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6 X 5.5 lug conversion Done! now with Pics


FlyB0y
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Ok, so I got my wheels (14 x 6 Mag wheels from a '85 Mazda 2 wheel drive with 6 x 5.5 lug pattern, if I measured correctly they have a 3.75 off-set measuring from the bead to the inside of the wheel) It was originally my understanding that I should be able to simply pound out 2 of my 4 lugs and bolt up the wheel and that would serve as the template for the new stud holes. I have now been told that especially with the wheels being mags, that I need extra precise holes drilled, and the back side of the hub milled at each stud hole. I want to do this right, is there anything else I am missing? btw I have the correct lugs and matching deep lugg nuts to fit the subaru 12 x 1.25 wheel studs ... and if this conversion goes well, I will be selling my 14" pugs soon ... any advice, info or general slaps aside my head appriciated. :D

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and the back side of the hub milled at each stud hole.

 

As for milling the back side of the hub at each stud, you will notice when looking at the back side, some of the new stud locations will overlap some of the casting ribs and would require a little grinding on the hub to create a nice flat surface for the stud head to seat against. Or on some studs, you may decide to grind a little off the side of a stud head instead so it fit's better. When drilling the new holes, besides making sure they are centered correctly, make sure the drill size is perfect. A little too big and you will find the newly inserted studs could spin on you and strip out the pressed in grooves. Also if the hubs are quite hard, you will find the new pressed in gripper splines (?) won't be quite as secure as the original stud locations. This will especially be true on the rear where the thickness of the hub is much thinner at the new stud locations compared to the originals.

 

I currently have a 6 lug convesion on my hubs and am running 15x7 Toyota Alloys, but after seeing all the work involved and the tendancy to spin the new studs, I would really consider looking for a set of 15" Pugs next time around.

 

Rollie

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yes ... ty Jibs, I have seen that info ... kinda wished I had looked a little harder and found some matching steels in decient shape, but I think these mags will look nice once I remember what kinda acid cleans them up ... I think it's muriatic acid ... and I happen to have a few gallons in the work truck :brow: of course I won't have but one good lung left after using that much acid to clean them, but I will have nice shinny rims! :headbang:

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Good Deal. I would make one suggestion though. If you're doing them yourself, it won't be as bad, but I would get a set of rear discs and do the 6lug conversion on those. It'll save you time and money in the long run. I paid to have a set of 6lug drums drilled then, a few months later had a set of 6lug discs drilled and would have preferred to save my time and money and do it right the first time.:)

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Good Deal. I would make one suggestion though. If you're doing them yourself, it won't be as bad, but I would get a set of rear discs and do the 6lug conversion on those. It'll save you time and money in the long run. I paid to have a set of 6lug drums drilled then, a few months later had a set of 6lug discs drilled and would have preferred to save my time and money and do it right the first time.:)

 

Yeah ... Nels' mentioned having a set of discs laying around ... but then again, I could always have some discs done later and put the drums on the hatch I wana get lifted to sell and then get some discs done too hehe ... I'm still bumbed that I can't just drill them out myself .. I was hoping to have this done this week-end and get my pugs ready to sell :brow:

 

P.S. what did it cost ya to get them done? and what size did you have them drilled to? I was told to get them to 9/16's ...

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good idea on the tack welds, but I don't know ... if I had to do that one the trail it would be hard with out a premere sp? power welder ... I have a guy who does some metal work just down the street from me too, gonna see what he thinks ... he might just drill them with his press for me and grind the back-side or at least tell me what needs to be done.

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if you dont want the studs to spin, just put a small tack weld on one spot, or maybe opposite ends of the stud.... that way you can still get it off if you need to, but it wont spin either.

 

you cant weld in the studs and expect them to be straight afterwards. when the weld cools, it pulls the stud towards the cooling pool of metal.

 

drill the correct size hole, 19mm, and forget about welding them in...

 

then only hard part is the rear drums, getting a grinder in there is hard. do the rear disc swap while your at it and its easy.

 

pugs are for suckers, they dont stick out nearly enough.

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P.S. what did it cost ya to get them done? and what size did you have them drilled to? I was told to get them to 9/16's ...

 

It varies from place to place, the first whole set or 4 cost 175$ then I got a set of rear discs done (2) and he only charged me 75$.

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you cant weld in the studs and expect them to be straight afterwards. when the weld cools, it pulls the stud towards the cooling pool of metal.

 

drill the correct size hole, 19mm, and forget about welding them in...

 

then only hard part is the rear drums, getting a grinder in there is hard. do the rear disc swap while your at it and its easy.

 

pugs are for suckers, they dont stick out nearly enough.

 

Hmmm I just measured the 9/16 drill and compared it to the splines on the stud ... it's just a bit smaller than that diameter ... did you mean to say "14mm"? that would make sense to me since 9/16 and 14mm are so close ... (9/16 = 14.29mm) ?

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the saga continues .... :drunk:

 

I have a new ? ... some of the holes have ended up a bit too large and I am trying a few ways to shim them up. I have put JB weld on one, and used some 1/2" copper pipe to shim the hole a bit, both seem promising, but just wanted to see other's experiances/ideas on this thx! :burnout:

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W00t!! well they're done whew! :clap: Only 3 broken drill bits later, I now have the 14 x 6", 6 x 5.5 lug rims (3.75" off-set) from a '87 Nissan on my brat :cool: One nice thing I found too, if you get the PN 610-378 (Balkamp # I think) wheel lugs from Napa, they have a slightly wider spline and req alot less grinding on the inside of the break drums in the rear since the heads are smaller :)

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Those are sweet tyres. I like the wheels too :)

 

Nice looking setup. And good offset.

