Thaifight-R
Pika Pii!!!
I noticed a lot of people have questions about wheel redrilling/adapters so I decided to make a thread on my understanding of it. Let me know if there's anything I should add/fix.
Why redrill/get adapters?
As you all have probably noticed by now, the majority of Sonics have the obscure 5x105 bolt pattern. Because of this, we are very limited on what kinds of wheels we can put on our cars. There are many different designs that aren't available in our bolt pattern, and not everyone can afford custom made wheels.
This is why some people resort to redrilling wheels or getting adapters.
What kind of wheels can you redrill/put adapters on?
Technically, you can redrill/put adapters on pretty much any kind of wheel.
Redrills
With redrilling, the main issue is having enough "meat" or room to redrill the wheels. You have to make sure that the centerbore (or the middle hole) isn't too big, and that there's enough room for the new holes to be drilled in. Typically it is best to just stick with the same amount of lugs. (redrilling from 5 lug to 5 lug pattern), but going 5 to 4 or 4 to 5 has been done before.
This is the preferred back/mounting pad for redrills:
There are several methods for wheel redrilling:
Multilug/Dual Drill:
If your wheels only have 5 holes and have the type of mounting pad mentioned earlier, then you can redrill an extra bolt pattern.
The advantage of this is that you can preserve the original bolt pattern. The disadvantage is that you can't do it to wheels with this kind of mounting/back pad:
(note the craters next to the lug holes. I'll refer to this later as the "crater" mounting pad)
Fill and Redrill:
In this case, a shop would weld metal plugs into the existing holes, and then redrill a new set of holes. The advantage to this is that it allows you to redrill some wheels that originally had 4 lugs, or larger bolt patterns (i.e. going from 5x120 to 5x100). The disadvantage is that it doesn't look as nice unless a decent bit of work is done.
Here's a nice example:
Redrill (and metal inserts):
This method is simply just boring out the existing holes and fitting metal inserts in the wheels. This is for smaller bolt pattern changes (i.e. going from 5x100 to 5x105 or 5x112 to 5x114.3). The advantage to this is that it won't look as bad on wheels with open faces (no centercaps that cover the lug holes) and you can do it with any kind of mounting/back pad. (for wheels of the same lug number of course.) The disadvantage is that you're limited to wheels with a lug pattern that's close to our pattern. (although this does still considerably expand how many wheels we can run.)
Adapters
With adapters, you don't have to worry about meat space as much if at all. Also, you can use adapters on any kind of backpad.
In the case of adapters though, the "crater" type of mounting pads are the preferred ones.
The reason why those wheels are preferred is because it allows you to run a thinner adapter.
The main issue with adapters is offset (or how much the wheel will sit outward towards/past the fenders, or inward towards the suspension)
The bigger the adapter, the more the wheels will stick out towards/past the fenders (thus decreasing the offset)
Because most aftermarket wheels have a slightly lower overall offset than stock, it is usually best to run as small an adapter as possible. (15mm being the smallest as far as I am aware of)
This issue here though is that when you use thinner adapters (I think it's anything less than 25mm?), the stock lugs will stick out of the adapters. This is why the wheels with the crater mounting pads are preferred here. The craters allow for room for the stock lugs to poke. Without the craters, you wouldn't be able to properly mount the wheels.
If I understand correctly, this is the reason why Opticon had to shave his stock studs.
And SherbertFrenzy! didn't.
Backpad of the wheels he used (Subaru STI wheels):
cE9s4PudvOBRLMDzFcz!~~60_57.JPG)
Also, for adapters, you will want to make sure that they are hubcentric to prevent wheel vibration and reduce stress from the studs.
Calculating/Approximating fitment
Offset changes by ~12mm for every inch wider/narrower a wheel is.
See chart:
Here's a useful tool for visualizing/approximating fitment as well. (Thanks Wong!)
Wheel Offset Calculator - The Ultimate Stance Calculator | Jonathan Rowny
(According to Wong, Fender distance to hub is ~85 for the rear on the Sonic)
Where can I have my wheels redrilled or get adapters?
Redrills:
If you're in California, Rotiform, VR Wheels, and Memoryfab are some of the more well known places for having redrills done. (the first two especially) There are plenty of other places too, but the three I listed seem to be the more popular places.
Ask your local machine shop or wheel shop if they can redrill wheel bolt patterns.
Adapters:
Motorsport-tech custom makes them to whatever size and bolt pattern you want. I have yet to hear anything bad about them.
Pricing:
Most of the time, redrilling will be cheaper than getting adapters, but I guess it depends on where you go to get them drilled. Usually, It's like $100-$400 for redrills, and ~$265 for adapters.
Summary (Pros and Cons of each):
Redrilling:
Pros:
-Doesn't affect offset
-Cheaper than adapters
Cons:
-Can look ugly or be really sketchy if not done right.
-Might affect the resale value of the wheels as you're essentially making it a Sonic/Cruze only wheel. (unless you go with the multilug option)
Adapters:
Pros:
-Can be made for virtually any wheel.
-Preserves the original bolt pattern of the wheels, so resale value isn't affected by it.
Cons:
-Affects offset, so you're limited to wheels with a higher offset (Unless you want to do some major body/fender work to your car)
-A tiny bit more pricey
Random Ramblings/Comment
I should note, since this is a redrill thread, that redrilling the actual hubs (and axles?) of the car (although less common) is also a possibility. However, you would also have to have the brake discs (and drums) redrilled every time you change them as well, so this would definitely be the more expensive and tedious method for getting wheels of a different bolt pattern to fit. (not to mention the more risky method if not done by someone that knows what they are doing) This method does eliminate the offset issue of adapters while preserving the wheels' original bolt pattern though, so it's definitely worth considering in my opinion if you have the time, money, and desire to put a particular set of wheels on your car.
