SAVE $250$ ON FRONT 5 LUG

[M3SP5]

good diy i have extra hubs so ill try it

[Dead Serious]

im gonna do it. but i think ill weld the stock holes closed and see how real i can make it look.

welding is prob not worth it. you may do more harm than good putting all that heat into the hub which should be true and flat. conducting electricity through the bearing is bad for the bearing too, though you may be able to avoid that for the most part.

[E7-S14]

thats interesting.

i dont see why this isn't a good choice if it holds up

the only thing im concerned about is Strength.

wouldn't you Weaken the Hub by drilling more holes in it?

or would that matter if theres not much Pressure going directly on the hub since its just spinning.

and alsohow do you know where exactly to drill the holes?

if you make the slightest mistake.the hub will be unbalanced.

[tctomasc]

This seems like an extremely bad idea from an engineering standpoint. Your sacraficing the integrity of the material by adding more holes. Even filled in I dont think it will hold the same strength as original.

[BIGTIMER_240]

thats interesting.

i dont see why this isn't a good choice if it holds up

the only thing im concerned about is Strength.

wouldn't you Weaken the Hub by drilling more holes in it?

or would that matter if theres not much Pressure going directly on the hub since its just spinning.

and alsohow do you know where exactly to drill the holes?

if you make the slightest mistake.the hub will be unbalanced.

thats why you use a 5 lug rotor and put it on top then you tighten it down with the stud and a lug nut

This seems like an extremely bad idea from an engineering standpoint. Your sacraficing the integrity of the material by adding more holes. Even filled in I dont think it will hold the same strength as original.

as you can see in the big pic above the holes arent toether they are separated by a lot

[xX RB Xx]

My main concern with this method is precision. If you're off by a little bit, you can potentially ruin a hub.

hell you could probably get a 4 lug hub for free..

and people use this same method when doing 300zx brakes on 4 lug.. just drill the rotors for four lug.. its the same principal

now i dont have to waste 500 bucks for 5 lug conversion. I had a feeling when i clicked on this that it will involve drilling something..

[leveloneae86]

what im concerned about is ballance? are the bolts spaced and centered correctly? will it wobble? it might not be noticable when you drive or you might think its the road.i dont know just my .02

[BIGTIMER_240]

what im concerned about is ballance? are the bolts spaced and centered correctly? will it wobble? it might not be noticable when you drive or you might think its the road.i dont know just my .02

well thats why you do a smalle hole for the stud just so the threat part goes in and the last part of the stud goes in with a lot of presure basicly hammering hard

[E7-S14]

what im concerned about is ballance? are the bolts spaced and centered correctly? will it wobble? it might not be noticable when you drive or you might think its the road.i dont know just my .02

thats my biggest concernwill it be balanced.

unbalanced could spell trouble.

well thats why you do a smalle hole for the stud just so the threat part goes in and the last part of the stud goes in with a lot of presure basicly hammering hard

and that doesn't answer his the question.

im sure its finebut with absolutly No measurements.i just cant help but to mess something up. ha

but im 5lug already.just pickin ya brain man.

its just the balance question that im stuck on.but i guess if you use a 5lug rotor and tourqe it down it should be fine

does the rotor fit snug on the hub?i forgot?since your only using one hole.. you could still be off

[BIGTIMER_240]

yeah the hub fit perfect inside the rotor when i post the pics everyone will see just have to fine camera

[urcaptnspeaking]

interesting. If I did this at all I would have a machine shop do it.

[FRnIsmO]

wow, this is news to me....great idea!!! hummmm....

[skott.b]

seams all fine and dandy. Hell we all know it works converting j30 brakes to 4 lug. but heres my concern. Im running d2 coil overs reloaded w/ 16k front and 13k rears. the lateral load from sliding and grip are a big concern for me. last thing i need is to have something break when im on one of my favorite roads. which coincidentally has a 30-40 foot drop off on side of it. sure in some spots a huge rock, a tree and maybe a 4x4 post w/ a 1x7 rail might stop be from going over. but i wouldn't like to test the theory. you know ~skott

[pallnet]

I have seen many hubs redrilled and I have redrilled quite a few for toher cars. The extra holes really don't pose as much of a problem as grinding away sections of the rear support. This is not saying that a hub that does not have a back support like the S series have is a weak hub. It's that the back was removed in a poor way creating valleys in the hub that can be the beginning point for cracks under stressfull driving conditions. A machine shop would be the best bet if you're planning on doing this because they will not have to remove metal except for right where the stud will seat, they can do it in a uniformed proper way and index it properly so there's no wobble or misbalance. This also defeats the cost savings but all and all I'm 100% against this just from what I've seen on my own and now here on this thread. I've even kicked this around a little so this is nothing new to me.

