Five lug adapters for four lug hubs

[George Simmons]

I have recently built some five stud adapters for my four lug hubs. They are 3/4" thick. Machined on a computerized CNC turning machine from cold rolled shafting material. They are the same diameter as the hub and are almost unnoticable. The bolts and single bolt/stud in each are the trick. I am wearing 55 mm offset 7" x 17" "Cup" wheels with 205/50/ZR17 Pirrelli's. No, no flares on this '74 914-4. Standard fenders. Yes, it's a tight fit,(about 3/8's of an inch on either side of the tire) but they don't rub and they look great. Your comments, please. Surely someone out there thinks this won't work! But it does.

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[JP Noonan]

It always suprises me when we take a wheel off my friend's 930 to see the thick alum spacers. The suprise is that they are factory! I guess I've used to drag racing where spacers are banned (in street class anyway).

He actually has a second spacer over the factory one. 400hp, drives like a madman, and for 3-4 years has had no problems with 18"x9" rims.

The only spacer/adaptors I that know are junk are the JC Whitney ones, but what do you expect for $20?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

There is a difference.

The Turbo spacers have the studs that the wheel bolts to spaced evenly in between where the studs from the hub go. There is a good bit of metal around them. In the commonly-available aftermarket five-to-four spacers, there is very little material around at least one of the studs.

My local PCA Zone (zone 7) does not allow "wheel spacers that change the original bolt pattern" for this reason. They are not considered safe for autocrossing or time trial.

I don't know how the original poster's spacers are made. I will assume that he did plan well enough to keep enough metal to support all of the studs reasonably. But that isn't the case with most of them.

Just pointing out there is a difference between the five-to-five and the four-to-five spacers.

--DD