Drilling wheel hub/rotor to change bolt pattern?

[e30cabrio]

I hope this is the correct place to post this.

As the title states, I was wondering if anyone has ever redrilled their hubs/rotors in order to change their bolt pattern before?

I have seen one or two instances of this before, but there wasn't much feedback on it, since they were very old threads on another forum.

It is basically the same idea/concept as redrilling wheels to a new bolt pattern, but instead doing it to the car.

Any insight on this method?

thanks.

[slider2828]

hubs and rotors are different. You can redrill rotors at a machine shop to accomodate your hubs. Your hubs cannot be redrilled because there simply isn't enough room. If you custom a whole hub to have solid round surface then ok maybe, but it would probably be cheap to by conversion. Hubs and Rotors are different things... YOu might want to be more clear

[DarkPhoenix]

I think there is someone one who did a "ghetto 5 lug conversion" using the stock 4 lug hubs. It was either here or on s-chassis.com

[Matej]

It's possible, the studs usually have to be welded in, but as long as it's done right there shouldn't be a problem with it. You could also look into bolt-on spacers that change bolt pattern. I'm thinking about getting some 4 to 5-lug 25mm spacers, that way it'll be really easy to switch between 4-lug and 5-lug wheels whenever I want.

[slider2828]

Are you serious welded? That is crazy... There is hardly enough room for 4 let alone 5. I would worry about rotational inbalance...

[Matej]

Well it's the cheap way to go 5-lug, I've heard of people doing it. The main downside is that if you break a stud, you'll most likely have to replace the entire hub.

[racepar1]

Imbalance would be very minimal, probably absolutely un-noticeable. If you are really extra anal-retentive then you can get them balanced. If you drill the holes the right size the studs will just press in like normal, you only have to weld them if you screw up or just plain don't know what you are doing. As far as safety goes they should be 100% fine. I don't see any reason why the hub would break just from a few extra holes. Search for the DIY thread, this exact procedure is outlined in there.

[cdlong]

i wouldn't say it would be 100%, the hub is thicker right around the stud. one of the studs would land completely in the thinner part, and the other two would probably be half in and half out. i'd be worried the studs would sit crooked, not have enough surface area for the knurl to grip, or possibly crack the hub. it might work, but i'd rather not find out the hard way.

[EJ253]

4 lug hubs cost pocket change.

pick up another set of hubs. if you mess up, swap on the other 4 lug hubs.
whatever

thats what i was thinking about doing

[e30cabrio]

hubs and rotors are different. You can redrill rotors at a machine shop to accomodate your hubs. Your hubs cannot be redrilled because there simply isn't enough room. If you custom a whole hub to have solid round surface then ok maybe, but it would probably be cheap to by conversion. Hubs and Rotors are different things... YOu might want to be more clear

I know they are different things, and you would have to drill both technically, if you were to try and convert it over to a different bolt pattern. Can't just drill the hubs, and not the rotors, and vice versa.

[e30cabrio]

It's possible, the studs usually have to be welded in, but as long as it's done right there shouldn't be a problem with it. You could also look into bolt-on spacers that change bolt pattern. I'm thinking about getting some 4 to 5-lug 25mm spacers, that way it'll be really easy to switch between 4-lug and 5-lug wheels whenever I want.

Yea, the only thing is, I am trying to get my fitment closer. With the 20-25mm adapter I am using right now, it is making the wheel/tire sit out way too far for me. This is more for a "race" car, so I don't want to have to be stretching and poking so much like most guys.

Imbalance would be very minimal, probably absolutely un-noticeable. If you are really extra anal-retentive then you can get them balanced. If you drill the holes the right size the studs will just press in like normal, you only have to weld them if you screw up or just plain don't know what you are doing. As far as safety goes they should be 100% fine. I don't see any reason why the hub would break just from a few extra holes. Search for the DIY thread, this exact procedure is outlined in there.

That is also what I think, imbalance would be minimal. Since the rotational mass is so close to the center of the wheels, it will be almost negligible. Plus, the weight that is being removed from the hub isn't very much either.

