Wider Rear Rims - can I space out the sliding door?

[Nicholas Poole]

Any suggestions anyone? I’m sure the purists will be outraged, but I love the 9J front and 10.5j rear 20” wheels I’ve put on my Beach - handling and looks are great.
However - I’ve noticed on the face of my rear o/s rim that there are some fine scratches to the spokes caused NOT by my poor parking, but from the sliding door (electric) that just touches as it opens. I’ve removed the bottom trim off the door on the inside which you never see, and have put some soft tape on it, but does anyone know of a spacer kit or bracket to push the door out a touch more? I need max 1cm more clearance, and want to make sure the door still closes tightly.
Any ideas?

 

[ArunAlec]

Having had a few issues with my powered door I wouldn't want to risk tampering with the closing mechanism. Some have problems with the door scratching the wheel arch due to the "bounce" as the door operates.

 

[Nicholas Poole]

Having had a few issues with my powered door I wouldn't want to risk tampering with the closing mechanism. Some have problems with the door scratching the wheel arch due to the "bounce" as the door operates.

Yes you could be right - the door’s not broken so I don’t really want to mess with it, but I’m wondering if there’s a shim pack out there or similar

 

[Nicholas Poole]

Yes you could be right - the door’s not broken so I don’t really want to mess with it, but I’m wondering if there’s a shim pack out there or similar - scratches can barely be seen but they won’t polish out and I know they’re there....

 

[B J G]

I can't see any way to move the door out easily as it would be spaced out in the closed position also.

I'd think that cracked rims would require replacing often enough not to worry about minor scratches (tongue in cheek).

 

[westfalia]

You can´t really do anything to make the door extend further out when opened.

It´s the plastic panel on the inside of the door thats catching the wheel.
Maybe remove it and see if you can add some extra screws to press it in a
bit more or add some soft material to it so that it doesn´t scratch the wheel.

I like the wheels, the van looks cool.
Are they van rated wheels ?

 

[briwy]

Looks nice but are you saying that the wheels stick out past the bodywork?
If that is the case you may find problems at MOT time as my understanding is that all the wheel tyre has to covered by the bodywork.

 

[s2bear]

What offset are the wheels and is the van lowered on coil overs? The reason I ask is that when mine was lowered 70mm on Bilstein B14s it seems to have given a slight camber to the rear wheels so the inner door card just kisses the tyre when it’s fully open. I don’t think it did this initially, perhaps when it settled a bit but I’m wondering if raising mine by 10mm - 20mm all round might reduce that camber and solve the problem?

I think I read that the rear suspension isn’t adjustable for camber.

Another solution ‘may be’ to ask a wheel or machine shop to change the offset of your rear wheels by machining the inner face a few mm where it mounts to the hub (providing there’s enough inner arch clearance)- I’m not even close to being an expert’s cousin’s brother on this so you’d have to take advice from someone who is, however, the reason I bring it up is that some shops are supplied wheels ‘blank’ regarding offset and PCD - they then machine the wheels to suit your requirements.

Mine are only 10” wide (ET 45)- I have seen 10.5s on rears BUT these were on Multivans as opposed to Californias - perhaps they have a thinner/different inner door card? Stu


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[sidepod]

Could you remove the slider track from the body and shim it outboard slightly under its rear most fixing?

Then, as the door tracks rearwards it should also move outboard.
Leave the forward mount as is then it should close properly.

 

[Max-Felix]

It's common for the confounded powered door to bounce and gouge the paintwork - the clearance with the Cali trim panel is too close for comfort.

 

[ArunAlec]

It's common for the confounded powered door to bounce and gouge the paintwork - the clearance with the Cali trim panel is too close for comfort.

Agree, the rear bracket already runs very close to the removable side panel. Also If still under warranty you'd have to remove any shims before going to the dealer with any door issues.

 

[Chris Petford]

What offset are the wheels and is the van lowered on coil overs? The reason I ask is that when mine was lowered 70mm on Bilstein B14s it seems to have given a slight camber to the rear wheels so the inner door card just kisses the tyre when it’s fully open. I don’t think it did this initially, perhaps when it settled a bit but I’m wondering if raising mine by 10mm - 20mm all round might reduce that camber and solve the problem?

I think I read that the rear suspension isn’t adjustable for camber.

Another solution ‘may be’ to ask a wheel or machine shop to change the offset of your rear wheels by machining the inner face a few mm where it mounts to the hub (providing there’s enough inner arch clearance)- I’m not even close to being an expert’s cousin’s brother on this so you’d have to take advice from someone who is, however, the reason I bring it up is that some shops are supplied wheels ‘blank’ regarding offset and PCD - they then machine the wheels to suit your requirements.

Mine are only 10” wide (ET 45)- I have seen 10.5s on rears BUT these were on Multivans as opposed to Californias - perhaps they have a thinner/different inner door card? Stu


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Hi S2 BEAR

I was thinking about wider rears on my california.
I was wondering if the wheels i would like would also rub, they will be 10 inch wide 20s offset 35.
Will 35 offset stick out further than your 45s do you know ?

Cheers

Chris

 

[s2bear]

Hi S2 BEAR

I was thinking about wider rears on my california.
I was wondering if the wheels i would like would also rub, they will be 10 inch wide 20s offset 35.
Will 35 offset stick out further than your 45s do you know ?

Cheers

Chris

Hi Chris, yes I think those will stick out an extra 10mm on the outer edge (10mm more clearance on the inside edge)
I really don’t think the sliding door will clear that. Sorry.
Stu

P.s. I’ve just looked at the jan 18 issue of VWt Mag and there’s an article called ‘Strictly Come Stancing’ in which there’s a T5 running 10x20 ET35 Rotiform SPF. It’s not a Cali so the door card in the slider will be different but it tells you how close things are. You could always change the door card on the slider I guess.

