I tried drilling my front hubs last night and I was sure I did everything correctly but now one of the bolts out of six looks a little off and not centered in the hole. I bent it down the best I could and the lug nut is about half way in. The rims take shank style bolts..

 

So now the wheels wobble a bit past 60 and I'm sure the wheels were balanced when I got them a few months ago from a shop.

 

Anyone have thoughts on how to fix this?

 

 

Oof. That sucks. Did you freehand it or did you use a drill press? I'm sure you don't have much wiggle room but perhaps you can ream the hole a little bit to shift the stud closer to where it should be and then maybe get it welded in place? The welder would have to be careful not to heat the hub too much though.

 

I'm sure the will be other suggestions as well but either way, it was a noble effort, unfortunate one was off a bit. Best of luck.

Yah I used a drill press but I think the bit was just moving off my mark as I was drilling..

 

Here are pics...

 

Edited October 29, 201411 yr by ragingbull

Throw those hubs away and start over. To keep the 14mm from wandering, use a small pilot bit first then drill out the 14mm and make sure your using chisel point bits and not bits ground for wood. If you see the bit wandering, just stop and figure out why because it won't fix itself. Wandering when you first start is usually from a bad center mark or too much feed pressure, even on a drill press. If you do it right, you really don't even need a drill press. Did you use a center punch to get exact center?

 

Josh

Getting the work closer to the drill bit helps too, less run out on an older drill press without the chuck extended.

 

Edit: Shorter "jobber" length bit would help too

Edited October 29, 201411 yr by Ibreakstuff

Thanks guys, yah seems the bit kept wandering on me. I was applying a good amount of pressure as I think the bits were of poor quality.. Broke a couple of the small ones..

 

I did get exactly in the middle, I added electrical tape all around the end of the punch just big enough to fit in the rim hole!

 

I'm thinking it may be easier for me to just order the hubs with the holes in them..

 

Anyone wanna make me some hubs!?

Mscdirect.com or mcmaster.com.   Order a centering drill bit.

 

And a split point cobalt bit for the final size.

You need a transfer punch http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-BEST-PRICE-IN-USA-33-PIECE-TRANSFER-PUNCH-SET-NEW-1-2-THROUGH-1-BY-64THS-/261351410499?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd9c20b43.

Edited October 30, 201411 yr by turbosubarubrat

+1 on the transfer punch. A must have to do it right.

Center drill first (google it), then use a SCREW MACHINE LENGTH drill bit. Do it on the largest/tightest drill press you have access to, or preferably a vertical mill.

 

Many problems like you describe are due to long drill bits on sloppy machines.

This is why I preffer drilling rims instead.....

 

Never had a problem....but If one were to have a hole get "off".....you can simply rotate to a new set of holes and redrill.  You get 3 tries per set.

 

Although.....six lug hubs are nice for running alloy wheels.