I would also only assume that if any place can drill a wheel for a new bolt pattern, then they can drill hubs into a new bolt pattern as well.

I didn't realize there was a DIY thread, I will try to search for it.

Imbalance would be very minimal, probably absolutely un-noticeable. If you are really extra anal-retentive then you can get them balanced. If you drill the holes the right size the studs will just press in like normal, you only have to weld them if you screw up or just plain don't know what you are doing. As far as safety goes they should be 100% fine. I don't see any reason why the hub would break just from a few extra holes. Search for the DIY thread, this exact procedure is outlined in there.

This is something I don't understand. I noticed when people drill new bolt patterns into the wheels, they don't do it so that the holes are more equally spaced out. This could partially be due to the indents on the back of the wheel's mounting surface. However, if doing it to a hub, I wouldn't have to worry about that. So I figure I could get them to space out the bolt pattern as evenly as possible, so it looks almost like a truck's hub, with 10 holes.

thanks for the input guys.

[HyperTek]

is this Jon? hit me up this is austin.. ill let u know how to do it.. i did it to my old s13.. drilled the front hubs from 4 to 5lug..

Use a drill press.. I used a 5lug rotor that i previously drilled for for lug use, i used it as a guide since it was already perfect alignment..

[Rob's S14]

why risk the drilling being done wrong. doing a 5 lug swap is simple and cheap. with 2 people you could do it in a couple hours, then you could get whatever spacer you need.

[e30cabrio]

Jon? hit me up this is austin.. ill let u know how to do it.. i did it to my old s13.. drilled the front hubs from 4 to 5lug..

This is Jon's account, but I am posting under his name on here. My name is Don though. If you still want to help me out though, let me know :) My AIM is AirborneDEN

why risk the drilling being done wrong. doing a 5 lug swap is simple and cheap. with 2 people you could do it in a couple hours, then you could get whatever spacer you need.

I am not going from a honda bolt pattern to a honda bolt pattern. It is for a BMW to Honda bolt pattern.

[HyperTek]

hmm ur sn sounds familur i might have talked to you about something before.. was it bbs rims? i had a 190e..

[e30cabrio]

hmm ur sn sounds familur i might have talked to you about something before.. was it bbs rims? i had a 190e..

Do you live in OC? I have a BMW, so if you are bimmerforums or something, I might have talked to you. Maybe I've met you in person before? Either way, if you can help me out, that'd be great.

Let me know.

thanks.

[racepar1]

why risk the drilling being done wrong. doing a 5 lug swap is simple and cheap. with 2 people you could do it in a couple hours, then you could get whatever spacer you need.

On an s-13 a 5-lug swap is ANYTHING but cheap. The rear hubs can be bought for cheap (non-turbo z-32) but a good set of front conversion hubs costs around $400-$500. You can swap the s-14 front knuckles and hubs, but you would need to change your tie rod ends, ball joints, and front struts at well. All that would probably run you more than $500.

[Matej]

In Japan some company made 9-lug hubs for the S-chassis, but I'm guessing they're hard to find.

[Mr.James]

you can use the R32 front hubs tho right?

[ilovecoupes]

hypertek,

Didn't you do this already? It's in your "DIY thread"
Details?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/streetphase/100_0639.jpg

[e30cabrio]

Seems like even Porsche guys have done it:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/914_five_lug_conversion/914_five_lug_conversion.htm

[projekt_s13]

Seems like even Porsche guys have done it:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/914_five_lug_conversion/914_five_lug_conversion.htm


LoL, what the hell is "Deep Offset".

[racepar1]

you can use the R32 front hubs tho right?

As far as I know there is NO bolt-on 5-lug hub swap for s-13 front hubs.

[e30cabrio]

LoL, what the hell is "Deep Offset".

Porsche offsets are comparable to s2k offsets, they are very high from the factory.

[LFOabuse]

As far as I know there is NO bolt-on 5-lug hub swap for s-13 front hubs.

Ummm how bout...

Ichiba

http://www.ichibausa.com/5lugconversion1.html

&

Peak performance

http://www.peak-performance.net/content/view/127/96/

$250 / set..... cheap enough considering they include new OEM bearings.

