Is the hardware available to upgrade my brakes with out doing the five lug conversion. I'm talking larger, X-drilled rotors; 4-piston calipers on all four corners, etc. I'm doing my suspension mods first, and want to start at the ground and work my way up. This means tires and wheels. If I have to do the five lug conversion to do my brakes, it mean either keeping stock rims for too long, or buying rims for the four lug, and selling them when I do the conversion. I'm not fond of either of these ideas.

 

It's NOT possible to upgrade the brakes without doing the 5-lug conversion, and here's why:

I don't think you can use the 4-piston calipers with the
4-bolt front rotors. The calipers would mount to the hub carrier, but there are differences in the rotor sizes. The 4-bolt rotors are the same thickness (22mm), but they have a smaller diameter (204mm vs. 230 mm).
The rears definately cannot interchange, because both the diameter and thickness of the 5-bolt rears rotors is larger than the 4-bolt rear rotors.

I wanted to do the same thing

 

i posted a thread awhile back and got into a huge discussion about big brake kits. and the only thing to do is the 5 lug.. sorry to say i hate it 2

 

So I guess that means sticking with the 14" phone dial POS wheels and stock tire size for the time being. I haven't the time or money for the conversion yet.

 

Can't you just re-drill the 5-lug rotors? They should have the same hub register, which is what holds the rotor in place radially, which is all that matters. Just make some extra holes in there for the studs to slide through and there ya go. The pressure from the wheel being clamped by the lug nuts is what keeps the rotor in one place, not the studs themselves, so the holes don't have to be precise.

disclaimer: i haven't tried this, but it shouldn't be too hard to find out if it works or not.

 

I would be concerned about there being too much torque on the hub with four extra holes in it. It may not have the structural integrity neccessary to stay in one piece. Any comments?

 

It's a non-issue. Don't worry about it.

In fact, some aftermarket rotors are drilled for four and five lug already - no problems there.

 

Where do I look for brake parts, peejay? I want to have all of my plans in writing so I can go down the list and check them off as I do them. Thanks.

 

Sorry, but the 5 lug rotors are just about an inch bigger in diameter, this isn't going to work. I don't think you can fit the 14s on with the 5 lug rotors, even if you redrilled them, and the 4 lug rotors are going to be too small to work with the 4 piston calipers..

PaulC

 

However, aftermarket 4 lug X-drilled rotors with aftermarket calipers and 17" forged rims should work fine, right?

 

if you can find a big brake kit with the 4 lug pattern, go for it.

PaulC