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What are some of the more common options for 15 or 16 inch wheel fitment on the 72-79 T-2?
Thanks & take care. Bob

Mercedes, but the bolt holes need opened up a tad for 14mm studs.
Many late Audis/VWs same issue.


The offsets generally work.

Mercedes uses smaller 12mm lugs on their smaller cars, but also uses 14mm hardware on the large vehicles.

I've run 15" Audi A4 and 17" Audi S4 wheels...the hubcentric hub needs to be opened up to fit over the Baywindow discs.

I got a set of alloys from an entry level merc, I wanted steelies and actually thought they were hubcaps until I tried to remove them the offset was too little (wheel too close to the car) which is great, because then a couple bucks worth of spacers and viola, fully custom offset to match any custom jobs, or just to tailor it to your desire. The center hole was actually big enough to clear the hub fine, no mods needed, but longer studs are needed because the wheels are thick thick thick and then spacer thickness on top of that. The holes can be opened in 30 seconds with a 9/16 drill iirc. Or you could get 12 mm studs with a big knurl, but I prefer to be able to go back to factory later, plus it keeps budget down to reuse my og lug nuts. One word of warning though, not all wheels use tapered lug nuts like us, some have a ball end vs a taper. Pull a lug bolt (the merc used the longest bolts I have ever seen) and compare the taper to you lug nut to see if it will work.

Bob you from ct? I would probably trade these 15 alloys for 15 or 16 in steelies if you came across em.

VW Buses all used ball seat to the best of my knowledge...it's the tapered ones you may find on Mercedes/Audi/etc.

Ach you are right. Moral of the story: follow advice on the internet, but do all your own homework

FWIW, I've actually got an extra set of A4 wheels, 15x7's I opened up crudely using a die grinder in a hurry...

Here's a couple photos relevant to the stud choices...A stock stud next to a longer Sway-A-Way piece:




As is with most things, tire choice is also a big contributor to fitment. I went from a low profile studless snow tire to a slightly larger all season and had to use an 8mm spacer all else being the same.

Blizzaks:


Michelins:

You can get 14mm press-in studs in up to 100mm lengths.

I can't recall if the Porsche ball seat lug nut profile is the same as the VW/Audi.

The bus and vanagon share the same stock wheel so this will help you:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=203519
MB wheels use both 12mm and 14mm lug bolts. To use wheels that originaly used 12mm lugs the wheel holes can be drilled larger and these lugs used:
http://t3technique.com/lugs.html

Also the Vanagon alloy uses the conical instead of the ball seat so lug nuts and bolts are also available

Did not know that about the vanagainst wheels.

After going over the 74 PAGE thread posted by joe vw all I can say is "my head is swimming"! All I ever wanted to know & more. Thanks guys. Take care. Bob

Just for everyones general info. I do not know why Mercedes Benz does this but I have a set of 14 x 6 1/2" MB steel wheels from the larger sedans. The hole in the steel wheel is large enough that no mods needed to install onto my '71 bay, with 205/70R14 tires. Every MB alloy wheel has the 12mm hole but the steel spare wheel has 14mm hole. These wheels look similar to the VW wheel but the chrome hub cap will not snap on. Go figure!
Hope this helps, Bill

yeah those steel rims are the ones I was after originally. like the stock truck look of those steel rims w/ round holes

bumping an old thread w/ some updates and info. I ditched the alloy merc rims, they were just tooo much to make work (atleast I thought at the tiem) that I could do better. I now have some "audi" wheels, I think they are US wheel 62 replacement rims. Anyways I have learned they use a smaller style ball lug than VW, so the lug sits quite high. I am going to order 2 of those lug nuts to do some testing w/ and see if I am right.