PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - I started making my own wheel rim adapters

strelnik · #1 11-19-2013, 10:50 AM

This may not interest most of you, but I have cars which have a very particular problem.

400mm tires

Put another way, earlier classic cars from Europe, like Lotus, Alfa, Citroen Panhard used 400 mm rims.

Ya can't go to a tire store and buy the skins, because the rims are 15-3/4" in diameter.

I have often seen such tires in Euro stores for up to 320 Euros each. Since I would need 15, that's a lot of cash.

Instead, I did calculating and discovered that I could make an adapter that would fit the Citroen Traction Avant rims and enable the right sized 15" VW rim to fit.

The tire would be 165 R80-15 and use a specific type of VW rim.

I built one set of protoype adapters and they work great! Had to use Porsche racing studs and lug nuts for stability but they are hidden.

The offset between the Citroen rims and these VW rims is within 5mm without modification, so I'm leaving it as is.

I can also use Citroen hubcaps and the effect is overall pretty good.

Bottom line: it's easier to do than you think and definitely worth it.