14" six stud steel wheels suitable for L Series ?

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:33 pm

Hi all , I've been reading some of these six stud conversion threads and the pros and cons of drilling extra holes in the wheels or the hubs .

Coxy here likes the idea of finding a suitable 14 x 6 steel wheel and getting a machine shop to accurately drill the two holes to make a 4 x 140 PCD wheel . I believe he has seen 14" Sunrasia style wheels not unlike the 13" Subaru one and he reckons drilling through a flat surface would be quite easy .

He mentioned that old Ford Couriers had such a wheel though that's going back a bit .

Thoughts on this ?
Keep in mind that I want to use conventional 195 width road tyres and keeping the weight down is a bonus . I think 15" steel wheels designed for 2+ tonne light trucks would be unnecessarily heavy for what I want .

Cheers Adrian .

Post by **Alex** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:46 pm

please dont re-drill wheels. Is soo much unsafer than re-drilling the hubs.

Although both methods are illegal you will have less chance of getting caught with redrilled hubs because there is no visible abnormalities(apart from two extra wheel nuts)

Also redrilling the hubs you are more likely to get a much more accurate hole drastically minimising the chances of wobbles and improving structural integrity.

I redrilled my hubs with absolutely no worries. The rims weigh very little extra, its the big tyres where the weight is.

If you want to retain 14inch rims, whats wrong with finding some genuine LEGAL sunnies?

I went up to 15inch rims purely for the extra choice of 4x4 tyres as 14s are expensive and hard to get a hold of in a good pattern.

alex

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 7:22 pm

AFAIK the only legal Sunny was the Scorpion .

Your talking to a one time fitter machinist here and obviously the accuracy of the holes comes down to how they are drilled . An indexing head on a vertical mill would be the best way to start them .

The Subaru 13" Sunny has a flat section clamped up to the hubs with four nuts and studs , as did the Scorpions and the Rally 14" alloy wheels .

Gotta run more later , A .

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 9:36 pm

There is a standard 14 inch subaru sunnie rim running around out there somewhere... I have seen a set on Subarino's brother's old brumby... Rarer than the AWD L series box I reckon!

Cheers

Bennie

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:08 pm

I think early pathfinder rims are a close offset

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 11:43 pm

I think the issue with drilling steel wheels is finding ones with flat centers like the 13" Sunny . If they have bulges and ribs obviously they are not going to clamp up properly .
Just on the clamping thing the studs and nuts are only there to place clamping loads against the hub face , they don't do any driving .

I do have spare L front hubs somewhere and from memory they are not flat all the way around . This is why I'd like to see other peoples hubs with six holes in them .
Actually on that if you did drill the extra four holes in them to be safe you'd need spot facings milled on the back of the hubs to ensure a parallel surface for the studs heads to butt up against . All factory hubs have parallel surfaces in this area . The angle grinder method isn't going to have much accuracy .

Nah I think in 14's drilling two extra holes is the go . It's hardly likely to weaken the wheel and it uses the factory approved mounting system .
I can't see why you couldn't fill the redundant holes in and paint over them . What they can't see they won't scrutinise .
Anyone who casually glanced at an old Subaru with "different" wheels is going to realise that smallish road cars don't have six nuts holding them on .

To each their own , cheers A .

Mr Top Hat · Post by **Mr Top Hat** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 12:22 am

speedy wheels

i brought 5 of these babys at the start of the year (havent got tyres yet tho lol)

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:29 am

I hear from USMB that Mazda B2200s had a 14" steel rim with a reasonable offset , anyone know anything about them ?
Also searching for Courier wheels .

Cheers A .

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:08 am

They are heavy muthers compared to your standard Subie steelie, more unsprung weight than your specs I am telling you now!!

Post by **Alex** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:14 am

goodluck with whatever you chose to do. I do think however youre looking into this wayyy too seriously.

Redrill sum rims then...im just saying ive been there done that and trying to give you the best option from the experience ive had not just with my car but multiple cars.

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 8:42 am

Alex the thing is to find wheels with a suitable offset before even considering how to clamp them on .

I'm not going to delve into the reasons why I'd only use suitable offset wheels . Its sufficient that only ALL the Manufacturers do it properly and they do it for very specific reasons .

So , does anyone know of any early Ford/Mazda etc six hole wheels that would stay inside the bodywork and be approximately 14 x 6 inches .

Also will be posting in the wanted section for either Scorpions or the Rally wheels .

Cheers Adrian .