Hub swap... at all possible?

Zona

Zona

Jase
I've seen on forums for other cars where they will sometimes swap hub assemblies from newer cars into older cars for various reasons (most often to get a 5 lug pattern) but I've not seen any discussion of it here (yes, I searched). It seems like going from our super obscure 4x98 pattern to the ubiquitous 4x100 pattern or even one of the 5 lug patterns would be pretty common if it were possible/ feasible since wheels that fit are so limited. Has anyone done it? I am no mechanic and have no clue how complicated or expensive it would be.

BTW no, I'm not a purist and care little about preserving the car's "authenticity" or whatever, I'm all for improvement even if it dashes my chances at concourse events in the future :p
 
What I've been wanting to do (but havn't) is get my ruler and caliper out and measure all the important dimensions of the hub (upright). My next plan was to go to the U-pull-it junk yard and spend a few hours seeing what bolts up.

I know that VW's and even my old porsche 944 look like they might be adaptable, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades...

If I get time this year I mean to follow up on my plan.
 
I'd try & go with Volvo hubs/bearings - they'd never wear out :grin:

...but....5x108 ain't so common either :rolleyes:
 
I have a project going (slowly) to switch to VW Rabbit stuff...

But the project replaces the entire suspension. If you are just talking about changing the hub and leaving the rest of the suspension alone, you can either:

1. Have the 4x100 bolt pattern drilled onto the X1/9 hub, or
2. Try to find a 4x100 hub that can be machined to fit in the X1/9 hub carrier.

Some say that there is not enough meat on the hub for option 1, yet many have done it. As far as option 2, I have never heard of anyone trying it. But the problem with both of those options is that they would leave the hub in essentially the same place as it is now, as far as track width goes. If the goal is to open the car up to the world of 4x100 wheels, then you need to increase your track width to accommodate the offsets that most of those wheels will have. Otherwise the wheel will never mount, the strut package will interfere with the inside of the tire.

Either that or run spacers. And if you are going to run spacers, you can just get spacer/adapters for $100 or so, and be done with it.

However, if you replace the entire suspension package to alter the track width, you can gain a bunch of other benefits as well. They are discussed in this thread:

http://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/7023/

This is not a bolt-on by any stretch.

Pete
 
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