Author Topic: 15 inch wheels, spacers and hubcaps (Read 26969 times)

jeffc280sl · « **on:** January 15, 2009, 02:24:09 »

Recently purchased a set of 4 one piece stainless steel painted hubcaps. These hubcaps are compatible with the W123 5.5x15 steel wheel, part no 1234001002 delivered on MB in Europe and Japan.

I'm looking for alternative 15 inch wheels to go with the new hubcaps. A possible solution is the 1264002802 steel wheel delivered again on the W126 euro and Japanese versions. USA cars were delivered with alloy wheels. The euro/japanese wheels are the same size as the 15 inch Bundt Alloy rims -- 7x15 with an et25 offset so I expect the fit to be perfect.

There may be some grey market steel wheels in the US. I've yet to locate any. Ideas?

Does anyone happen to know if the 15 inch one piece painted hubcap will fit on the W126 wheel?

Are there any alternatives in the et25 to et31, 7x15, 6.5x15 or 6x15 wheel sizes available in the US?

Does anyone know if there is a light alloy version of this wheel? Part number?

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #1 on:** January 24, 2009, 03:17:22 »

Received the new 15" hubcaps today. They are spectacular. The paint while white ( to be painted to match my car) is perfect and the stainless steel is so bright and clear that it looks like chrome. I will be very careful washing them of brake dust so that I don't put any small scratches in them.

Still having some difficulty locating steel wheels. Several sets for W126 (ideal donor) listed on German eBay. Some sellers will not ship to US, they prefer local shipment or pickup. I can understand. Preference is a wheel with 25mm offset, like the W126, so that I don't need to add spacers. Looked at Audi and VW and I've yet to find one with the correct offset and center hub diameter. I'll keep looking. Any ideas appreciated.

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #2 on:** January 27, 2009, 19:53:59 »

Decided to amend the title of this post to include wheel spacers. I have not had any luck locating MB 15inch steel rims with a 25mm offset. This means I will have to look at spacers. Anyone have experience with hub centric wheel spacers they can share. Here is a pic of whay I'm speaking about.

Garry · « **Reply #3 on:** January 27, 2009, 22:36:15 »

I use the generic 3mm wheel spacers on my rear wheels to gain a bit of extra inner clearance in the back end due to using 205 tires . Other than stopping any rubbing that I occasionally used to get, they have given me no problems. Even when I changed over my axle to the 3.46 I again put the spacers in to just be sure that there was no rub in cornering. My local MB mechanic, (who owns 6 Pagoda!) stated that I could go up to 5mm without any modifications or concern.
Garry

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #4 on:** January 28, 2009, 00:51:56 »

Thanks Garry,

I wonder what your guy would say about 10mm spacers? BTW I love the color of your car, just so happens its the same as mine.

hauser · « **Reply #5 on:** January 28, 2009, 02:28:42 »

I believe H&R makes wheel spacers.

Here's a few options.

http://www.optionimports.com/h-r-spacer-benz.html

Garry · « **Reply #6 on:** January 28, 2009, 06:27:21 »

Thanks for comments Jeff,

Give me a couple of days and I will go and ask him about the sizes he believes can be used as a maximum. I need a couple of days as it is too hot to go out at the moment. Just got back from being out in regular car. Outside temp was reading was 46.5 degree C (115 degree F in Imperial) and now at 5.30 in the evening it is still 42 C (107F). They don't expect it to get below 40 C (104F) until the weekend at earliest. Having a rather warm patch so give me a few days.

Garry

Garry · « **Reply #7 on:** February 09, 2009, 06:17:29 »

Hi Jeff,

Finally got to get to talk to my Merc Mechanic today. Whilst he indicated that 3mm spacers will not cause any problems, he would not recommend going any greater than 5mm. He indicated that it would put stress on the axles and would start to have some major effect on the driving dynamics of the car and would not recommend it. Probably not what you want to hear.
Indicated in my last posting that the temp here had got to 46.5c. Well it did it again on Saturday and then we had major bush fires over the weekend with a loss of life getting over 130 people as of today and still rising. Not at all good at the moment.
Garry

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #8 on:** February 11, 2009, 03:28:18 »

Very sorry to hear about the excessive heat and loss of life. Will hope for cooler weather.

Thanks for the information on spacers. I understand the need for hub centric spacers. Assuming you get a suitable spacer and lug bolts I'm trying to understand why the spacers don't equal the performance of the proper offset wheel.

Thanks again and good luck with the weather down under.

jbirdga · « **Reply #9 on:** February 11, 2009, 03:38:06 »

I installed 15" steel wheels on my 1969 280SE cab. The wheels were purchased from my local Mercedes dealer (RBM of Atlanta, 770-390-0600, ask for Jim in Parts) and they were shown as an alternative listing for German cars with "heavy duty" use, particularly ambulances. They were NOT cheap - about $400 a wheel! But what a difference in the ride and stance of my 280cab. Conversely, on my 113 (1970 4-speed) I used a set of 16" BBSs from a 126 sedan. They are big, but give the car a more serious look while still looking "period correct". Mainly, these upgrdaes got me away from the dearth of tire choices in 14"!!

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #10 on:** July 16, 2009, 18:24:49 »

To recap I want to switch to 15 inch wheels, tires and hubcaps on my 280SL. I have acquired MB 15inch painted hubcaps so I'm on my way. I have had great difficulty locating steel wheels from a european W126. This is a 7x15 et25 wheel which dimensionally will the same size as the MB 15 inch alloy wheels and should fit our cars. While I keep looking for the W126 wheel I'm considering buying used higher offset 15 inch MB wheels redily available in the US and using wheel adapters. Wheel adapters are different from spacers as you can see in the attached picture.