 

 

 

_____________

The little brat,

www.offroadingsubarus.com

 

Ty, ty! :brow: I'm sooooo glad to finally have it done ... I kept getting interrupted and having small set-backs ... and if you look closly in one of the pics you will see why I am going back to the tire shop again tomarrow :rolleyes:

 

I can't wait to paint the rest of the car the same color as the wheels :burnout:

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and here i thought you were aired down for snow(what snow)...

 

looks good...

 

hehe ... if only it was ... :banghead: 2 outta 5 tires were not beaded up! They said the beads were pretty rusty, but I had to tell them to use the water tank to double-check ... they were just testing them with a spray bottle of soapy water ... worst part was that the first one was leaking so bad I could HEAR the air escaping .. oh well, we all make mistakes, I can't talk too much I let me blown CV trash my 3 mon old bearings! :rolleyes::drunk:

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I have the same wheel. $50 from junk yard. $50 for sand blast and painting. I had mine done white. I drilled them to 4 lug first tho.

 

They fit a sube nicely. I only had to trim a little off the front of the fender.

 

DId you have a problem with the center fitting? I had to really torq mine down because the center hole was just hair to small (maybe the extra think paint and primer).

 

subyboard.jpg

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Im beating myself up over wheels and tires.I purchaced a set of 15 by 8's before my 4/3 lift and 6 lug conversion was even done. I dont know what I was thinking with the 8 inch wide wheels,It kind of limits me to what tires I can use.Plus I dont have the heart to cut the fenders cause its such a perfect rust free body.Im looking at a set of 14 by 6's with 3.5 offset.What do you guys think? and would anyone be interested in my 15 by 8's ? I can let them go with a set of 235/75/15 too (heres a pic with the 15's w/235)

post-9704-136027605917_thumb.jpg

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I have the same wheel. $50 from junk yard. $50 for sand blast and painting. I had mine done white. I drilled them to 4 lug first tho.

 

They fit a sube nicely. I only had to trim a little off the front of the fender.

 

DId you have a problem with the center fitting? I had to really torq mine down because the center hole was just hair to small (maybe the extra think paint and primer).

 

subyboard.jpg

 

I only did a quick (as in 20 - 25 min per wheel) but thorough wire wheel to remove the old yellow (yuck!) paint and minor surface rust, quick dry self-etching primer and 10 min set engine paint (one wheel was fresh paint and dried to handle on the way down to the tire shop!:banana: ) but I didn't have any problems at all with them bolting right up! Once I get my LOOOOOOOONG over-due alignment tomarrow, I shouldn't eat any more wheel bearings and I will actually spend more time driving than fixing/modding :drunk:

 

When you say $50 for wheels, you mean for 5? and did you have all 5 of them painted for just $50? pretty good price I would say ... I was just in a time crunch at the time and I wanted to drive ... THEN I went 4 - 5 miles and my bearings turned to gravel :o:horse:

 

P.S. ... do you have the center caps? I don't see anywhere on my hubs that a small center hole (unless it was close to the size of the 36mm axle nut :-p )

would be an issue ...

 

*edit* ok, now that I look closer, I do see where a small center hole would be an issue .. I have about 1/8 inch gap between the four little doggs there in the center and the center hole of the rim ... no idea if these are stock rims, but they do have a 3.75 off-set :cool:

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Looks good! Good job and welcome to the realm of wheel options.:):drunk:

 

OOOOOooooooohhhhhhhhh-YEEEEEEEEEEeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh (Any other Glenn Beck fans here? :banana: )

 

And yes that was a very *white* "oh-yeah" :-p

 

I can't tell you how happy I am now that I can go into ANY tire store and actually find wheels in a catelogue if not in stock and even better most any JY will have wheels to fit too! :brow:

 

I goto my fav JY so much they gave me a free "Yard Rat" sticker to put in my window :headbang: (It's really kewl ... it has this scruffy looking rat with a tool box ... I'll see if I can get the pic from the web or I'll take a pic)

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P.S. ... do you have the center caps? I don't see anywhere on my hubs that a small center hole (unless it was close to the size of the 36mm axle nut :-p )

would be an issue ...

 

*edit* ok, now that I look closer, I do see where a small center hole would be an issue .. I have about 1/8 inch gap between the four little doggs there in the center and the center hole of the rim ... no idea if these are stock rims, but they do have a 3.75 off-set :cool:

 

I only bought 4 at the time. And yes that price covered all 4 so $25 a wheel. I do have all four chrome center caps, but they don't stay on very well and if you have drums in rear forget it. They clip on and there not enuff room on a drum to get them to clip. On the disc you canfit the clips in between the 4 dog ears, but I have lost two already pretty easy. I still four left if you want them. I paid $20, so $20 plus shipping. They are chrome and say Mazda in the center, but the Mazda thing is just a metal sticker and comes off pretty easily.

 

subyboard.jpg

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I only bought 4 at the time. And yes that price covered all 4 so $25 a wheel. I do have all four chrome center caps, but they don't stay on very well and if you have drums in rear forget it. They clip on and there not enuff room on a drum to get them to clip. On the disc you canfit the clips in between the 4 dog ears, but I have lost two already pretty easy. I still four left if you want them. I paid $20, so $20 plus shipping. They are chrome and say Mazda in the center, but the Mazda thing is just a metal sticker and comes off pretty easily.

 

subyboard.jpg

 

Ty for the offer, but I like being able to see the grease start to come out and tell me it's time for new bearings :o I was just curious :burnout:

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Ty for the offer, but I like being able to see the grease start to come out and tell me it's time for new bearings :o I was just curious :burnout:

 

UMM... Not sure how the center cap obstructs you view any more then the wheel does. The only thing it covers is the ugly nut at the end of the axles. If grease is leaking out here there is some serious issues and it's prolly going to seep around the cap to.

 

 

subyboard.jpg

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