Wheel advice needed !!!!!!!!

[thedutchguy]

Last weekend I decided to give my Vx very good cleaning.
However when I was busy with the wheels, I cut my hand?????
I gave the wheels a closer inspection and.................Major chrome peeling!!!
Unbelievable , out of the blue on all the 4 wheels.
So what now?
To have the wheels rechromed will take a long time because the chrome removal proces which has to be done before you can start chroming them again is illegal here in the Netherlands, so I will have to ship them to polen first.Furthermore to total sum of the costs will exceed the price of new rims, I guess.

Question what rims are the ones to go for when I want to retain my Bridgestone 245/60-18 Duellers?

Every advice, links to sites etc. welcome.

[thedutchguy]

Thanks guys,
I'm overwhelmed by all the replies

over 40 views and no comments, come on!

[transio]

I got American Eagle Wheels Series 178's size 18x9 for my VX. You need some wider tires for them, though. I went with 285/60/18s and trimmed my cladding (a lot). You could probably go with 285/55 or 285/50 and have little to no trimming though.

http://www.aewheel.com/eagle_alloy_wheels.cfm?id=39

They're cheap, give you that bulldog stance, and look great!

I got them in polished alum. finish cause I like that look with the VX, but chrome would be a lot easier to maintain (obviously).

Good look for a tonka VX might be to powdercoat them yellow or black.

[thedutchguy]

Thanks Transio , Yes these rims look great, what number did you get, cause there are so many? Offset +20 mm?

[transio]

I got the 18x9, +2mm offset, 6 on 5.5 bolt pattern.

The VX stock wheels are -38mm iirc, so you don't wanna go +20 or they'll stick out quite a bit.

Even with +2mm and 285 aspect ratio tires, my tires stick out about 1-1.5" (25-38mm). It looks "just about right" to me. If anything, I'd go about 1/2" less (so about -10mm offset), if that were available.

Pics:

http://stevenmoseley.com/vehicross/Wheels-001.jpg
http://stevenmoseley.com/vehicross/Wheels-006.jpg
http://stevenmoseley.com/vehicross/Wheels-007.jpg

[rowhard]

Transio, do you have any close-up photo's of those wheels? What are they. I thought our offset was a +38 mm

[thedutchguy]

I was thinking of getting these, they have 35mm offset.

[Ldub]

Very nice !

[Kenny]

Those are slick. I like the spacing so it can show off painted brake calipers and discs.

One comment I have on rim offset-
If the wheels stick out too much you'll get very dirty side mirrors and some cool rooster tails front and back. (add mudflaps)
But I think it's well worth it for the wider stance look!

Good Luck.

[transio]

Dutch,

You better make sure they'll fit the big hubs of our VX. Usually, wheels with lug-nut covers (and a big positive offset) are for FWD cars with mini-hubs.

Do a search for "lexani" or "wheel hub" and you'll find some posts of mine about hub-fitment nightmares.

Generally, anything with an extended pop-in hub cover (like the 178's i have) will fit no problem. Make very sure of other wheels before putting $$$ down!!!

Steve

[transio]

PS - here's the drawing I made of the front hub (side elevation) to give you a general idea of the dimensions: