[yakmasterjack]

How something as simple as wheel bearings would make me want to sell my car is beyond the point, but my 04s bearings suck and I want to fix it. I'm experiencing major pad knock back due to I believe the left front wheel bearing.

I'm looking at the 6gun racing 05sti front hub conversion kit. So its the 05 front knuckle machined for the 04 suspension and 5X100 wheels and rotors.
Includes:

• • (2) New 05 STi front knuckles machined to fit WRX and prior STi struts (custom camber settings optional)
• • (2) New 05 5x100 STi front hubs/bearings
• • (8) New bolts to attach hubs/bearings to knuckle
• • (2) New 6 Gun Racing Speedo Gear Adapter Collars
• • (10) New OEM lug studs installed in hubs

Now most guys do the whole swap with 05 struts, wheels, rotors etc. This howeve runs well over a couple grand to fix damn wheel bearings. This kit seems like the easier and cheaper option. However I'm only replacing the front bearings and am concerned it might not be as effective.

Who has experience with this kit? Will replacing the front knuckles with 05 bearings eliminate my pad knockback? Is it usually just the fronts that go back? Will skateboard bearings fit because they'll probably last longer than stock 04 bearings? Thanks for any input!
-Jack-

[mxpop]

Yes, the popular skateboard bearing trick is unknown to most but is def the best way to go.....

I do have 06 struts and Brakes FS if you do want to do it that way.....

Knockback can be caused by a few things and wheel bearings are at the top of the list.

[thunderbird]

I just got the kit put on my car and I am thrilled to pieces.

[yakmasterjack]

Originally Posted by thunderbird

I just got the kit put on my car and I am thrilled to pieces.

So this has eliminated pad knock back for you?

[TR11]

i did the full swap and have 2 hard track days and 4 solosprints / time attacks on them. They're fine so far although an 04 bearing would be after this limited wear as well.

i love the new rim sizes 5x114.3 gave me though

[thunderbird]

Originally Posted by yakmasterjack

So this has eliminated pad knock back for you?

absolutely. I put new wheelbearings on earlier this summer due to the knockback reaching the obnoxious stage, ran one, just one, autocross and felt the first signs of knockback. I've run a couple of autocrosses on the conversion kit so far with no knockback. Of course its a little too soon to say that knockback is gone for good, but one good reason to do the conversion is that '05 bearings are a lot cheaper to replace. Autocrossing, especially with wide wheels (I'm running 265/35R18s on an 18x9 wheel) is hard on the bearings, so I still expect to replace the bearings, just not so often.

[stronzo]

Yes it will make an improvement, well at least for me it did.
I did the full swap. Yea it did get pricey, but in my opinion it was worth it.
Before I was having problems after the auto-x turn.
After the swap, it was night and day. No matter how hard I drove the brakes worked perfectly every time. Since the swap the car has been through 8 auto-x and 1 track day.

In the future if you plan on getting coilovers, or rims.
I do recommend to get the full 5x114 kit. It will give you more parts to chose from. I was able to get used 05 struts and 05 rims just by checking the classifieds

[yakmasterjack]

Thanks for the input. I decided to go for the front 05 hub swap machined to the 5X100 '04 wheels and rotors. Can't wait for brakes again!

[Turninconcepts.com]

I have a set here, but have not had time to put them on yet.