Web page with Reproduction Fuchs

THE ONLY PLACE YOU'LL FIND THESE 112MM BUS 71-79 WHEELS IS AT CIP1.COM!!!

We now offer this beautiful wheel to fit directly onto your 71-79 VW Bus. These wheels will add a the finishing touch to your Bus or Van. These wheels have been specially designed to clear the center front hub and rear axle nuts without any problems. All 911 style center caps fit properly and will also clear the center hub. 5x112mm bolt patterns. Center caps and hardware are sold separately. For center caps, see ACC-C10-6603 or ACC-C10-6604. These wheels are machined to use tapered acorn style mounting nuts or bolts. See C13-70-2862. Wheel backspacing 3-3/4 inch.
Special note: These wheels will fit your bus with a 165/15 (ACC-C10-6655) tire, or a 195/50/15 tire (ACC-C10-6723).Westfalia owners may require a 8 ply tire, if so check with your local tire dealer for a 15 inch 8 ply tire to handle the weight of your Westfalia. If you want to install a larger or wider tire on your bus you may require rear fender modifications. You may choose to machine the mounting pad (back of wheel) 1/8 to 1/4 inch maximum to allow these wheels to tuck in further on the back of your bus. Please be advised that CIP does NOT recommend this and CIP will take no responsibility or warrant the structural integrity of the wheel. We have sold 100's of these wheels over the past few years with great feedback from our loyal customers.

Michelin Agilis 51

205/65TR15C1 102T OE

"What are the tire requirements for Busses, Vanagons, and Eurovans?Why can't I use standard passenger car tires?"

The VW Bus, Vanagon, and Eurovan have unusual tire requirements because they are very heavy vehicles sitting on comparatively small tires. While most modern vans and SUV's use 16 to 18 inch tires (which can handle more weight), most VW vans use much smaller tires. This puts more strain on the tire's sidewall and therefore requires a tire especially designed to handle this. Most passenger car tires are simply not designed to handle the weight of a VW van, and do not meet VW's specs for safe use on a VW bus or van.

Starting in the mid 1960's with split-window busses using 14" tires, and continuing through the Eurovan, Volkswagen specifically required that the tires have specially reinforced sidewalls, designed to handle the heavy load of the vehicle. These special "sidewall reinforced" tires were supplied with your VW Bus or Van when sold new, and the warnings on the door jamb and in the manual clearly advised that only similar replacement tires be used, for safety's sake.

Standard-load passenger car tires are simply unsafe for use on VW vans. This is agreed upon by both Volkswagen and the U.S. Department of Transportation. According to U.S. D.O.T. tire safety standards, a Light Truck tire used on a VW bus or van (which is classified as a light truck for tire purposes) must be able to handle 6% above the van's maximum load capacity. But if the tire is a P-rated (passenger car) tire, its load capacity specification must FIRST be reduced by 9% to determine its Light Truck load capacity (again, as per the U.S. D.O.T.), and then the 6% safety margin deducted from that number. If you do the math, based on the GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating) of a Bus or Vanagon you get the following minimum acceptable load ratings: 1520 lbs (load index 95) for a light truck rated tire, or 1670 lbs (load index 99) for a standard Passenger car (P) rated tire. For a Eurovan, Volkswagen recommends more stringent guidelines, advising a minimum load index of 100 (1764 lbs).

Then the tire must handle the recommended inflation for your VW van. This is especially an issue with Busses and Vanagons, which require unusually high rear-tire inflation on most years (as high as 53 psi, depending on the year and the tire size). See the inflation requirement noted on your door jamb or owners manual, and compare that to the maximum inflation rating on the tire's sidewall. If the tire's rating is lower, it cannot be properly inflated when used on your van.

So for safe use on a VW van, both the tire's load capacity and its inflation capacity must exceed those required for your van (as noted above). This rules out virtually every standard-load passenger car tire on the market - which is precisely why Volkswagen themselves say not to use them. Look for the terms "Sidewall Reinforced," "Load Range C", or "Load Range D" on the tire. Most tires that carry those designations will have sufficient sidewall strength for safe use on a VW bus or van, but you should still check the exact specs to make sure.

These specs can only be used to rule out tires that are unsafe for your van under any conditions. They cannot be used to rate the quality of the tire. Among those tires that do meet these specs, there are still huge differences in handling, traction, comfort, and reliability, just as with any tires. More on this later.
"Can I safely use standard passenger car tires if I upgrade to 15" or 16" wheels and tires?"

No. Volkswagen has said this consistently, throughout the history of the VW van. Several versions of VW vans, from the 60's through the present-day T5 (the successor to the Eurovan, not sold in the U.S.) have come factory-equipped with 15" or 16" wheels. Yet every one of them - from the 60's straight through to the present, and despite improvements in tire technology - has called for extra-load tires, even if 15" or 16" sizes were used. In no case has Volkswagen ever wavered on this requirement, no matter what the tire size. If using a 15" or 16" tire meant that reinforced tires were no longer needed, Volkswagen would have stopped using them. Auto manufacturers love to cut unneccesary costs. Volkswagen could have saved a fortune by cutting back to standard-load tires as standard equipment on newer models with 15" and 16" wheels... had they felt this was safe.