# mk4 rear brakes on mk3. No drilling and welding.



## D.Lus (May 29, 2005)

Fir a long time I've been searching for a way to install mk4 rear brakes to my mk3. The first and main idea was not 256mm brake discs but to give up conical wheel bearing.
Looks pretty simple - just need to imitate an mk4 rear beam. But main issue was I didn't want any welding or redrilling.
And after couple of months searching I came to VW Polo 9N/ 9N3 2007 rear stub axles with 5x100 wheel hubs. These stub axles have the same fitting holes as mk3 beam has.
So, first question sorted.









Next - I needed to somehow attach pad carriers. After couple of hours searching I came to the... VW Lupo GTI! That little boy had the solution from factory 
Spacers between rear beam and stub axles with pad carriers support. Inspecting Lupo;s brake components I've found out it's spacers should fit but no 100% sure. So i've bought mk4 rear pad carriers and gave a task to a friend of mine who works for miller to craft me a couple of those spacers. They are 8mm width on Lupo. Actually, these spacers were no charge for me - I gave my old VW Rhapsody CD headunit for them 









And that's the way rear hub looks

















The mometn of install:
mk4 rear pad carriers









mk4 rear 232mm brake discs









U just need longer bolts to attach stub axle with spacer to the beam.









































Finish!
I have 232mm rear brake discs from mk4 right now but swapping to 256mm rears would take as much as swapping pad brake discsc, carriers and calipers.

For those who wonder, Lupo spacers have the following OE numbers: 6E0501465A left and 6E0501466A right. Bolts are N 90886301 M10x40


----------



## germancarnut51 (Mar 23, 2008)

All that work to move to cartridge bearings, which don't last as long as conventional caged bearings? I have had conventional caged wheel bearings last to over 300K miles without detectable wear with reasonable maintenance. 

And, you could have mounted 5-bolt rear rotors and MKIV rear brake calipers on a MKIII with 4-bolt car by simply using the MKIII rear disc brake caliper carriers. No welding or machining necessary. 

Someone did a DIY a long time ago showing how to switch to cartridge bearings, and rear disc brakes without making any parts, utilizing stock parts from a Seat Ibiz. In Europe there are VW models using bolt 4-bolt and 5-bolt rear disc brakes and cartridge bearings. No need to reinvent the wheel (unless you like doing things the hard way).


----------



## D.Lus (May 29, 2005)

> All that work to move to cartridge bearings, which don't last as long as conventional caged bearings? I have had conventional caged wheel bearings last to over 300K miles without detectable wear with reasonable maintenance.


 Well, firstly - yes. 
And ability to install 256mm brales in future 



> And, you could have mounted 5-bolt rear rotors and MKIV rear brake calipers on a MKIII with 4-bolt car by simply using the MKIII rear disc brake caliper carriers. No welding or machining necessary.


 I've had mk4 rear calipers for a long time. Also, I've swapped to 5-bolts about a year ago. 



> Someone did a DIY a long time ago showing how to switch to cartridge bearings, and rear disc brakes without making any parts, utilizing stock parts from a Seat Ibiz. In Europe there are VW models using bolt 4-bolt and 5-bolt rear disc brakes and cartridge bearings. No need to reinvent the wheel (unless you like doing things the hard way).


 Yep - and those are Ibiza and Polo. 
But most tricky part is brake pad carriers. Yeah, there are stub axles from Polo/Ibiza for cartridge bearings and mk3 carriers - but they cost too much, unreal find used and you won't be able to install 256mm brakes on them as they are utilizing mk3 carriers - anyway you'll need that spacer (that can be bought as OE part from Lupo GTI) to attach mk4 pad carriers somewhere.


----------



## FlowRyan (Mar 19, 2012)

Sweet! I'm gonna convert my MK3 later on to 256mm brakes! I'm gonna have alot of use to this thread when it comes to compiling my partslist! 

Thanks for a great thread


----------



## PinoyVR6 (May 24, 2003)

Nice


----------



## weeloaney (Feb 17, 2010)

Can it be confirmed what all I need to fit mk4 discs? 

Polo 9n/9n3 stub axles complete with hub

Lupo GTI stub spacers/carrier mounts

And then mk4 brakes etc



What width is the Lupo spacer? 

What width does it need to be for the mk3 golf? 

Will this work on a my car with abs if I get the hubs with the abs rings on?


----------



## all-starr-me (Jul 14, 2003)

Why not use these axles with standard mk3 carriers.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=111221682689

VW Polo stub axle 6N0501118

If these parts weren't $200 a side just for the stubs without the hub it might be viable.


----------



## d-bot (Sep 6, 2004)

^^that is what this thread is about. And yes $200 a side is quite a bit considering it's just part of the whole swap.


----------



## dubspy (Aug 6, 2015)

Sorry to bring up an old thread.. any one have a definitive list of the parts needed?

My current mk3 rear set up the stub axels to long to fit the wheels i want so would really like to use this set up..

Any light?

thanks


----------



## germancarnut51 (Mar 23, 2008)

dubspy said:


> Sorry to bring up an old thread.. any one have a definitive list of the parts needed?
> 
> My current mk3 rear set up the stub axels to long to fit the wheels i want so would really like to use this set up..
> 
> ...




If your car has 4-bolt wheels, your problem is going to be getting 4-bolt hubs in the US. The reason that the 4-bolt parts to fit cartridge bearing hubs are expensive here in the US, is that no VW models with MKIII compatible 4-bolt cartridge wheel hub models have been imported. Yeah, if you have 5-bolt wheels, there are cartridge bearing wheel hubs available because the MKIV rear wheels are cartridge type. But no 4-bolt cartridge rear wheel hubs. They still need to come from Europe, and like the Genuine VW cartridge stub axles, the 4-bolt wheel hubs and rotors are not cheap.


----------



## 134hpvw (Sep 6, 2013)

I have a 91 passat 16v. I am in the process of putting 280 mm rotors 4x100 at the back.

I got a pair of new oem polo hubs from a friend in germany. I measured out the north American mk4 stub axles and their are about 1/8" too large to fit the euro centre bore.

So I am awaiting for a polo or lupo gti part out so I can get the stub axles. Eeven aftermarket those are like 90 euros a side . 

I got audi tt rear calipers and carriers to accomodate the rotors.


----------

