*Presale - Expected ship date of January 2025*
Designed by us and produced exclusively, the iconic Rhein wheel is back and better than ever with the Rhein 2.0. Everything you want in a wheel, and more.
Strength and proper fitment - Wheel aesthetics are a personal choice, but when it comes right down to it, we all want strong, safe wheels that fit properly. The Rhein is that wheel.
When wheels have the wrong width and/or offset, they will be positioned either too far outboard or inboard. Too far outboard and the tires will catch on the front upper fender lips, damaging the body, tire, or both. Too far inboard and the wheel and/or tire can make contact with the suspension components. While other wheel sellers ignore these parameters, Rhein wheels are specifically designed and built to account for these needs and concerns. You will not find a better fitting, properly designed wheel specifically made for the Vanagon.
In addition to properly fitting the Vanagon platform, the Rhein 2.0 will also fit the 1971 through 1979 VW Bus properly. Plenty of clearance between the rear wheel/tire and the body. We also have fitments for all Eurovan models (silver color only).
*Optional Lug Kit - Click here to purchase the correct lug kit for your application.
- Size: 16x7
- ET29 - Vanagon/Bus/Syncro
- ET38 - Eurovan
- Load rating: 1905lbs (exceeds industry standards)
- Wheel weight: 24 lbs
- Exceeds all SAE SJ2530 tests (Dynamic cornering fatigue test @95,000 revolutions = passed @ 100%, Dynamic radial fatigue test @1,100,000 revolutions = passed @ 100%, Impact test = passed @ 100%)
- Construction: Tilt-gravity cast A356 aluminum with T6 heat treatment (see below for more info on tilt-gravity casting versus other construction methods)
History of the Rhein wheels -The original 15” Rhein wheels, produced by VW South Africa, were designed for the Vanagon to solve a specific problem – bigger brakes. In later productions, South African Vanagons had more power and carried more weight than originally designed. Because of this, VW South Africa designed and implemented a larger front brake assembly, requiring a new, larger diameter wheel to fit those brakes. 15” alloy wheels (like the Rhein) were the answer.
The original Rhein wheel was introduced and supplied to the US market by Foreign Auto Supply (FAS). Through a partnership between FAS and T3 Technique, we are reviving Rhein as a wheel brand.
How Rhein wheels are made: Rhein wheels are produced using the tilt-gravity casting method. There are several methods for creating wheels (cast, forged, spun, etc.). Among the casting techniques for wheels, we have gravity casting, low-pressure casting, high-pressure casting, and tilt-gravity casting. Roughly 95% of all cast wheels are done via gravity casting or low-pressure casting. Beware of any wheel company that claims their wheels are high-pressure cast, yet sells them for lower-end pricing. There are only about four high-pressure wheel casting companies in the world, and of those, high-pressure casting is usually reserved for specialty motorsport wheels, like F1, GTP cars, and Super Bikes due to the extremely high cost of high-pressure molds. That leaves us with a very small percentage of wheels that are tilt-gravity cast.
Gravity casting and low-pressure casting can have issues where porosity and cold joint defects (which happen when the molten aluminum is coming from two different directions and is too cool to melt together properly when it meets) occur during the pouring of the molten aluminum. Gravity-cast and low-pressure cast wheels are cast with the wheel mold facing downward. The molten aluminum is either poured in from the top (gravity casting) or injected under low pressure up from the bottom, starting from the hub area, and filling outward and upward toward the inner barrel of the wheel.
By contrast, tilt-gravity casting starts with the pouring of the molten aluminum at the barrel of the wheel, flowing toward the hub. The mold of a tilt-gravity wheel starts on its side. As the molten aluminum is poured into the mold, the mold rotates to allow an even, controlled flow of the aluminum into the mold. Pouring this way reduces turbulence in the molten aluminum (reducing porosity in the final product) and greatly reduces the chances of having any cold joint defects. Although not exactly an equivalent analogy, if you think about the difference between pouring a beer with the glass upright versus laying it on its side at an angle, you can imagine how the tilt-gravity casting method reduces porosity in the poured molten aluminum.
All of these details of a tilt-gravity casting create a very strong wheel that can be lighter than an equivalent gravity or low-pressure cast wheel, which would need to be heavier (more material) to achieve a similar strength. So when someone mentions cast wheels, you now have a little bit more insight into what goes into the casting of wheels and why we chose the tilt-casting method for the production of our wheels.