4 lug to 5 lug hub conversion on the mk3 TDI (1996, 1997 passat, 1997, 1998, 1999 jetta)
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Difficulty 4/5

Introduction

If you just want to use 5 lug wheels on your 4 hole hub, there are two easy solutions:  The best one is to buy a conversion hub, available from ECS tuning.  It is a 5 lug hub with a new wheel bearing that you press to replace your existing 4 lug hub.  Another solution is to use spacers that are drilled out to convert your 4 hole hub to 5 holes.  The reason I don't like spacers is because it increases wheel offset, possibly making the wheel stick out.  Also note that your rotors have to be drilled out because the VR6 5 lug rotors have a different offset and I am not sure if they will fit the 4 lug hub.

A more involved solution is to swap a "plus" suspension from a VR6 engine model of the same generation into your car.  All North American VW TDI diesels have the base suspension with a few plus parts.  Some European VW TDI diesels and all VR6 VW gasoline cars used the plus suspension.  

The advantages of the plus size suspension is that it uses heavier and stronger components and has a 5 lug hub so that you can use 5 lug wheels.  The spindle also uses either a wider or larger OEM brake caliper and brake rotor than the TDI does.  The 1992-1995 passat, golf/gti, jetta VR6 used a 280mm x 22mm brake rotor with the wider corrado G60 g54 caliper and the 96-97 passat VR6, 1996-1999 golf/jetta VR6 used a 288mm x 25mm with a larger VR6 caliper.  These are both larger than the TDI's 256mm x 20mm rotor and caliper.  

The plus suspension geometry also is better than the TDI suspension.  From VW's literature: "Positive caster has been increased to improve directional stability and to reduce unwanted feedback through the steering wheel.  Steering axis inclination has been modified to further aid directional stability. The vehicle has a negative steering roll radius, resulting in a track stabilizing effect during braking."  This supposedly gives less torque steer and better straight line tracking.

Note:  If you are putting a TDI engine into a passat GLX or swapping everything from the passat over, the GLX has a traction control standard with the 3 channel ABS (1 left, 1 right, 1 rear wheels).  It works at low speed acceleration by applying differential lock through the front brakes.  The ABS was only an option found on a few passat TDI and does not have this type of traction control.

The 5 lug pattern also has a lot more aftermarket big brake kits available.   See 1000q: wheels overview for more details on what wheels will fit your car.   Also see 1000q: mk3 big brake kits for details on swapping bigger brakes onto your TDI.

Parts:

VR6 spindles with calipers, brake lines, and hangers
VR6 ball joints
VR6 tie rod ends and steering rack
VR6 axles ( not recommended to just use the outer CV off of your tdi)
Get a complete rear trailing arm from a VR6, fairly cheap from a junkyard. That'll give all the hardware you need for the rear.
23.8 mm brake master cylinder (If your TDI has ABS this is not necessary, if your TDI did not have ABS, you should add this.)

If you only want 5 lug wheels, then the easiest way to do this is to use conversion hubs for the front wheel, then swap the rear suspension/trailing arm from a vr6.  A conversion hub can be found here.

bildon.com/catalog/DetailsList.cfm?ID=357.407.615ES&Nav=5

Tips and misc. notes

The best way to get the plus suspension is to swap all of the front suspension except the front springs and struts (due to the weight of the front).  It is not recommended to just use the vr6 spindle/brakes and mate the outer CV joint to your TDI axle because the offset of the ball joints are in slightly different positions and this could cause binding.  The entire VR6 axle bolts up to your TDI transmission flange too.

The 96+ TDI has a plus strut and strut hardware with a different spring.  The TDI also has a plus front stabilizer bar, but the rest of the suspension is base.  The passat bar is 22m, the Jetta/Golf bar is 20mm.  The rest of the suspension: control arms, lower ball joints, steering rack, and tie rod ends on the TDI are base.  Note that the Canadian only AAZ diesel (non TDI) B4 passat used the base stabilizer bar but the North American TDI (1996+ TDI) used the plus anti roll stabilizer bar.

The TDI uses the TRW steering rack and the VR6 uses the ZF tie rods.  The best solution is to swap the steering rack but it's possible that you can mix-match the tie rod ends.  It's also possible that the full ZF tierods thread onto the TRW rack.

The TDI uses a threaded brake line-caliper, the 1996+ VR6 uses a banjo bolt fitting on the caliper.

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