Collection: Wheels, Tires & Lug Hardware

VW Beetle, Bug & Bus Wheels — and how to get the bolt pattern right the first time

More wheels get sent back over bolt pattern than any other reason. Before you buy anything on this page, work out which pattern your car actually has — it depends on the year and whether the brakes have ever been changed.

Which bolt pattern do I have?

• 5x205mm "wide-5" — Beetle, Bus, Ghia and Type 3 through 1967, and any later car still on original wide-5 drums. Measure center-to-center on two studs opposite each other: about 8 inches across the whole circle. This is the pattern most early restorations run.
• 4x130mm — Beetle, Super Beetle, Ghia and Type 3 from 1968 up, and the pattern most disc-brake conversions use. Four studs, not five.
• 5x130mm — Porsche 911, 912 and 914-6, and VWs running a Porsche brake conversion. Same five-stud look as wide-5 but a much smaller circle — the two are not interchangeable and no adapter makes them safe.

If your car has had a front disc conversion and stock rear drums, you can end up with two different patterns on the same car. Measure both ends before ordering.

Wheel & tire packages vs. bare wheels

Our wheel & tire packages ship mounted, balanced, with new valve stems and matching center caps — four wheels and four tires, one box, one freight charge. For a classic VW that is almost always cheaper than buying bare wheels and paying a local shop to mount period-correct tires they have to special-order.

Buy bare wheels if you already have good tires, if you are running a size we do not stock, or if you want a staggered setup we do not list as a package. Lug nuts and bolts are sold separately on both — the correct hardware depends on your drums or rotors, not the wheel.

What we stock

EMPI 911-style alloy — the classic Fuchs-look five-spoke, in polished, chrome and black/polished, 4.5x15 and 5.5x15, in wide-5 and 5x130. Available as mounted packages with Yokohama GT Special classic-tread radials.
EMPI BRM-style — the eight-spoke that defined the 1970s Beetle look, 4x130.
EMPI Sprintstar — eight-spoke gloss black and polished, 4x130, 15x5 through 15x8.
Lug hardware — the bolts, nuts and washers that actually match what you just bought.

Not sure? Call before you order.

Tell us the year, the model, and whether the brakes are original. We will tell you the pattern and whether a wheel will clear your drums, calipers and fenders. We restore these cars in our own shop in Orange, California — we have measured most of these combinations ourselves.