BTW: I have machine tools in my garage and I do a little machining as a hobby not to mention I've built up and help build performance cars. Oh yeah I have 15+ years as a certified automotive tech. I would like to think I know what I'm talking about.

If you want a cheaper 5 lug front for the S13 then follow what another guy on the forums has done.(2) J30 front hubs=$20-$40 for the set from the yards.(2) New S13 front hub bearings=$80-$100 for the set.Press out the old bearings, press in the new ones and there you go.

Thankspallnet

*EDIT*Today (about 2 hours ago) I ran out of work here at the shop so I put some parts on the bench and started to do some swapping.

I followed the writeup and on it he claims that the bearings will swap right out (you need a press) and this is true.It also states that the hubs line up perfectly with the brakes (no offset issues), this is also very true.

Now what is not stated and how it wil be handled..On the J30 front hubs there is a retaining clip that fit in a retaining groove so this had to be removed before pressing out the bearing. This is very important to have because of lateral forces when hard turning. Without this retaining clip there is a very strong possibility that the hub could pull off the bearing a little when hard cornering.I will cut a new groove in my J30 hubs and relocate the retaining clip to accomidate the S13 bearing. I'm thinking I can do it in about an hour on my lathe. This is nothing major at all and the parts are fairly cheap compared to aftermarket conversion hubs. I have less then $130.00 in this set of hubs, the major cost is the bearings.BTW: This groove can be cut at any real machineshop. A stock hub with a stock bearing in the stock location and cost less then the aftermarket goods.Sounds like a win win win deal to me.

BTW: To the original poster and others.I feel that safety is a major issue and to sum it up, a broken hub can put you into oncoming traffic, a ditch or cause you to run someone over. Conversions need to be safe...

Thankspallnet
Modified by pallnet at 11:49 AM 8/15/2008

[Basic1]

There's a lot of material on the OEM hubs vs. the "aftermarket, I have no idea how safe the casting is" hub. Also, many full size truck enthusiasts drill their hubs and rotors to accommodate more popular bolt patterns. Many fill the empty holes with welding and grind the complete surface smooth.

I've looked at the back of the hubs, and don't believe balance would be a huge issue. If you want to play it safe though, one can always take the hubs to a machine shop and have them grind away metal to ensure the material's taken off equally.

As far as the stud goes, you have to take into consideration the knurl size (the little perforations right at the head of the stud), as the knurl size is slightly larger in diameter than the actual stud, and will grip the hole it's lodged in, preventing it from simply spinning around. I'm just waiting for it warm up a bit, but I'm all about this.

[ZX88]

its safe alot of people do this.pretty old news. im doing it.

[Logan76]

someone said earlier that conducting electricity through bearings would damage them, that is infact not true, most of the bearings that I have put on are heated electrically on a bearing heater instead of a torch in which there is more of a chance in ruining a bearing due to the concentrated open flame.

[!Zar!]

no they get mad cause you dont spell correctly and use words like "trippin"

No, they get mad at people like you who are too fcuking dumb and cry about another internet forum.

As for people talking about heat, it's like having sex.

As long as you take your time and use lubricant it will go nice and smooth.

[wantz87]

someone said earlier that conducting electricity through bearings would damage them, that is infact not true, most of the bearings that I have put on are heated electrically on a bearing heater instead of a torch in which there is more of a chance in ruining a bearing due to the concentrated open flame.

any mechanic worth their salt knows that electrical current galls bearings. and common sense tells everyone that an electrical HEATER uses electricity to activate a heater like a hair dryer, to supply consistent heat to expand it.

[Logan76]

Ive put on bearings with just a torch before, and never had a bearing gall on me, I have ruined them before with a torch when I've put them on and had to take them back off, but Ive never heard of eletrical current galling a bearing, I stand corrected then, I personally just have'nt seen it.