KAIS3R Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I'm trying to figure out a slightly more scientific way to center the placement of the drill bit other than Phizinza's use of eyeballing a large center punch. no matter what i know i will feel that "shot in the dark" @ 80mph. i am pretty new here and i know there are plenty of posts about this conversion but using the keyword search i am unable to use 4,to,6,or lug in my search. plz help i want this done so i can get my Impreza back from my GF 8P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capn_r Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Transfer punch's work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Brat Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 When I did mine, I went to the tire shop and they gave me a junk chev or yota wheel. I used a bigger drill bit then what the hole was on the wheel and drilled threw it. It was better then eye ballin it. Long story short use the holes of the wheel as a pilot hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Mr Brat, just curious, how many drill bits did you use or what type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 are you going to convert the wheel to 4 lug bolt pattern, or are you converting your hub to the wheels pattern. Can be done either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Brat Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I used 3 drill bits. 1st bit was bigger than the holes on the wheels. Use this to transfer a centering mark to the hub. 2nd bit was a small bit for a pilot hole. 3rd bit was slightly larger than the wheel studs. Then I ground the back of the hub down so the slud flanges would sit flat. Then bolted the 2 original studs to the wheel. Next put the 4 new studs in. This centered the studs pretty well with the wheel. Then I welded them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAIS3R Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 are you going to convert the wheel to 4 lug bolt pattern, or are you converting your hub to the wheels pattern. Can be done either way. I used 3 drill bits. 1st bit was bigger than the holes on the wheels. Use this to transfer a centering mark to the hub. 2nd bit was a small bit for a pilot hole. 3rd bit was slightly larger than the wheel studs. Then I ground the back of the hub down so the slud flanges would sit flat. Then bolted the 2 original studs to the wheel. Next put the 4 new studs in. This centered the studs pretty well with the wheel. Then I welded them in. i have my spare tire from my wagoneer . does using the rim render it completly useless ?have you had any vibration issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Brat Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 If you use a small enough drill bit so you dont damage the taper, I think it would be fine. I saved mine for the spare. I have a slight wabble about 40 mph, but other than that its good up to about 85 or so. That was down hill and burnin the feet of the little gerbils. It wabbled pretty bad when I didn't grind the back of the hub flat. Make sure you do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschool Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Pop out two of your lugs opposite of each other on you suby hub. Then you can use the two lugs that are left to bolt up to a 6 bolt pattern and there is your pattern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAIS3R Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 i got my tires on order 195/60R14 FALKEN ZE-912 . got my bit on order 35/64 high speed steel (= to the 13.8mm Phizinza was looking for). i have my transfer punch set and a set of older dodge D-50 rims that match the original rims offset and a template rim . ok i think im set. if there is any other advice anyone can give me i'd surely like to hear it. my project starts when the drill bit arrives.8)> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capn_r Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Another thing I did was use an old sube wagon wheel (spoked wheel with a fairly thick flange) and after drilling the hubs with a pilot hole ( I used 1/4 inch, you can use whatever you prefer) I bolted the wagon wheel back on with the two original studs and drilled through the pilot holes on the hub and the wheel became a jig for the rest of the hubs. That way you bolt the sube wheel on and use whatever size transfer punch in the pattern hole and don't have near the set up issues on every one. I've done several sets and never had any vibration issues. Spot facing on the back of the hubs helps, but as noted before grinding works. good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 I am personally a fan of just redrilling the wheels. Drilling more holes into a cast piece is risky to me. Plus you have to drill twice as many holes, and you need to grind down the odd surface on the back side of the hub to get the studs to fit right. To this day, I've never seen a 4 lug Subaru hub "fail" or lose studs or rip the center of the wheel or anything. 4 studs, espescially that widely spaced are plenty strong. Fully loaded, with an EJ, my lifted subaru weighs 3300 lbs. Hardly a need for Six wheel studs. Drilling wheels is easy too. Just knock 2 studs out of an old hub and bolt it up to the six lug you want to redrill. Then drill you're hole through the 2 knocked out stud holes in the hub. This method has yielded very precisely lined up holes. So nice that the wheel stud slips excactly thought he holes with no slop. I don't bevel the redrill holes. I just use "open" lugnuts upside down, so the flat part tightens against the rim, instead of the bevel. The 2 original holes I use the regular lugnuts. Another nice thing about redrilling wheels is if you f..k up, you can just rotate and redrill between 2 other wheel holes, up to 3 times. The only reason in my mind to redrill hubs to six lug, would be to run alloy wheels, which can't be easily redrilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Brat Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 I agree with you on that it is easier to redrill wheels rather than the plates. But just like you said if you want to run alloys or plan on maybe running