Tapered Roller Bearing Hubs--IT'S HAPPENING
04-29-2018, 05:29 PM
#282
OK, here's the deal. We spent the time (and money) on some really promising FEA, and created a front and rear hub around the largest possible roller bearing that we could fit on a Miata. The FEA numbers said that we were much, much stronger than stock.
And then we went to a tier 1 OEM supplier for hubs. They agreed to make them for us, and built a couple of prototypes for testing. We should have asked for a dozen prototypes because we just didn't have enough to test. And while the hub looked excellent, the bearings that we called out to use were not in the hubs. The manufacturer had used no-name bearings. Ugh.
But anyway, to the test. The hubs were shaken down on track, and started showing signs of wear far sooner than they should have.
OK, maybe it was the no-name bearings. SO....the bearings were changed to name brand and were thrown on an endurance car. That car went out and won its next two races. Good. Except after the second race the hubs had play. While we tried to determine if it was the bearings, the hub design, or even the grease that was used (stock grease, not repacked), the answer didn't pop out. That's the reason for the silence.
Technically the hubs SHOULD work. On paper they are better in every way than the stocker units. But they didn't. So as a result we went back to the manufacturer and said that we needed to do a broader test with more hubs---and the correct bearings with the correct grease. We never got to this test because the large OEM manufacturer decided we were just too small to deal with. It's a crushing blow.
While it's possible to start over with another manufacturer, we may be chasing after a flawed part. We just don't know. What I do know is that a turbo Miata (or V6 or V8) with fat tires requires wheel hub bearings and hubs and spindles that are more robust than what originally came on the car. While the pure racer expects to change many components on a regular basis, wouldn't it be nice to just install the hubs and forget about them? No adjustment after every weekend. No re-greasing after 20 hours, no replacement after every season. Part of what makes a Miata so much fun is that they don't cost and arm and a leg to operate.
That is the update.
And then we went to a tier 1 OEM supplier for hubs. They agreed to make them for us, and built a couple of prototypes for testing. We should have asked for a dozen prototypes because we just didn't have enough to test. And while the hub looked excellent, the bearings that we called out to use were not in the hubs. The manufacturer had used no-name bearings. Ugh.
But anyway, to the test. The hubs were shaken down on track, and started showing signs of wear far sooner than they should have.
OK, maybe it was the no-name bearings. SO....the bearings were changed to name brand and were thrown on an endurance car. That car went out and won its next two races. Good. Except after the second race the hubs had play. While we tried to determine if it was the bearings, the hub design, or even the grease that was used (stock grease, not repacked), the answer didn't pop out. That's the reason for the silence.
Technically the hubs SHOULD work. On paper they are better in every way than the stocker units. But they didn't. So as a result we went back to the manufacturer and said that we needed to do a broader test with more hubs---and the correct bearings with the correct grease. We never got to this test because the large OEM manufacturer decided we were just too small to deal with. It's a crushing blow.
While it's possible to start over with another manufacturer, we may be chasing after a flawed part. We just don't know. What I do know is that a turbo Miata (or V6 or V8) with fat tires requires wheel hub bearings and hubs and spindles that are more robust than what originally came on the car. While the pure racer expects to change many components on a regular basis, wouldn't it be nice to just install the hubs and forget about them? No adjustment after every weekend. No re-greasing after 20 hours, no replacement after every season. Part of what makes a Miata so much fun is that they don't cost and arm and a leg to operate.
That is the update.
Reply
0
0
04-29-2018, 05:55 PM
#283
Not saying a profit can't be made but every Miata specialty vendor has a long list of ideas for products. We have to pick the ones that folks need / we can make correctly/ we can produce cost effectively and lastly, we can turn a profit on. One sort of assigns a "viability score" to each idea depending on its performance in each metric. On my list but well down on the viability score unfortunately. So it's low priority.
We have been testing a proto for about 6 months with promising results. Developing the supply chain, process control, tolerances, etc. all are proving as difficult as we expected at the outset. Hubs are hyper critical components. Not to be trifled by educated guesses, lack of materials auditing, detailed tolerances and process controls. We either nail it definitively or we scrap the project. Ours may never reach market, no ETA IOW. If we can figure all the details out, price them competitively and make a profit, we'll do so. If not, it'll just be another project that almost was.
__________________
Reply
0
0
04-30-2018, 11:50 AM
#284
I think you may have missed the sarcasm in my post? Maybe I should have used green font...
Trust me, I know the scale and difficulty of a development project like this. Leafy makes it sound really easy. The point of my post was to sarcastically tell him to put up or shut up. Of which, I'm confident he will do neither.
Good luck with your project on this same issue. I look forward to someone offering a bulletproof front hub solution in the future. For the time being, I will continue to replace my blueprinted hubs at regular intervals.
Trust me, I know the scale and difficulty of a development project like this. Leafy makes it sound really easy. The point of my post was to sarcastically tell him to put up or shut up. Of which, I'm confident he will do neither.
Good luck with your project on this same issue. I look forward to someone offering a bulletproof front hub solution in the future. For the time being, I will continue to replace my blueprinted hubs at regular intervals.
Reply
2
2
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
bleezy
Miata parts for sale/trade
0
03-06-2016 03:55 PM
Stronghold1985
Prefabbed Turbo Kits
18
02-22-2016 11:33 PM
