19" x 8.5 ET40 wheels/tyres

[thecolourpurple]

Hi all. Yes this has been asked before & I've ploughed through the forum & found conflicting answers. Does anyone run 19" x 8.5 ET40 wheels with 235/19/35 or 40 profile tyres without any wheel arch contact issues? Please post a reply if you can help. Thanks

[Doc]

Keep in mind there are two different widths of rear axle (1500mm & 1510mm) and two different sizes of rear arch liner (15" or 16" wheels) along with many many levels of lowering and wheel centralisation.
There's a lot of variables in deciding wheel sizes for your caddy.

[Barbel330]

Even if you have the narrower rear axle (which come on the 1.6 engine caddy I believe?) with et40 and 235 tyres you’re unlikely to be able to open the side door. I could just about open mine with et42x8.5 with 235’s but I had to remove the ply lining from the door and it still touched the wheel slightly.

8.5xEt45 is your best allround bet.

[thecolourpurple]

Thanks guys. I've been offered a really nice set but wanted to make sure before I pulled the trigger. Looks like a big no then as they are ET40. Last query. Would a 225 tyre make much difference?

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[Barbel330]

It can help a little but the problem is the floating axle. With the amount of side to side movement you get from it, sometimes you’ll park up and your rear wheels will be poking out the drivers side, other times you’ll park up and the wheels will be poking out of the passenger side. I found this with my et42’s, I could open my side door without it touching the wheel too much one day, then park up again and the axle has moved over which meant there was no chance of opening it.

There are many things you can do to get different offsets to work but it depends how deep you want to get into modifying your van and how much you want to spend on those mods. For instance, my 20” wheels are ET50 which you’d think would sit inboard and not cause an issue with the side door. However, due to the convex design of the spokes there was no way on earth my side door would open with them on. I had my door mechanism modified by RAD to allow it to open much wider so it clears easily now. It works great but it’s wasn’t a cheap thing to have done. You can also have your axle shortened, again not a cheap or easy mod. My 19” Rotiform SIX’s I’ve had 5mm machined off the inside face to take them from et45 to ET50 (so I can air out and tuck the wheels up into the arches) so there are loads of possibilities available.

As I say, if you want easy trouble free wheel fitment go for 19x8.5xet45 with either 225 or 235/35/19 tyres.

[thecolourpurple]

Thanks again doc & barbel for your assistance. Barbel isn't it risky having metal machined off the face of the wheel hub mate?

[Barbel330]

Depends how much “meat” is on the inner face/hub of the wheels mate, it varies from make to make and model to model. My Rotiforms had plenty on there and the engineering company I used measured and advised that I could go as much as 11mm on these particular wheels if I needed but I only needed 5mm per side.

[Doc]

This is my clearance on 8.5x19 ET45 with 235/35R19.
I've got the narrow rear axle.
That's on my drive which is fairly level.
If were to ditch the door panel or at least the carpet, 5mm more might just be possible but may cause headache on uneven ground.

[thecolourpurple]

@Doc. Yes I see the issue mate. That's almost brushing the veltrim.

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[DeanWhit]

I've just changed wheels on mine from ET45 to ET42 235 35 r19 and if I park on the drive (slopes up and I back it on) I can't open the side door. It has to be on a level surface and I've removed the ply lining. Still trying to think of a way put of it.
The passenger rear wheel also catches on the wheel arch slightly and it's not even that low.

[Barbel330]

Get Gaz adjustable rear shocks and stiffen it up, that’ll help with the wheel arch rubbing.

[thecolourpurple]

@Doc & @Barbel. There you go fella's. Finally got them on today. 19x8.5 ET45. Absolutely perfect

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[Barbel330]

Looks good to me mate. Your missus isn’t sure though judging by the reflection

[thecolourpurple]

Ah! the commandant. High maintenance mate. Hard to impress

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[Papa Bear]

She looks totally pi$$ed off
Van looks great