Changing my wheels for the MOT and coughed out for 4 new tyres for the classics i have.

Got the backs on ok but the front wont clear the brake calipers so it looks! Pissed off now as i have no wheels i can use!

Anything i can do to cure the problem?

Smaller brakes!

Smaller brakes!

On a G40! Be like commiting suicide!

Use VW1 carriers

Use VW1 carriers

:-)

Use VW1 carriers

yeh should get slighty more clearence, but wont affect the brakes

Keep the breaks and invest in some 20mm spacers eitherside (approx measure the gap required to clear the breaks)

Or he could fit VW1 carriers and not make his car illegal.

only difference is the VW11 have a bit this links the carriers both sides, the VW1s dont.

Yep - The G40 carriers are the problem. But they're not a problem when they're in the bin.

And so they should be,as there is no compromise in fitting VWI carriers. You still use the G40's VWII calipers,pads and vented discs. This works fine - its what i have.

I'm guessing they're ET20.

You'll need spacers to clear G40 brakes.

Tried to fit some ET16 wheels to a mates 1.0L recently, and they didn't even clear the unventilated calipers

does your carrier wrap around the front of the caliper? if so you can use cl carriers with the VWII calipers.

I have the standard VWII Carriers and calipers on the muppet when it was wearing the classics and it needed 5mm spacers to clear the brakes, id get 5mm or possibly 10 for the back, just so its the same width all round, or slighty wide tracked at the back, as opposed to just sticking 2 x 5mms of the front.

decided i'm gonna try and change the carriers myself when i get some to see if that solves the problem. If that don't i'll try 5mm spacers. If that dont work, i'll sell the bloody wheels (again!) and buy some that will fit!

Easy job changing carriers?

Id try the 5mm spacers first .. When putting the wheel on have a gander at how much clearence there is on the caliper .. I'm running VW1's on my loon and when i trial fitted the Smoors i had to run 5mm on the fronts .

carriers are easy to change, just whip the caliper off (2 sliding bolts with allen key heads) be careful not to round these tho, i hammer in an allen key socket and then use a ratchet.

then to get the carriers off the hub its 2 x 15mm bolts iirc, stick teh new carrier on, torque it up, then stick the caliper back on.

easy as pie chum, breaker bars are your friend for the carrier bolts as they are normally on fuking solid

Id try the 5mm spacers first .. When putting the wheel on have a gander at how much clearence there is on the caliper .. I'm running VW1's on my loon and when i trial fitted the Smoors i had to run 5mm on the fronts .

I tried last night but i can never manage to hold them in place whilst i bolt the wheel on! The screws that keep the disks in place are both broken (by previous owner) so the disks also spin when trying to bolt the wheels on. gota get them replaced when i do the disks. think i'd need more than 5mm too!

Edited 1 August, 200818 yr by vwmk3jon

I know your pain dude its harsh ! My screws were missing well had snapped off when i fit the larger diskes ..

Luckily i havd Karl to fit the front wheels or i would of had steam coming out my ears and would of ran around the unit screeming and cursing ..

find yourself either late spec Mk 3 non-vented carriers, or mk I GTI carriers

mk1 gti carriers wrap around the caliper as well, the non vented mk3 jobbies you stated are the correct ones

jon, you can use a long screwdriver to locate the spacer, wheel and disc all in place in the hub, you can also get a stud tool that does the same thing.

my fav is a bit of tigerseal to stick teh disc to the hub, the spacer to the disc and then its simple to line the wheel up :)

I'm having the similar problem with my mk2 (82). Had my classics (13x6 ET30) fitted with no problems but then had to change my brake pads as they were getting low. Tried putting the wheels back on and now they wont sit flush to the hub!

But they're hitting the caliper not the carrier.

Are my options the same as above:

Spacers or

VW1 calipers?

Would it be stupid to just grind off the bit thats causing the problem as it doesn't seem to do anything?

Will get a pc up of what I mean tomorrow.

Sorry for the stupidity but where can I get the carriers from and whats an approx price?

Edited 4 August, 200818 yr by fathands

mk1 gti carriers wrap around the caliper as well, the non vented mk3 jobbies you stated are the correct ones

The ones I had on my saloon did not. It is Passat 5s and G40 only that have the wrap-arounds

@ Stevie - i was! Dropped a wheel on my lil finger too so i was using alot of 'interesting' language!

Could the carriers be ground down slightly to give some clearance as said above or is this a silly idea?

i know of a few people who have shaved a bit off thier caliper (few mm or so on the areas that catch (which are usually freshly scored by the catching wheel).

just give the caliper a quick lick of paint on the ground bits and your reet (youll neet some zinc or acid etch primer before you spray on the bare metal with black hammerite or similar)

i know of a few people who have shaved a bit off thier caliper (few mm or so on the areas that catch (which are usually freshly scored by the catching wheel).

just give the caliper a quick lick of paint on the ground bits and your reet (youll neet some zinc or acid etch primer before you spray on the bare metal with black hammerite or similar)

I'd have to putthe wheel on to see which bit is catching as they won't even bloody turn to make a mark!!! I'll give that a go before taking the brakes to bits.

i had exactly the same prob when i tried to fit some original mant ats classics, i worked it out that you need about 12mm to clear the std g40 brakes. I had some 25mm hubcentric spacers but they just made the wheels look daft, as it gave them a crazy offset.

you'll never grind enough off of the carrier to clear them so i wouldnt even bother trying that. Another thing to be aware of is that the caliper can also catch if stick on weights have been used and fitted really close to the face of the wheel. Recently had to shave a few mm of the calipers of my mate polo and thats just a cl with non vented disks.

Bit off topic but why does the carrier have that joining bit on the vwII brakes?