alloys the redrill wheel method wont work. It would probably save you about 3 hours worth of work to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 i a set of older dodge D-50 rims that match the original rims offset and a template rim . D-50 rims are about the best steel rims you can get for an older subaru. I ran a set on my wagon, they fit perfect, don't stick out and cause bump steer or wheel bearing issues, and if the chrome is still good on them the look nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAIS3R Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 D-50 rims are about the best steel rims you can get for an older subaru. I ran a set on my wagon, they fit perfect, don't stick out and cause bump steer or wheel bearing issues, and if the chrome is still good on them the look nice. i went to the junk yard to get a set of 1990 mazda B2600i sweet alloy rims but some choad swooped 2 of em before i got there. about the same time they put out a D-50 with super clean chrome rims and i attacked it. i dont want to redrill because my car is super clean and freshly restored and i dont want to put anything on that looks idk strange . and they fit my wagoneer so when i get my lift i can still drive it in the garage for storage. hmmmm when i lift my soob i can also swap on my 15X8" alcoas with 33" thornbirds heck i already have 3" spacers why not !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 They look like this? Nice meaty rims, and the perfect offset. I used to run some chevy 6lugs and they stuck out from the body a lot more. Had to beat the base of the A pillar a lot more to stop the rubbing. The D-50 rims line everything up nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstaru Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 i have run with both.on the same car,a couple of different times. i used a transfer punch the same size as the rim hole, while it was partially bolted to the hub with the two studs...... that was good enough for 85 down the backside of snoqaulmie several times fully loaded.....and everywhere else that i went. i also redrilled a couple of rims to use on the front.those were less than exact, and i still never had any issues. as far as safety is concerned.i have seen some hack jobs on this mod.and noone has ever wrecked from it.i know folks that have ran 33" tires on cast drilled hubs and beat the piss out of it.they are plenty strong enough.it has been proven. 35/64ths is the proper size drill bit, use a ton of lubrication when doing this, and go slow on the rpm's if your press is adjustable...... i had my setup on 2 different rigs and never had any issues....... ima try to find one of the brat as well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAIS3R Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 came out perfectly !!!!!!!! no vibration at any speed !!!!!! except for when i had the tire shop install the center caps they didn't recenter the wheels . so as long as i personally center and snug down the 2 original studs then tighten the other 4 this was a complete success..... Kudos and mad props to the one who originally figured this retrofit out !!!!! i should have done this 12 years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Brat Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 I do the same thing. But I tighten my original studs just a little tighter then the others. Just something that I do to know that it wont move any when I tighten the other 4 studs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presslab Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 I drilled and faced my hubs with a CNC mill. The casting is very good metal, it machined just fine. I have the g-code if anyone wants a copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave86gl Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 i was just reading about the wheel swap techniquesw . I 've done some machine shop work and there are things called transfer punches designed to center pench a hole to be drilled. I don't know how large they make them, but it might be an option to check out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave86gl Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 i was just reading about the wheel swap techniques . I 've done some machine shop work and there are things called transfer punches designed to center pench a hole to be drilled. I don't know how large they make them, but it might be an option to check out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biker921 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 When doing this conversion, what years Toyota's are people using? I noticed in searching (87 Toyota for 87 Brat) that the bolt pattern is 6-139 instead of the Brat's 140. Does this make a difference? I would PM, but I'm still too new to do so, sorry for any clutter this question might create, but I would really appreciate any answers I might receive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott in Bellingham Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 When doing this conversion, what years Toyota's are people using? I noticed in searching (87 Toyota for 87 Brat) that the bolt pattern is 6-139 instead of the Brat's 140. Does this make a difference? I would PM, but I'm still too new to do so, sorry for any clutter this question might create, but I would really appreciate any answers I might receive. the 6 bolt wheels are 5.5 inch centers with equals 139.7 MM what year? all 6 bolt import trucks and chevy trucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazomatic Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 when I converted my hubs to 6 bolt, I tried to do it myself 1st. used a slightly larger bit to mark the hub through the wheel, then drilled to the right size to accept the studs (can't rememember the size right now). the problem I ran into though, was making the rear flat, in order for the stud to fit flush. I could never get it to my satisfaction...so I said funk it and headed to my local machine shop. he drilled all the holes on the last 3 hubs, and machined a flat for the studs to fit real nice...all for $100. a worthy expense for the peace of mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.