HI folks. I've searched all over the place but I haven't found anyone else doing this and I'm trying to do my homework. Hopefully this is in the right spot.

I have an 87 Brat that a former owner converted into a 6 lug, which really sucks because there aren't any attractive wheel options in that setup. This Brat isn't an off-roader with massive sidewalls, it's a cruiser that pops around to local shows and sometimes runs around as a pit vehicle at a local racetrack. The original 4x140 doesn't have much for options either. My goal is to convert it to 4x100 to get a much larger pool of small wheels to pick from. Right now it sits on these with a fair amount of poke: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/usw-70-5760p

Would the best option be to cut off/out and patch the extra four studs, add back the removed 2 OEM ones to get it back to 4x140, then use a wheel adapter to get to 4x100? Getting new hubs doesn't seem to be a thing in the aftermarket scene and the former owner who did this welded all the studs at the back.

I'm not sure if EA81 hubs are the same as EA82, but if they are I can save you the hassle and trade you a full set of stock hubs. Then you can go from there.

It seems like they might be interchangeable according to these threads. I won't be doing any shop work to the Brat during car show season, which ends in late October up here in the frozen north. If they're still available by then I'd be down to do a trade.

Potentially dumb question: Could a machine shop create new hubs from scratch? I'm with this vehicle for the long haul and if I can get him some spiffy new parts I'm down for it.

 

 

Edited May 17, 20223 yr by Icedragon
grammar

Look for some 15x6 wheels with about 0.5 to 1 inch of offset(3.5-4" backspacing).

Those fit my ea82 wagon like a glove, running 175/55R15, the tires are the exact same size as the stock 175/70R13's.

I've heard of people machining/redrilling the stock hubs to 4x100. That's probably your best bet, if that's the size you want. It gets difficult as it begins to clash with the bosses for the rotor mounting bolts.

 

You're currently running a 7" wide wheel with 4.5" of backspacing (meaning 1" of negative offset!), yea, that's not going to fit well. A stock Toyota or Nissan 6" wide wheel will fit much better.

 

It is certainly possible to have new hubs made, but my understanding is cutting the splines is extremely expensive. Someone had a run of 5 lug rear hubs made not too long ago. They were manufactured overseas in large-ish quantities, and they were still spendy. I suspect having 2 pairs made (they are different front and rear) will be many many thousands of dollars.

Edited May 18, 20223 yr by Numbchux

Thanks for the help. I'm going to work with a local machining company to see if a custom option is doable without making the current hub and drums into Swiss cheese. I really wish a prior owner hadn't done this dumb conversion.

The best option I've seen is to redrill to 4x114. I have a set and as I remember there used to be a thread on how to do it. If I remember Loyale 2.7 turbo said he did it.

Welp, slight change of plans. There's a massive clunking from the driver side CV joint so that'll come before any more cruising.

On 5/18/2022 at 9:01 AM, silverhelme said:

The best option I've seen is to redrill to 4x114. I have a set and as I remember there used to be a thread on how to do it. If I remember Loyale 2.7 turbo said he did it.

Yes ...  ...I agree that it is the Best option, 4 X 114.3 ...  ...

as the Wheels for that pattern usually has the proper offset for our Subies.

This is what I did it, very Long years ago:

Kind Regards.

Edited April 6, 20232 yr by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
I uploaded the image to a Different Server