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5 Lug swap from 4s?


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I have heard of a 5 lug conversion/swap for the 4x140 hubs on the brats. I would rather do that then drive 4 new studs for a 6 bolt pattern. However I can find very little information in search for 5 lug swap or conversion.

 

Can someone either point me to a clear post, or explain what I will need to do in order to convert from 4x140 to the 5 lug setup?

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Those instructions are for EA82's and won't work for EA81's. There's LOTS more work involved with making a 5 lug Brat. Custom axles must be used for instance (EA82/XT6/Impreza are too long), and the strut tops are different as are the ball joint interface for the lower control arms.

 

It is NOT a bolt on for the EA81's, and very few people have done it at all. It is possible, but requires fabrication, and not a small amount of it.

 

GD

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hmmm, this could be potentially annoying. i wonder if anyone on the east coast has actually done this on an ea81. and i guess the real question should be where do i find the axles needed or the info on the specs for it. it is going to be a while till i can actually do th swap on my brat anyways, its going to have to wait till i start working again so that can afford the suspension components i want for it.

 

Those instructions are for EA82's and won't work for EA81's. There's LOTS more work involved with making a 5 lug Brat. Custom axles must be used for instance (EA82/XT6/Impreza are too long), and the strut tops are different as are the ball joint interface for the lower control arms.

 

It is NOT a bolt on for the EA81's, and very few people have done it at all. It is possible, but requires fabrication, and not a small amount of it.

 

GD

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You have to MAKE the axles. There are no off the shelf axles that will fit this combination. You have to cut two axles, and weld them together with a sleeve. Basically you lathe the axle shaft to within a few thousandths of the ID of your tubing and then heat expand the tubing and fit the two halves together. You can perforate the sleeve with holes and weld each one to bond the sleeve to the axle shaft as well as welding the end. But the whole thing must be done carefully to avoid warpage. It's best to turn and balance the shaft once it's setup. Running it through a lathe once it's bonded will do the job too.

 

GD

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The BYB-designed 5 lug setup for EA81s is now being produced again...not cheap but a lot better than making axles :burnout:

 

Dean.

 

You have to MAKE the axles. There are no off the shelf axles that will fit this combination. You have to cut two axles, and weld them together with a sleeve. Basically you lathe the axle shaft to within a few thousandths of the ID of your tubing and then heat expand the tubing and fit the two halves together. You can perforate the sleeve with holes and weld each one to bond the sleeve to the axle shaft as well as welding the end. But the whole thing must be done carefully to avoid warpage. It's best to turn and balance the shaft once it's setup. Running it through a lathe once it's bonded will do the job too.

 

GD

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one thing ive been wondering about with the 5 lug swap, if i am using a transmission from a turbo car and impreza front hubs, will i need custom axles? what axles fit that set up? also, i am goin to do this inmy brat.

 

like GD said, on an EA81 length becomes an issue.

 

but on an EA82. virtually any early EJ axle will work on the turbo trannies. it's the 23-spline N/A trannies that make things difficult and require FWD 5MT (IIRC....I can look up part numbers if anyone is interested) impreza axles.

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When bratgeebah was doing the liberty/legacy brakes onto early sube kits they were using ea81 driveshafts with 22 spline [i think these wer found on fwd ones] and a liberty/legacy outer cv.If you can get onto him he knows a lot about mixing and matching shafts ,cv's etc to get it to work.

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I have heard of a 5 lug conversion/swap for the 4x140 hubs on the brats. I would rather do that then drive 4 new studs for a 6 bolt pattern. However I can find very little information in search for 5 lug swap or conversion.

 

Can someone either point me to a clear post, or explain what I will need to do in order to convert from 4x140 to the 5 lug setup?

 

Though I would chime in on this one as I have done the 5 lug on a BRAT.

 

Mine is pretty involved b/c I used a EA82 crossmember to get the P/S. so I have the EA82 crossmember w/xt6 control arms. I had to use impreza FWD axles to get it work with the EA81 d/r 4 spd tranny. I also had to extend the control arms by an inch b/c the camber looked like this before I did it.

Camber.jpg

If you can't make axle, extend the control arm and use Impreza FWD axles. You will also have to figure out how to get the three bolt tophat to work w/your BRAT's strut tower.

 

I did everything with a lift so I made a spacer/adapter to get the struts to bolt in there.

 

PM me if you need some input.

 

BW

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I have the feeling this has been tried, but just want to make sure...

 

Are the axle splines (outer) the same on the front and rear of EA82s? If so, couldn't you take 4 rear XT6 hubs and mix and match? Perhaps the same idea could be applied to using a regular EA82 front disk/hub fit onto the rear axle?

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