Assuming one buys hub centric adapetrs sdesigned for MB what is the down side to using them?

One way to think of them is to imagine two identical wheels, with only the offset being different. Bolt the 20mm adapter to the 47mm offset wheel, and it will measure exactly the same as the 27mm offset wheel.

Assuming again the bolts remain tight how will this configuration increase stress on suspension? Will it?

BTW SCCA rules permit the use of wheel spacers in the street prepared category.

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #11 on:** July 17, 2009, 20:29:37 »

Started thinking about using a steel wheel from a c class w202. The wheel is 6.5 x 15 et37. Here are comparisons of stock versus the W126 and W202 wheels. If I were to remove 12mm or 1/2inch from the inside of the W202 rim it would have the same profile as the stock wheel but be 1 inch taller.

      Width      Offset   Comments

Stock       6      31
vs
W126      7      25   Inner clearance 7mm less. Outer position extend 19mm

Stock      6      31
vs
W202      6.5      37   inner clearance 12mm less. Outer position same

W202      6.5      37
vs
W126      7      25   inner clearance 6mm less. Outer position retract 18mm

Has anyone cut down the width of a steel wheel and had the sections welded together again? Does anyone know where I can find 4each 2024000102 wheels?

Thank you,

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #12 on:** July 21, 2009, 20:25:35 »

Just bought in Germany a set of 4 steel wheels used on the euro W202 or W203. They are 6x15 et31 so I'm hoping they will fit perfectly, without modification or spacers, on my SL. Now I'm on the painting the 15 inch hubcaps and buying tires. I'll take before and after pics and post them.

hauser · « **Reply #13 on:** July 22, 2009, 04:06:57 »

Have a look at the Hatch 3.5 280sl. The red car is fitted with 15" hubcaps.

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #14 on:** July 23, 2009, 01:39:39 »

Thanks Hauser.

I viewed pics of the SL with alloy wheels but had not seen the red one. I'm going to contact then and ask them if they can tell me what size tire they used. I think the look is great.

marek · « **Reply #15 on:** July 23, 2009, 07:07:20 »

Hi Jeff

I have a pair of the 15" w126 280se steel wheel for sale (are located in europe) but will ship , no problem as long you pay :-)
The red car of hatch you refere to are having hubcaps part number MB A115 401 0424
And are the same Hatch is using, they are from a w 115 limo! and not the same as for the w 123
I have this set up as hatch and this works out top

send me a Pm if you are interested

Marek

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #16 on:** July 29, 2009, 20:57:52 »

My 15 inch wheels arrived from Germany today. The size is 6x15 et 31 and they fit nicely on the car and easily clear calipers and tie rod ends. The MB 15 inch hub caps fit perfectly. Wasn't sure if MB changed the lip design for our hub cap clips.

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #17 on:** July 30, 2009, 21:55:51 »

I had 205/60-15 Goodyear Eagle GT tires mounted on my new rims and installed them on the SL. As you can imagine the profile and tread design may have upset the classic look somewhat but once I get the larger hucaps painted and installed I think it will be subtile overall.

Here are the specs for the new tire versus my old 205/70-14 tires.

tire sidewall diameter circumference difference

factory 5.5 24.9 78.3 0%

new 15inch 4.8 24.7 77.6 -1%

old 14inch 5.6 25.3 79.5 1.5%

As you can see the 60 series tire is very close to the factory 185/75-14 tire in circumference. I've taken a short ride with the new tires and they are very different if not amazing. My old tires were 12 years old and pretty worn out so some of the difference is just having newer tires. As you might expect the new Goodyear tires definitly grip the road better.

waqas · « **Reply #18 on:** July 30, 2009, 23:25:10 »

Pics??

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #19 on:** July 31, 2009, 00:03:20 »

Here are some pics

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #20 on:** July 31, 2009, 00:13:11 »

some more

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #21 on:** July 31, 2009, 00:19:29 »

Last one. There is a neat feature in the design of this tire where the rubber extends outward from the rim. The edge of the hubcap fits nicely in the recess. Now I'm going to need a screw driver to pop the hub caps off. I used to just slide miy fingers behind the edge and yank it off. No room now because of the trie design. I like it because it looks sleek.

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #22 on:** July 31, 2009, 00:23:18 »

I think you should see the tread design. Not 1960's at all. You can also see how worn my old tire were.

jeffc280sl · « **Reply #23 on:** August 06, 2009, 22:56:33 »

Over the past week I painted and clear coated my new 15 inch hubcaps. I appreciate the earlier post concerning paointing because they were a big help. Takes patience and some skill but its not to difficult. I'm very satisfied with the outcome. I polished the paint on this cap about 5 times to remove the haze/orange peel left over from the clear coat. I'll most likely polish them again until I get the mirror image I'm looking for. Here is a pic of where I am at as of today.

JimVillers · « **Reply #24 on:** August 06, 2009, 23:47:30 »

Jeff .... Excellent ..... They look ver good and you need to look very close to see that they are not original. Much better than the CLK rim that I mounted for Blacklick (my stock wheels are back on the car as soon as I arrived home).

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Author Topic: 15 inch wheels, spacers and hubcaps (Read 26969 times)

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marek

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