How hard is it to change the bolt pattern on FDs?
 

I was wondering something...due to limits in my options for rims w/ the proper offsets that I'm looking for, I was thinking maybe I can expand my options by possibly changing the bolt pattern... I remember one guy had told me that's what he does on his car (not an FD). He changes the bolt pattern to match the rims he wants. That way all he needs to do is find the rim in the offset he wants, and then change the bolt pattern on his car to match those of the rim.

So I'm wondering how hard it is to do this, and if you'd recommend against it for any reason. He made it seem pretty simple and easy...

i am pretty sure you would have to change the whole hub assembly....might not be that hard...just need to find 4 hubs in the right bolt pattern you want and make sure that the rear axles will fit properly and make sure the fronts fit properly....sounds like a big waste of time...and expensive too..hub assemblies arent cheap...well good luck and peace out

gdnimr0d, your reply is pretty much what I was looking for...that it's expensive and a waste of time and not a quick simple thing.

Thanks

They make wheel adapters that bolt on to your stock hub and then have another set of bolts comming out of that in a different bolt pattern. It also spaces your wheels out. Great if you want to use some european wheels that only come in 5x120 and since you get to choose how wide you want the spacers it can make up for improper offsets.
But its probably not as strong as the stock unit and it might break or bend if you are racing but for regular street driving I see no problem with them.
I will look for a site that sells them and post again.

http://www.performancewheel.com/Index_Adapt.cfm

There you go. You need to know what wheels the car will fit and just put in the info and they are 50bux each.

Cheap and gets the job done.

What wheel could you possibly want that doesn't fit the Fd? It would cost you about $100 from any machine shop to retap the rotors. I would suggest picking a rim that fits what you have instead of wasting cash to buy some off the wall wheel.

rotarynemesis, thanks for the info

Dave, I'm not looking for an off-the-wall wheel. It's the stupid SSR GT3s im hard pressed over, but they come in such a low offset (+37 fronts, +41 rears). So I wanted to try my luck and see if they have them in larger offsets on a diff bolt pattern, that's all.

rotarynemesis, on second thought, I dunno if that would work, because the offsets the rims come in are too far out (37 and 41). I need something like 45 - 50 all around, which means the wheels need to be pushed IN. The only chance (which I think is extremely slim) is if the wheels come in a 50 offset or somethin, so that even tho the adapter pushes the wheels out some, it won't be too much so it becomes pointless.

We'll see.

Changing your 5x114.3 bolt pattern is probably the biggest waste of money and time only because 5x114.3 is the most common bolt pattern for most cars and almost every wheel company makes them in that pattern due to its popularity. my vote, find a wheel w/ the correct offset.

-justin

Justin,

You're probably right. But the adapters that rotarynemesis put a link up for seem a pretty simple way to do it. It's temporary, cuz it's an adapter that can be put on and taken off

That, and I'm almost 100% sure the GT3s come in a 47 and 52 i believe offset for porsches, which have a diff bolt pattern. So i could simply use the adapter to change to the porsche bolt pattern (just while i use the gt3s) and im set

Ok, it seems like this is very doable

The SSR GT3s I'm lookin at are 18X8.5s in the front and 18.10s in the rear

Like I said earlier, for the FD, they only come in +37 and +41 for the front and rear, respectively.

I found them w/ an offset of 43 in the fronts and 62s in the rear in a diff 5 lug bolt pattern.

I could use the adapters from performancewheel.com to fit the fronts and change the offset as little as possible, and adapters w/ spacers in the rears to bring the rears from 62 to around 50 or 48.

My only concern is safety...I've heard people say before that adapters are a weak point, but the adapters performancewheel.com sells seems to be the strongest it gets (6061 Billet aluminum, which is nearly twice the strength of the 6063 aluminum other manufacturers use)

The other possibility is to stick w/ the original offset (37 and 41) and prob have to roll the fenders, and not be able to drop the car at all, since the tires will rub (245s and 285s), which is why I don't like that route.

What do you guys think??

Forget it...apparently the adapters push the wheels out a minimum of 1" from the hub, essentially subtracting 25mm off the offset, so that's def. not gonna work. I'd need wheels w/ HUGE offsets originally (like 65 - 75) for that to work (thanks Rynberg)

I'm answering my own questions now lol

well if you get the feed wide kit or the mazdaspeed one that add like 1 inch then it would work.

LOL...man, that put a HUGE grin on my face. I could see it now... "yea I need to get the feed/MS wide body kit. Why? Cuz I need to fit my rims...hahaha"

The "logic" we come up w/ to convince ourselves to do stuff to our FDs! hehe