lot. Not saying the factory 16's aren't nice but, just letting you know that pretty much every thing you do is going to be dealing in shades of grey.

Craig

Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:55 pm

I've heard that the syncro 16 rims have a low ET making fitting some bigger front brakes a problem.

Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:46 am

16's already have the (very slightly) bigger discs of the larger LT range of vans. The 16" handbook lists 185 r 16 or 205 r 16 as the two tire sizes available. I have never seen a 185 r 16 tire though.

People have banded these rims for an extra inch width, to allow the proper fitment of 235 70 16's.

Wed Mar 31, 2010 6:08 am

Putting them on a 14" syncro and trying to fit audi dual piston brakes was a problem.

Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:49 pm

Syncro 16 wheels are 16X5.5 with a 34mm offset. I've run up to 245/75/16 on mine without problems although they do look a bit like I'm driving on balloons :lol: . 225/75/16s happily sit on 5.5s. I have looked into having mine banded but the only place I would trust to do that kind of work wants £75 per wheel to band them and that's without having them repainted afterwards... not cheap!

I'm about to fit 312mm (or maybe slightly bigger) discs using VW Golf MK4 single piston calipers which will easily fit behind stock Syncro 16 wheels. I've not tried fitting Audi twin pot calipers.

They are heavy but I guess that comes from the weight rating.

I recently had a look at buying a set of T4 (Eurovan) Syncro 16inch wheels which are fairly rare over here but they're only £45 each new from VW. The offset is 53mm but I was buying them to try to fit over the 330mm brakes currently on my Syncro 16. Unfortunately the welded section where the centre meets the outer rim got in the way so it went back. These rims were just as heavy as the T3 Syncro 16 rims.

I did take some pics before it went back so will post them up if anyone is interested.

MG

Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:32 pm

Syncro 16 vans have different uprights to bolt on the LT brakes. They might have more rim clearance than the lowly 14" syncro with brake upgrades :wink:

Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:01 pm

Isnt the top secret info that Derek Drew is bringing the CV900s back into production?

I saw a post on the syncro list

Is any one running the GO WESTY 16" steelies?
Do they fit big brakes?

Wed Mar 31, 2010 9:10 pm

Who ever can make some decent 16''s is gonna make some money.

I unfortunatly order 16''s from GW and came to find out that they were the same rims I already had(Eurovan rims with the centers cut out bigger).So they went back.I guess I was misinformed thinking that they were real 16''s with some decent backspacing.I just want to run 225 75 16's.

Wed Mar 31, 2010 9:43 pm

I have the mercedes 16X7 steel C-class wheels, I haven't mounted tires on them yet though.
I think I got them for $78 each or something, I have 4 now, need two more...
see

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=233666

Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:28 am

syncrodoka wrote: Syncro 16 vans have different uprights to bolt on the LT brakes. They might have more rim clearance than the lowly 14" syncro with brake upgrades :wink:

Syncro 16 uprights use standard Syncro 14/2WD calipers and pads. Only the disc is different in diameter, 258mm and 277mm. The upright moves the caliper further out to accomodate the larger diameter disc and the steering arm is a different length on the Syncro 16 with non power steering. There's less room to run smaller rims on a Syncro 16 upright etc as the wheel hits the steering arm gets very close to the caliper etc. It's not possible to bolt 15 inch wheels onto a Syncro 16 with non power steering uprights.

I'm running Syncro 14 uprights on my 16 with bigger brakes :D

but these will be fitted to my other project soon and the 312mm (possibly bigger) brakes will be fitted instead.

http://www.futbus.com/Syncro-special-parts/VW-T25-Syncro-Front-Disc-Brake-Kit.html

Along with a disc brake kit for the rear using RS4 rear calipers and 312mm discs in a similar way to the Futbus rear disc kit.

Futbus does some good stuff for the Syncro and as a bolt on kit, it's hard to beat for price over here.

Re - Merc wheels, I've run them on my previous Syncro Crewcabs without problems although they are a bit soft and can be bent and buckled easily when getting serious. I no longer run them as I've upgraded my Single cab to 16 and they won't fit on my Syncro 16 Westy. I did have a policy of only straightening them twice and then they were thrown away but they're cheap enough for this.
I wouldn't trust something as heavy as Limey (4850lbs) to run on Merc wheels everday as I'd expect the welds to eventually give out.

I don't know how much Syncro 16 wheels are fetching over in U.S but in europe they're tending to go for 350-500 Euros for 5 and then they'll need repainting. A lot of the Syncro stuff in UK is currently being bought up and taken back to Germany due to the strong Euro/weak Pound. Their general weight makes them expensive to ship too!

MG

Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:39 am

Syncrodoka, just out of interest, do you have the pad dimensions for the G60 calipers to hand? I'd be interested to know what the pad contact area is. What diameter discs do you run with this setup?

Cheers
MG

Thu Apr 01, 2010 7:35 am

SyncroGhia wrote: ......
Along with a disc brake kit for the rear using RS4 rear calipers and 312mm discs in a similar way to the Futbus rear disc kit.

Looks like a nice kit but... Those rotors are solid. You can use 200 20v or V8 rotors without a problem and they're vented.

Thu Apr 01, 2010 7:41 am

onwardtothestars wrote: SyncroGhia wrote: ......
Along with a disc brake kit for the rear using RS4 rear calipers and 312mm discs in a similar way to the Futbus rear disc kit.

Looks like a nice kit but... Those rotors are solid. You can use 200 20v or V8 rotors without a problem and they're vented.

Sounds interesting... any links? I'll carry out a search on this later on just in case it's on Samba.
That's the reason I'm running RS4 rear calipers, they''ll fit over vented discs!

MG

Thu Apr 01, 2010 7:52 am

Burely has the adaptors for the caliper. The combo 'idea' he sells is running 200 20v/V8 calipers along with the vented rotors of the same car.

Thu Apr 01, 2010 10:03 am

syncrodoka
can I have a pm also
Thanks
Danny

Thu Apr 01, 2010 11:43 am

These just became listed at VanCafe...16X6 ET30 steelies:

http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_1263_341/16_inch_steel_wheel.html

Does anyone know if you need 16" trailing arms for these to work?

Thx

Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:36 pm

That's them. Peter at VC told me not to say anything but it seems that he put them up on the website sooo. Those are the Mefro steel wheels that I talked him into ordering from the motherland a few months ago and have been waiting for. He has 15" and 16" rims coming along with a center cap solution(they don't supply them). They are very strong(rated at over 1900 Lbs each). 16x6 ET30 makes them a great fit without having to mod anything. I am supposed to get a set as soon as they land.
The 15" rims that they brought in to decide if they should bring in a full shipment-