Board logo

Welding up hub bolt hole
Mr Whippy - 18/7/13 at 05:23 AM

Hi

I have some very nice very wide wheels which I'd like to fit to a tin top. Prob is the car is 4 stud and the wheels 5. Off course I could get the hubs redilled but on each hub no matter what you do one of the orginal bolt holes always is in the way. I was thinking I could get this offending hole on the hub flange welded up, professionally with a tig and that the hub should not be distorted?

Any consensus on if this is a good idea? We have in town a very good machine shop who would do a good job of drilling the new holes, it's the welding up bit I'm not sure about.

Ta

[Edited on 18/7/13 by Mr Whippy]

britishtrident - 18/7/13 at 06:58 AM

Lets put it this way the fact you are asking kind of implies that you wouldn't be 100% happy with it.

I have had repairs done on alloy wheels that involved major welding but personally I would not never feel 100% happy with welding in the area around the holes, but thats just me.

Mr Whippy - 18/7/13 at 07:05 AM

Sorry didn't make it very clear

I actually mean the cars steel hub flange rather than touch the wheel at all

Now changed the title so it not misleading....

[Edited on 18/7/13 by Mr Whippy]

r1_pete - 18/7/13 at 07:07 AM

I doubt you would find anyone in the welding 'trade' who would do this for you.

Imagine the scenario, should one of the hubs fail and cause an accident..... I certainly would not want to be the welder being asked the inevitable questions.

In the 70s and early 80s it was possible to get alloys plugged and re drilled, but, I'm pretty sure that practice has been outlawed now.

Can't you sell the wheels on and buy something similar to fit the 4 stud car?

britishtrident - 18/7/13 at 07:14 AM

The hub might not actually be steel it could be SG Cast Iron or even sintered.

i have actually encountered hubs made of grey cast iron (no prizes for guessing how I found out) but that was on a boat trailer rubber suspension unit.

daveb666 - 18/7/13 at 07:18 AM

You can get hub adaptors to go from 4 stud to 5 stud off the shelf.

Mr Whippy - 18/7/13 at 07:22 AM

quote:
Originally posted by daveb666
You can get hub adaptors to go from 4 stud to 5 stud off the shelf.


Thanks, Yeah I've seen these too but tbh they look quite scary plus the to PCD's are really close meaning an adaptor would probably not work in this case

ashg - 18/7/13 at 07:47 AM

the hub will most likely be hardened on the bearing surfaces, if you tig it you run the risk of getting it too hot and ruining the surface hardening.

loggyboy - 18/7/13 at 08:17 AM

What car is it? were 5 studs avaiable on them from the factory on higher models? or 'sister' models from the same make?
Or can you not source some 4 stud versions of the wheels?

MikeRJ - 18/7/13 at 08:35 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
Thanks, Yeah I've seen these too but tbh they look quite scary plus the to PCD's are really close meaning an adaptor would probably not work in this case


How close are the PCDs?

It sounds like only a small part of one hole will need to be built up with weld, I would have no qualms about this provided the hub is 100% definitely a steel item.

Mr Whippy - 18/7/13 at 09:49 AM

Within 5mm, was going to use splined studs rather than threads in the flange

britishtrident - 18/7/13 at 11:44 AM

The Locost test for cast iron is quite rough & ready --- try grinding a non-essential bit of it with a sandng disc if the dust the comes off is horrible sooty black then it is cast iron, if not it is steel.

mcerd1 - 18/7/13 at 12:22 PM

personaly I'd never be 100% happy with them welded and re-drilled - dependign on the style of the hub you might be able to have new flanges made or ones from a similar car 'adjusted' to fit ?

what car is it ?

coyoteboy - 18/7/13 at 12:25 PM

I'd do it if it was steel, with regular inspections at first. However the PCD converting adaptors are perfectly good if you don't trash your geometry when adding 20ish mm to your scrub (i.e. if the offset of the new wheel compensates).