[racepar1]

Ok, let me be a little more specific. NO stock nissan hub will bolt onto the s-13 spindle, and actually work correctly, other than the OE s-13 one. Your BEST option is conversion hubs. Did that clear it up with you LFOabuse?

[LFOabuse]

Crystal.

LOL.

[supergoob]

old thread i know..but if you are fortunate enough to have a set of 9 hole rims then its love...just bolt in the 4x114.3 pattern and drill out the remaining holes...voi la....For instance, we have some Impul Silhouettes that are 4x114 and 5x114..instant easy....anybody know exactly what size drill bit to use?

[300hp owen]

Imabalance is not a big factor at all because the remaining holes are at such a small distance from the center of rotation / axis.
if you wanted to be gung ho about balancing the hubs you can just drill a hole 180degrees away from each of the THREE leftover open holes from the old 4 lug pattern.

its an easy thing to do and if you use wheels that are HUBcentric then I'm surprised more people dont go this route.

[300hp owen]

is this Jon? hit me up this is austin.. ill let u know how to do it.. i did it to my old s13.. drilled the front hubs from 4 to 5lug..

Use a drill press.. I used a 5lug rotor that i previously drilled for for lug use, i used it as a guide since it was already perfect alignment..thats the right idea.
remove 3 of the 4 lugstuds from the old hub.
place 5lug rotor over hub and remainig lugstud.
push it down flush so it centers itself on the hub-register and seats all nicey nice and hubcentric.

now you can see where to drill the 4 holes to finish up the 5lug.
you better drill nice and carefully easy peasy.
keep the hole size correct so you have a small enough hole to fit the knurled lugstuds just right and so they have enough material to grip and not spin out / strip out when you tighten or loosen the lugnuts.
its easy to drill up in sizes bit by bit until so you only remove a little material each pass, its time consuming but works out better in the end.

[shmiddy]

Any One Know A Machine Shop In New York City That Can Redrill Rotors To 5 Lug???????????????

[cdlong]

Imabalance is not a big factor at all because the remaining holes are at such a small distance from the center of rotation / axis.
if you wanted to be gung ho about balancing the hubs you can just drill a hole 180degrees away from each of the THREE leftover open holes from the old 4 lug pattern.

180 degrees from each unused hole is already a hole. the 4 and 5 lug patterns are in balance, the only problem is that the one that lines up with both is counted twice. you'd have to drill two smaller holes on either side of the double hole. but as you said, it really doesn't matter because of the minimal weight and small distance from the axis of rotation.

[WTS3]

Ummm how bout...

Ichiba

http://www.ichibausa.com/5lugconversion1.html

&

Peak performance

http://www.peak-performance.net/content/view/127/96/

$250 / set..... cheap enough considering they include new OEM bearings.

where'd you find the $250 or was that a type-o???

[SW20Racer]

theres alot of jibba jabba here. i didnt read hardly anything to be honest.

i did notice though that the op said he was wanting a bmw->honda bolt pattern

e30cabrio, heres something you might find neat if you dont want to drill your hubs, (drilling hubs is perfectly ok by the way)

http://www.tunershop.com/Wheels/

phatty 4 lugs 'r us

[awesomenick]

I'm going to be trying this on some spare 4 lug hubs soon. We'll see how it goes. I'm using a 5 lug rotor to know where to drill.

I haven't searched yet, but will an s14 se rotor be hubcentric on an s13 4 lug hub? I'll search now, but if anybody knows off the top of their head, that's cool too.

[bardabe]

yep, S14, S13, Z32 are all hub centric.. if anyone in socal wants this done, we got a mill @ my work, so we can do it!

[g6civcx]

Imbalance would be very minimal, probably absolutely un-noticeable

The saving grace is that the studs are close to the axis of rotation. So any imbalance would not be as great.

Wheel imbalance would affect rotational inertia more due to the wheel's distance from the axis of rotation.


I would venture to guess that most S-chassis owners don't care about wheel balancing because tread depth is so inconsistent due to drifting/trying to drift.