DIY: Front 5 stud Conversion for CE

BI65ND

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**Before getting started, please note that this was done with the brakes already upgraded to 276mm. If you have standard brakes you will need to factor in swapping the brakes as well. Also please note, I do not have any air tools, which would have changed the way I did a few things with the swap.

Parts you will need:
FTO wheel hub/knuckles
5 stud 276mm rotors
FTO/Magna/Evo calipers

Tools Used:
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*Trolley Jack
*Jack Stands
*Rubber mallet (for persuading those tough bolts)
*Freeze and Release
*Pliers
*Ball Joint Puller/Separator
*Ratchet
*32mm, 19mm, 17mm sockets
*Socket extension piece
*19mm, 17mm, 12mm spanners
*Breaker Bar


The Doing
1. Crack the CV nut. Remove the split pin, and use the 32mm socket and breaker bar to crack it. I tried this a few ways and found the best way was to do this before jacking the car up. That way the hub will not spin at all when cracking the nut.

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2. Once you have loosened the CV nut, jack the car up, put the jack stands in place and remove the wheel. Won't go into detail here, I assume everyone attempting this knows how to do this lol.

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3. Remove the caliper. Remove the brake line clip, and then remove the two bolts holding the caliper in place (I think these are 19mm?). There should be plenty of line that you can sit the caliper on the ground while you do this to keep it out of the way without undoing the line and getting brake fluid everywhere. Then remove the rotor

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4. Pop the tie rod end. Remove the split pin, and undo the 17mm nut at the bottom of the joint. Put the Ball Joint puller in place and tighten to pop the tie rod end out.

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5. Remove the CV shaft. Loosen the 19mm nut holding the Lower Control arm to the hub/knuckle setup. Then undo the two bolts holding the knuckles into the strut. Next push the shaft out ( :lol: ) - will take a bit of swivelling around. This is the nut under the drive shaft that needs to be removed to allow separating the knuckle from the LCA:

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6. Pop the LCA. Use the Ball Joint Puller again on the LCA -> knuckle ball joint. Once this is popped you can now remove the old hub and knuckles

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Now they are removed you can see that the knuckle setup aligns almost identically to the standard mirage/lancer setup. You can notice here that the mount hole for the tie rod end sits slightly off between the two. This causes the toe to be thrown out, and will need to be adjusted later on.

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7. Now put the FTO knuckle/hub setup into and bolt everything back in, in the reverse of the way you removed it. The nut under the CV shaft is the first one to get tightened, because you cannot put it in once the CV shaft is back in place. It does not have to be tightened completely at this stage, it is probably a good idea not to tighten it all the way so that you have some movement in it for getting the CV in place. It should now look like this:

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8. Use the new 5 stud rotor, and bolt the caliper back into place. Now that it is all back into place, you will notice that there is significant toe-in. To counter that, adjust the tie rod end by using the 17mm and 12mm spanners. First crack the 17mm nut and spin it all the way in, and then tighten the shafts back the other way with the 12mm spanner. Adjust it so that it looks as close to straight as possible. A wheel alignment will help get this spot on.


9. Make sure everything is tight, replace the wheel and then do the final tightening of the CV nut.


10. Stand back and admire your handywork.

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Hope this helps a few people. I will post up the rear swap when I do that






*Please note that this is just the way I did the swap. It may or may not be the correct way to go about things as I am not a mechanic, and I do not take any responsibility for any damage you may cause through doing this.
 
I liked this before i even read it, the amount of cars you see around the net with 5 stud conversion but nearly impossible to fond a DIY, this is a good DIY to explained well and plenty of pics.
Thanks for the effort Ian your on fire tonight man. Well done.
 
:) good diy man, john and i could have used a ball joint puller the other day :lol:
 
Paul (and John's) extra notes:

- dont use a hammer to remove an item off any ball joints. if you do, make sure you have a thread file.
- hacksaw or grinder for the tie rod ends.
- you can leave the caliper on the hub carrier if you're replacing it all with fto stuff.
- air tools are fun and make it easier. rattle gun and air ratchet make it easy and let the neighbours know you're a cool cat
 
Res said:
:) good diy man, john and i could have used a ball joint puller the other day :lol:

unclepaulie said:
Paul (and John's) extra notes:

- dont use a hammer to remove an item off any ball joints. if you do, make sure you have a thread file.
- hacksaw or grinder for the tie rod ends.
- you can leave the caliper on the hub carrier if you're replacing it all with fto stuff.
- air tools are fun and make it easier. rattle gun and air ratchet make it easy and let the neighbours know you're a cool cat

I told John to get a puller... I tried for about an hour one night to get the LCA ball joint off, got a puller and it was off in under a minute. Best $30 ever spent! I also didn't find the tie rod ends need cutting down at all. We adjusted mine almost all the way in, still have a little bit of adjustment to go, and I think I have toe out if anything.
 
mmc77 said:
I liked this before i even read it, the amount of cars you see around the net with 5 stud conversion but nearly impossible to fond a DIY, this is a good DIY to explained well and plenty of pics.
Thanks for the effort Ian your on fire tonight man. Well done.

No probs man :thumbup:
 
Excellent contribution BI65ND.

Is there a camber issue at all?
There have been reports that the FTO LCA is some 18mm longer than the Lancer LCA, which would impact on camber, and would explain the tie rod arm disparity
 
excuse raising an old thread but does that mean Evo 4/5/6 front coilovers will work on the front of these knuckles? regardless if its FTO 5-stud or OEM 4-stud?

Cheers.
 
Little bump.

Rear 5 stud is just FTO/Magna/Evo knuckle as well correct?
 
lilandonaki said:
Little bump.

Rear 5 stud is just FTO/Magna/Evo knuckle as well correct?

NO,

The rear does not have a cast "knuckle" as the front does. Rear is FTO trailing arm and hub ONLY.
 
Trondabron said:
lilandonaki said:
Little bump.

Rear 5 stud is just FTO/Magna/Evo knuckle as well correct?

NO,

The rear does not have a cast "knuckle" as the front does. Rear is FTO trailing arm and hub ONLY.

Ahh i didnt even think of the different setups. FTO hub doesnt mate up to the lancer trailing arm?
 
lilandonaki said:
Trondabron said:
lilandonaki said:
Little bump.

Rear 5 stud is just FTO/Magna/Evo knuckle as well correct?

NO,

The rear does not have a cast "knuckle" as the front does. Rear is FTO trailing arm and hub ONLY.

Ahh i didnt even think of the different setups. FTO hub doesnt mate up to the lancer trailing arm?

Nope,

FTO hub uses a 30mm spindle, Lancer hub uses a 28mm spindle, hence everyone has to swap the whole arm, instead of just the hub.
 
Crumble said:
puk33 said:
Great DIY, just in time for me to do my 5 stud swap :D
With all this 5 stud going on I'm starting to feel left out :(

i guess it can just be another thing for Victoria to eventually get on the bandwagon with lol
 
Great thread mate well done :) if you post the rear conversion or anyone else for that matter I might just have to do it haha
 
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