I have a question about a 5 lug conversion??

[sanioll]

What is the benefit of going from stock 4 lug, to 5 lug??

The thing costs about $400 for a pair and i dont see any reason why people do it? Does it increase strenth to avoid breaking while under extreme cornering and/or drifring??

So why do people do 5-lug conversion?? I'D LIKE TO KNOW!!

[AmoebAssassin]

5-lug hubs offer a wider variety of wheels with more agressive offsets, and open doors for brake upgrades (300zx, etc. etc.).

I remember reading somewhere that the failure tensile strength of lug bolts is on the order of 10,000lbs. Considering you have four of those at each corner, i doubt 4 lugs would ever fail, so upgrading to five shouldnt make a difference in that respect. I have never heard of a four-lug car losing a wheel or anything of that sort.

[enginerd]

Like AmoebAssassin said, it's more to do with the looks of the car rather than performance. If I'm not mistaken, you can still use the 300zx brakes on a 4 lug. You just have to get the rotors drilled.

[Onizuka]

The number of high quality, light weight, good offset and right sized wheels availible in 5 lug greatly outweighs those availible in 4 lug. Replacement rotors for 300zx brakes also become much less of a hassle.

[AZhitman]

Anyone paying $400+ a pair for 5-lug conversion deserves to be broke.

Search far and wide, i found everything for my 5-lug swap for $280 shipped (all four corners).

[sanioll]

nice. for that price i might do it too.

[burnin240sx]

125 all 4 courner's form junkyard

[FriedEGs]

yea, like all the above posts... main thing is the better options for brakes, and wheel fitments... better choices of rims are made for 5 lug... plus you can get the width and offset you want... i guess 5 lug also looks better too....

what's kinda ironic.... is that i've never seen a 4 lug setup break, either.... but I have seen numerous 5 lug wheel setups break.... weird..

[jmhalder]

if i do decide to go looking for these parts in a junkyard, what exactly do i need off a 240SXse or 300zx?

[frsh13]

well for the rear you just need to the 5lug hubs, it is also easier if the bearings are still pressed on. This way you dont have to press your s13 bearings off and attach them to the s14 hub. For the front everything gets a little complicated, if you are using s14 front hubs you will also need the s14 front spindels. As the s14 bearings/hub are one unit and connot be pressed out. Now since you have to use the s14 hub and spindle you also need to either use the s14 balljoints from the junk car or buy some new ones. In addition to all that you also need the s14 bolts that connect the spindle assembly to the struts (or coilovers). This leads to another problem, the s13 strut bolts are around 12mm i think, and the s14 strut bolts you must use are 14mm. So you must take your struts (or coilovers) and drill the mounting holes out using a 14mm or 9/16 bit. Its not hard if you have a drill press, did all 8 of my holes in about an hour. Thats pretty much it, but you also have to remember you are now going to need 5 lug rotors as well. Also this is just for the 5 lug conversion off a 240sx se, i dont think it is the same for using 300zx parts.

[AZhitman]

^ All correct. Good work.

FYI, drilling out the strut holes is no biggie, I did mine in 10 minutes.

[frsh13]

^ All correct. Good work.

lol thanx, and yea it shouldnt take that long to drill the struts out, just have to find a way to mount them or hold them against the drill press.

[240 Trainee]

Yea, I've got everything off a 300zx, just need to do the front 5 lu conversion part. I have the 300zx hubs, I'll be posting pics of exactly why 300zx hubs don't work, if they don't