Lug conversion? weld & redrill wheel hub?
 

hi. i heard from a person online that some of the cobra owners have been able to change the lug pattern by welding up the wheel hub and redrilling. i dont know anything about this so i just wanted to ask some people that knew. is this possible? and if it is, can any of you recommend a good shop in the bay area, ca or even in california. thanks in advance

Now that sounds scary! I can think of lots of wheels were it simply would not work. Off the top of my head I can't think of any wheels I would trust if it did work!

Ernie

Easy there Ernie. It's o.k. to do this to the front hubs if done by pro's. Though up front wise, new hubs will cost you about the same as getting the work done. So I wouldn't recomend it as a practical cost saver towards new front hubs in most cases. Costs are also determined by the type of front brakes you are using of course.
I had this done when I narrowed the rear for my car too. I had them cut the lip off the face of the axle to set it up for a Wilwood hub, and had them put in screw in lugs.(recomended) I went from a 5in. bolt pattern to a standard Ford pattern and had the old holes welded up and turned down. The standard Ford 31 spline axles are MUCH stronger than most aftermarket performance axles of the other camps. Greg Moser was the folks that did this for me here in Indy (Muncie) and this is a common thing and standard fair that is done in hot rodding and drag racing. It's o.k., but I would still have Moser or who ever pro you are using look the axles over before cutting on them. They could be bent, cracked, or whatever. It's also cheap to put new wheel bearings on at this time.
Shipping is only a few bucks and they can be overnighted if in a rush, and Moser gets this type of stuff done in one day normally. That is, if you can't find someone local. Greg Moser advertises everywhere in hot rod books and is on the net.
cobrashock

Oh,,,,hubs and axles! I was thinking wheels. I suppose you could do wheels to but I wouldn't bother.

I just helped my friend change out his four lug hubs and axles to five lug by replacing the parts with new. Hard to imagine it would have been cheaper to have a machine shop do the re-weld. And we were done in a few hours.

Ernie

Yep, you got the gest of it, cost wise. I just converted my front 4 bolt mustang 2 setup over to 6 piston Wilwood brakes and a standard Ford 5 lug setup. Twas literally as they say, a snap to do. The jump from a 4 piston setup to a 6 piston setup is a bit salty however.
cobrashock

I just welded new spindles on my Suzuki samurai using a ford crown victory 5x5.5 hubs and spindles. Changing like this can be done, but its going to bother the hell out of me for the life of the vehical. The point here If there is any way to avoid welding on suspension or steering I would do it.