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[Chris Petford]

Thanks a lot for your reply mate
I think ill just go for 9s all round as I'm not desperate for wider rears.
Cheers
Chris

 

[s2bear]

Thanks a lot for your reply mate
I think ill just go for 9s all round as I'm not desperate for wider rears.
Cheers
Chris

If you went with a 9” wide ET35 I imagine that would probably fit with no issues as it sticks out 3mm less and if it’s a concave look you’re after that should still be possible.

Mine are 10” ET 45 so if the width dropped to 9” (25.4mm narrower) but the offset stayed the same, each edge would move in (to the wheel centre) by 12.7mm. If you then increase offset to ET 35 that will push the wheel outwards of centre by another 10mm, almost compensating. I hope this makes sense.

In theory your outside rim would stick out 3mm LESS than this pic which is pretty insignificant looks wise and probably way more beneficial. (Less unsprung weight, more rim protection from kerbs etc).

I would have preferred 20x9 but there were availability issues so I went 10 and worried more.

I should stop typing now.

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[Chris Petford]

If you went with a 9” wide ET35 I imagine that would probably fit with no issues as it sticks out 3mm less and if it’s a concave look you’re after that should still be possible.

Mine are 10” ET 45 so if the width dropped to 9” (25.4mm narrower) but the offset stayed the same, each edge would move in (to the wheel centre) by 12.7mm. If you then increase offset to ET 35 that will push the wheel outwards of centre by another 10mm, almost compensating. I hope this makes sense.

In theory your outside rim would stick out 3mm LESS than this pic which is pretty insignificant looks wise and probably way more beneficial. (Less unsprung weight, more rim protection from kerbs etc).

I would have preferred 20x9 but there were availability issues so I went 10 and worried more.

I should stop typing now.

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Cheers for the info you can never have too much.

These are the ones I will go for once I've convinced myself that spanking a load more money replacing the perfectly round ones I already have is the right thing to do.

They are indeed concave.

 

[s2bear]

Cheers for the info you can never have too much.

These are the ones I will go for once I've convinced myself that spanking a load more money replacing the perfectly round ones I already have is the right thing to do.

They are indeed concave.

View attachment 30743

Love those. I was originally going to get the VFS1 in graphite! Load rated to 815kg too. I found my cv7s on special at Prestige wheel centre in the end so couldn’t pass them by. Look forward to seeing those rolling on your Cali !!


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[sidepod]

Is 815kg enough?

 

[s2bear]

Is 815kg enough?

In my case (204 DSG 4M Beach) I believe it is.
Heaviest gross axle weight is 1620kg so just over the required rating and TUV approved for the T6 in Germany.
If saying that doesn’t jinx me I don’t know what will.....


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[NRDSRFR]

Did anyone ever work out a solution for wider tyres / offset?

My door is rubbing against my tyres.

I put 17" KMC Holeshots + General Grabber AT3 235/65/R17 on my LHD 2006 California SE, which has the VW / Eibach 30mm lowering springs. AFAIK others have used the same wheel/tyre combo on a Cali.

I had the tracking adjusted today (was hoping alignment might help) but my mech said it's still rubbing. He said there may be an extended version of the door roller guide...anyone know anything about that? Other ideas?

I'm open to lifting it, but I think I'll need new springs + dampers to keep the handling nice? I thought that might remove some negative camber. I've been told if I install stock height springs I'll probably want some Bilstein B6 or other good dampers, and maybe there are better matched springs which are stock height or above. Suggestions?

 

[briwy]

The camber on the rear hardly changes with ride height as it's atrailing srm and as standard you can't alter it. I believe there is a third party way to get adjustable camber plates. Have a look on the T5 forums where they are more into stuff like that.

 

[sidepod]

Did anyone ever work out a solution for wider tyres / offset?

My door is rubbing against my tyres.

I put 17" KMC Holeshots + General Grabber AT3 235/65/R17 on my LHD 2006 California SE, which has the VW / Eibach 30mm lowering springs. AFAIK others have used the same wheel/tyre combo on a Cali.

I had the tracking adjusted today (was hoping alignment might help) but my mech said it's still rubbing. He said there may be an extended version of the door roller guide...anyone know anything about that? Other ideas?

I'm open to lifting it, but I think I'll need new springs + dampers to keep the handling nice? I thought that might remove some negative camber. I've been told if I install stock height springs I'll probably want some Bilstein B6 or other good dampers, and maybe there are better matched springs which are stock height or above. Suggestions?

View attachment 63000

Well clearly you’ve installed wheels simply not suitable for the van. FACT.
Perhaps an understanding of the difference between negative and positive camber would be a good start. From you photo only more negative would help.
Tip. Negative means the top of your bling is further inboard than the bottom.

 

[s2bear]

I think you’re correct in that others have used the same wheel style / tyre combo but not with lowered suspension and perhaps they’re running the same wheel in a different offset. Looking at the pic, which looks like you can squeeze the slider past the tyre but it rubs, I reckon going back to stock ride height is your easiest route - perhaps someone would let you mount your wheel on their stock Cali which will prove the fit one way or the other with a minimum of fuss?

You’re running an off-road tyre setup with a sport/road suspension setup, and there’s the ‘rub’.

To answer your question, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen custom sliding door spacers in magazines but can’t remember where - sorry. Check through the VWt or VWBus magazine vendor ads or maybe contact the editor as I’m sure they’ll know.

Your other ‘option’ could be to swap your door card from a Cali one to a combi one which I think is probably thinner but you’d lose your table mount.


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