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That was our reason for putting the tapered roller bearings together with pre-set bearings. Unfortunately the first test has us going back to the drawing board...
i won't say it's impossible by its highly improbable to think you can make a "set it and forget it" tapered roller bearing hub.
The above hub leaves a lot of room for improvement. That "dust seal" is going to leak grease when it gets hot. It's not much of a seal.
I look forward ward to seeing what you come up with Cord.
It ain't that hard to to set up tapered roller brgs, done it hundreds of times and never burned out a set yet, they are very forgiving if you don;t set them too tight. Having a few thou of play is better then too tight.
As for the grease leaking out, these were run in the 25 hour at Thunderhill. I plan on making gskts for the caps, no biggie. Can't wait.
Setting up of tapered bearings is a non issue, every single RWD GM from the 60's through the late 90's had em. Just tighten the damn thing by hand till there is no slop.....move on.
Setting up of tapered bearings is a non issue, every single RWD GM from the 60's through the late 90's had em. Just tighten the damn thing by hand till there is no slop.....move on.
I don't think this is correct. I had a travel trailer that required 1/16" wobble at tire tread or they would lock up. Each set-up responds differently to thermal expansion, so the manufacturer has to develop a setting procedure.
You had something going on there, with GM stuff the procedure was tighten to 30 ft/lb to set the races then loosen. Tighten by hand then only back off enough to get the cotter pin in. Normally 1/8 a turn or less.
You had something going on there, with GM stuff the procedure was tighten to 30 ft/lb to set the races then loosen. Tighten by hand then only back off enough to get the cotter pin in. Normally 1/8 a turn or less.
I got my hubs today and I must say they are very high quality. Made in the USA. The bolt on cover is the safety backup for the nut. It is made from 1/8" aluminum and bolts on the hub so the nut would have to bust this or the 4 bolts holding it to the hub. Not saying it couldn't happen but if the driver didn't realize there was a problem by then he shouldn't be driving because it would have to be making a lot noise long before.
The Mazda hubs appear very well made. We wanted to offer a hub with a non-adjustable bearing - I think some call it a 'cassette' bearing. Is this the "tastes great! Less filling!' debate? Maybe.
We've got a couple more things to test before being able to give some definitive answers about our first revision. And yes, ABS would be included.
I heard he's actually planning on making them weaker than stock.
HA!!! Okay, seriously we designed the hubs to use tapered bearings in order to spread out the load and to help dissipate the heat more evenly. That has a tendency to help all parts involved. Beyond that, the hub flange is thicker, and the root of the hub has a thicker, more gradual curve. Again, spreads out the load. FEA showed that our hub is much stronger and generates much less stress. OK, real world the hubs held up enough to win two endurance races, using stock grease. That's a good sign, as better grease should extend the life of the hubs even longer. But we still have a nagging issue with slop, and need to test out a theory or two before making any major adjustments. And honestly, life has been getting in the way.
So I got mine in and immediately found a problem. As they come they will not center the rotor. They let the rotor flop around by about .040". I think this could cause an imbalance.
If you look at a standard hub, there is a step that centers the rotor. We pressed on a ring and machined it down to the proper dimension to center the rotor.
Thanks for the heads up, I haven't tried installing mine yet. Ichecked and the dia. is .040" difference. That isn't an issue with stock rotors probably as the rotors should center on the studs but for us using the big brake kits with larger stud holes that is the only way of centering. I called Mark at STM powersports the manuf. and told him the issue. He said they have run these hubs with no issues on spec miatas,. He said they well change that dimension and should have some ready in a few weeks hopefully and well replace the current ones if you want, but with stock rotors not to worry about it.
Thanks for the heads up, I haven't tried installing mine yet. Ichecked and the dia. is .040" difference. That isn't an issue with stock rotors probably as the rotors should center on the studs but for us using the big brake kits with larger stud holes that is the only way of centering. I called Mark at STM powersports the manuf. and told him the issue. He said they have run these hubs with no issues on spec miatas,. He said they well change that dimension and should have some ready in a few weeks hopefully and well replace the current ones if you want, but with stock rotors not to worry about it.
I spoke with him about it the other day as well. We are using the stock rotors and they do not center on the studs. They just move around. I don't know if it doesn't move enough to cause a vibration but I didn't like it so we fixed it.
Holy smokes that's horrible. Did you give it the 4-5 heat cycle break in and maintain the preload leading up to the race weekend?
We ran 4 heat cycles and checked each time. the last time we made a slight, 1/2 mark adjustment.
When we installed them we did install them with the slightest of play. We were not comfortable with the feel of the bearing when it had zero play. It just felt too tight to us.
The bearing grease on the inboard bearing was much darker on both sides vs the outboard bearing. It looks like the inboard bearing is seeing more load.
There was some grease coming out of the dust cap area and we did use Hylomar to seal the dust cap. Not a lot but some.
The driver side bearing had maybe slightly more play in it than when we last adjusted them.
The bearing failed during an 8 hour endurance race and while the current SCCA EP National Champ Matt Reynolds was driving. He is very clean, smooth and extremely fast. No off track excursions or banging curbs or the such.
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Okay, seriously we designed the hubs to use tapered bearings in order to spread out the load and to help dissipate the heat more evenly. That has a tendency to help all parts involved. Beyond that, the hub flange is thicker, and the root of the hub has a thicker, more gradual curve. Again, spreads out the load. FEA showed that our hub is much stronger and generates much less stress. OK, real world the hubs held up enough to win two endurance races, using stock grease. That's a good sign, as better grease should extend the life of the hubs even longer. But we still have a nagging issue with slop, and need to test out a theory or two before making any major adjustments. And honestly, life has been getting in the way.
