5 Lug Wheel Kit

How much work is it to convert to a five lug set up from a four? I understand the 4 disc and rims have to be replaced, but are there any hidden surprises such as clearance issues or speedo not being accurate because of a taller wheel etc.

I love the look of a five lug setup with powder coated rims. Are the tires not as wide on a five lug? I'm going to be taking it to the track in the spring and I don't want to sacrifice handling for good looks.

Tony

You can order all the parts yourself. So-Cal Imports has a bolt on kit for the front conversion. In the rear you have to change the drums, brake shoes, hardware kit and wheel cylinders to 67 style. You will need aluminum wheel skins (Fibersteel) to make the back look authentic (**you must know if you have long or short axles). Order some VW style studs, steel lug nuts (honda lug nuts have the same pitch) and your set to go.

Now with wheels you may have offset problems. I run 4.5" wheels all around with 165sr15 tires. Depending on your axle length you will be able to run 5.5" wheels rear or not.

Greg at Vintage sells complete conversions if you do not want to go through trial and error as I have.

***do not use a lowered spindle front disc brake conversion. Greg was correct when he said that these cars are too light for dropped spindles***

Thanks Heiko. I'm going to look into Vintages complete package.

Tony

Anthony: I have just recently converted my Beck from 4 lug to wide 5's.
Beck Spyder's have a long axle transaxle which makes wheel offset an issue. I'm actually running drums all around (had the parts, sometime down the road I'll pop the $1200 for the disc kits). Going from drums to discs will increase your track by 1/2 to 3/4 inch.
If your planning on 5-1/2" rear wheels you will definetly need to have the wheel offset changed on a long axle car. I was running 4-1/2" rears and they didn't sit exactly right.
Be sure to measure your front end. My Beck is slightly out-of-true and the body is slightly shifted to the right with respect to the front suspension. This occasionally causes problems on max suspension travel.

Anthony,

I also have converted from 4-bolt to 5-bolt wheels (4-1/2" fronts and 5-1/2" rears). I did it on VW drums, changing the rears to '67. It wasn't a big deal, but like everyone says, there is an offset difference between the 4 and 5 bolt wheels. It is especially a concern if you are changing from 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 rim widths.

You can have the wheels "pushed" by a wheel shop (Stockton Wheel did mine). They cut the welds on the center, push the center to the new offset, then reweld it. Pretty cheap as I recall, about 50 bucks a wheel.

Some of the VW parts suppliers don't seem to know about the offset differences. Whoever you plan to buy the wheels from, make them actually measure the offset on the 5-bolt wheels before you buy them.
You can measure the offset on the wheels you now have. Then you can stick you head in your wheel wells and figure what the offset difference will cause.

If you are changing discs, there are disc set-ups that have zero track width change.

Tire sizes are not changed just because of 4 or 5 bolt wheels (of the same width).

And, you are right -- the 5-bolts look more correct, because they are!

Mark

Mark: Would you please be kind enough to provide an address and fone for Stockton Wheel? I need to have some wheels modified and there is noboby in Tucson (at least, that I've been abel to find) that can do it.
Thnaks for your time.
Cheers!

Mark: Do you know which disc kits have no change in track? I got my info from the CB Performance folks.
I could still run my mags if I could find a kit that does not increase track.
Also, can they provide long studs on the rotors?
Thanks once again.
Cheers!

Tom,

Sorry it's been a while since you asked your questions. I check-in here maybe once a week, or so. You can find Stockton Wheel at: www.stocktonwheel.com/

Although I sent them wheels I already had purchased, I'm pretty sure they also can be your source for the Mangles you are going to switch to. (Save yourself some freight, if you don't have to ship wheels to them. Also, buy your wheels and correct offset from single source.)

As for the brakes, socalautoparts.com advertizes front and rear wide-5 disc brake conversion kits with zero offset. About $500 per axle for the complete set-up.

Hope this helps you some.

Mark

P.S. Stocton Wheel will also powder coat those rims.

Mark: Thanks for your time. Don't worry abou the delay. I had to ship my computer back to the states to get repaired. I'm living out of internet cafe computers right now.
I already have a set of powder coated 4-1/2" Mangles that I'd like to get done.
I'm torn between having the Mangles modified or sticking with my technomags. The offset isn't what I'd like, but the performance is light years ahead of the steel wheels.
Any idea if going to discs lowers your unsprung weight?
Happy Chinese New Year. Its the year of the rooster.

I don't know about the weight difference between discs and drums. It doesn't seem like it would be much tho.

IF YOU CAN GET HOLD OF SOME PORSCHE ALUMINUM DRUMS, THE WIEGHT PROBLEM IS MINIMAL. IF YOU USE CHEAP, BUT HEAVY, VW CAST IRON DRUMS, .....KLUNK! (IMHO)
LIGHTWIEGHT AND STRONG CSP DISC BRAKES SEEM OPTIMAL (ALSO IMHO).