Hope everyone finds this useful! ^_^
Again, let me know if there's anything I should fix or add.
Why redrill/get adapters?
As you all have probably noticed by now, the majority of Sonics have the obscure 5x105 bolt pattern. Because of this, we are very limited on what kinds of wheels we can put on our cars. There are many different designs that aren't available in our bolt pattern, and not everyone can afford custom made wheels.
This is why some people resort to redrilling wheels or getting adapters.
What kind of wheels can you redrill/put adapters on?
Technically, you can redrill/put adapters on pretty much any kind of wheel.
Redrills
With redrilling, the main issue is having enough "meat" or room to redrill the wheels. You have to make sure that the centerbore (or the middle hole) isn't too big, and that there's enough room for the new holes to be drilled in. Typically it is best to just stick with the same amount of lugs. (redrilling from 5 lug to 5 lug pattern), but going 5 to 4 or 4 to 5 has been done before.
This is the preferred back/mounting pad for redrills:
There are several methods for wheel redrilling:
Multilug/Dual Drill:
If your wheels only have 5 holes and have the type of mounting pad mentioned earlier, then you can redrill an extra bolt pattern.
The advantage of this is that you can preserve the original bolt pattern. The disadvantage is that you can't do it to wheels with this kind of mounting/back pad:
(note the craters next to the lug holes. I'll refer to this later as the "crater" mounting pad)
Fill and Redrill:
In this case, a shop would weld metal plugs into the existing holes, and then redrill a new set of holes. The advantage to this is that it allows you to redrill some wheels that originally had 4 lugs, or larger bolt patterns (i.e. going from 5x120 to 5x100). The disadvantage is that it doesn't look as nice unless a decent bit of work is done.
Here's a nice example:
Redrill (and metal inserts):
This method is simply just boring out the existing holes and fitting metal inserts in the wheels. This is for smaller bolt pattern changes (i.e. going from 5x100 to 5x105 or 5x112 to 5x114.3). The advantage to this is that it won't look as bad on wheels with open faces (no centercaps that cover the lug holes) and you can do it with any kind of mounting/back pad. (for wheels of the same lug number of course.) The disadvantage is that you're limited to wheels with a lug pattern that's close to our pattern. (although this does still considerably expand how many wheels we can run.)
Adapters
With adapters, you don't have to worry about meat space as much if at all. Also, you can use adapters on any kind of backpad.
In the case of adapters though, the "crater" type of mounting pads are the preferred ones.
The reason why those wheels are preferred is because it allows you to run a thinner adapter.
The main issue with adapters is offset (or how much the wheel will sit outward towards/past the fenders, or inward towards the suspension)
The bigger the adapter, the more the wheels will stick out towards/past the fenders (thus decreasing the offset)
Because most aftermarket wheels have a slightly lower overall offset than stock, it is usually best to run as small an adapter as possible. (15mm being the smallest as far as I am aware of)
This issue here though is that when you use thinner adapters (I think it's anything less than 25mm?), the stock lugs will stick out of the adapters. This is why the wheels with the crater mounting pads are preferred here. The craters allow for room for the stock lugs to poke. Without the craters, you wouldn't be able to properly mount the wheels.
If I understand correctly, this is the reason why Opticon had to shave his stock studs.
And SherbertFrenzy! didn't.
Backpad of the wheels he used (Subaru STI wheels):
Also, for adapters, you will want to make sure that they are hubcentric to prevent wheel vibration and reduce stress from the studs.
Calculating/Approximating fitment
Offset changes by ~12mm for every inch wider/narrower a wheel is.
See chart:
Here's a useful tool for visualizing/approximating fitment as well. (Thanks Wong!)
Wheel Offset Calculator - The Ultimate Stance Calculator | Jonathan Rowny
(According to Wong, Fender distance to hub is ~85 for the rear on the Sonic)
Where can I have my wheels redrilled or get adapters?
Redrills:
If you're in California, Rotiform, VR Wheels, and Memoryfab are some of the more well known places for having redrills done. (the first two especially) There are plenty of other places too, but the three I listed seem to be the more popular places.
Ask your local machine shop or wheel shop if they can redrill wheel bolt patterns.
Adapters:
Motorsport-tech custom makes them to whatever size and bolt pattern you want. I have yet to hear anything bad about them.
Pricing:
Most of the time, redrilling will be cheaper than getting adapters, but I guess it depends on where you go to get them drilled. Usually, It's like $100-$400 for redrills, and ~$265 for adapters.
Summary (Pros and Cons of each):
Redrilling:
Pros:
-Doesn't affect offset
-Cheaper than adapters
Cons:
-Can look ugly or be really sketchy if not done right.
-Might affect the resale value of the wheels as you're essentially making it a Sonic/Cruze only wheel. (unless you go with the multilug option)
Adapters:
Pros:
-Can be made for virtually any wheel.
-Preserves the original bolt pattern of the wheels, so resale value isn't affected by it.
Cons:
-Affects offset, so you're limited to wheels with a higher offset (Unless you want to do some major body/fender work to your car)
-A tiny bit more pricey
Random Ramblings/Comment
I should note, since this is a redrill thread, that redrilling the actual hubs (and axles?) of the car (although less common) is also a possibility. However, you would also have to have the brake discs (and drums) redrilled every time you change them as well, so this would definitely be the more expensive and tedious method for getting wheels of a different bolt pattern to fit. (not to mention the more risky method if not done by someone that knows what they are doing) This method does eliminate the offset issue of adapters while preserving the wheels' original bolt pattern though, so it's definitely worth considering in my opinion if you have the time, money, and desire to put a particular set of wheels on your car.
Hope everyone finds this useful! ^_^
Again, let me know if there's anything I should fix or add.
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