To anyone still perplexed by the MLF (mysterious locking force):
I was really stumped by this, but I finally see the light. Let me try to
explain it, its good practice for me (being a tech writer)
Okay, picture the wheel and hub, left side of the car. Car is not on a jack.
Spinner is off. The splined wheel center is around the hub, they meet at the
bottom of the hub, the car's weight forces the hub to rest there. Install
the spinner. The spinner of course contacts both the hub and the wheel, and
when its tightened it centers the hub and wheel, raising the hub off of the
bottom inner surface of the wheel. If the spinner loosens, it begins to let
the hub down again, if the spinner falls off, the hub's back on the wheel's
lowest inner surface (right before the wheel goes AWOL). When it's on, the
inner surface of the spinner meets the wheel at its topmost point, and as
you tighten it up, it lifts the hub.
Okay, picture the situation as the spinner comes slightly loose. The hub and
spinner are still (and always) concentric with each other, but the wheel
begins
to move upward in relation to the hub/spinner. The hub is dropping downward,
and taking the spinner with it. Its moving off center, and now the spinner's
only touching the wheel at one point . At this moment, the point at which
the wheel meets the spinner is at the topmost point of the wheel's outer
edge.
Okay, now comes the different radius part. Once loosened, the spinner is
free to rotate at any wheelspeed it cares to, but the hub and wheel are
locked together by the splines, so they are turning at exactly the same
speed (RPM), albeit at different centers as the hub drops downward. Because
it is tapered, as the inner diameter of the spinner backs off it becomes
progressively larger than the outer diameter of the wheel (at the point of
contact). So you have the wheel, still holding up the upper edge of the
spinner, which in turn holds up the hub, which is being mashed downward by
the weight of the car. But since the two diameters are different, they will
rotate at different RPM's as the assembly rolls.
Picture in your mind Barney's roll of racer tape on the table, with a large
socket inside, the socket's OD is slightly smaller than the roll's ID. Make
a mental mark on the front face of each, at the point where they meet. Now
roll
the tape one revolution along the table. The socket has to turn a little
more
than one time to keep up, because its smaller. When you stop rolling the
assembly, the marks don't line up anymore. If you look at which way the
marks are digressing, you have the answer to the riddle. The entire assembly
rolls one direction, but the marks show that the outer surface is rotating
ever so slowly in the opposite direction *In relation to the inner surface*
Now to confuse things the wheel/spinner contact point is at the top of the
instead of at the bottom like the roll of tape/socket example, but the
same principle applies. Hope this helps.
Dave P
70B
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