Ok guys, you've got me a bit freaked out!! So your telling me that at
anytime , let's say when I'm blasting down the highway at 90 mph , one of my
rear wheels might decide to take a walk... I had my rear hubs rebuilt last
year by a local British shop that's been around for years, is there some
kind of annual inspection I could do to keep this from happening. What
should I look for, cracks are a bit hard to see ! It seems like I heard of
this happening to a couple of guys on the list . Please advise!!!
Doing 35 mph in New Hampshire
----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Munson <fasttrs@mindspring.com>
To: 'Robert M. Lang' <lang@isis.mit.edu>; 6pack list <6pack@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2002 11:37 AM
Subject: RE: Old wives tale?
> Legend has it that all the axles are broken at the factory when the
> keyways are pressed in. It is just a matter of time before they finish
> breaking!! Lowered cars that do not have the bump stops removed from the
> trailing arms are candidates for earlier failure. When the bump stop
> bottoms out the spring is no longer the suspension spring; The AXLE is!
> Get the picture?
>
> That is why racers spend the big bucks on the Corvair axle upgrade. It
> is a lot cheaper than body repair and Dr. bills! (Or funeral costs.)
>
> Mike Munson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net] On
> Behalf Of Robert M. Lang
> Sent: Monday, June 24, 2002 11:19 AM
> To: Sally or Dick Taylor
> Cc: 6pack@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Old wives tale?
>
> Hi,
>
> I've seen two actual cases of TR6 hubs coming off.
>
> The first one (VTR '97) was due to the studs holding the hub carrier to
> the trailing arm pulling out of the trailing arm. The entire wheel,
> hub/outer axle went bounding into an adjacent parking lot with resulting
> minor physical damage to a car and (thankfully) no bodily injury...
> although that was purely luck.
>
> The other I saw after the fact. The axle stub cracked off at the point
> where the key is "staked" to the axle. The entire outer hub parted
> company
> (along with the wheel attached) from the car.
>
> Once the axle's integrity is compromised, it is entirely possible for
> the
> wheel to depart the car.
>
> Note - the outer axle design for the TR6 rear hub is exactly the same as
> the TR3/TR4 solid axle setup. It's a taper joint with key. If the outer
> axle fails, there's nothing holding it on the car...
>
> The fix for TR6 is to upgrade to something a bit more substantial. I use
> Corviar axles, others use all sorts of "solutions" (including 240Z axles
> and others). The TR3/4 "solution is to convert to a "semi-floating axle"
> or to replace the entire rear axle assembly with a narrowed Ford 8"
> setup.
> The Ford is a full-floating axle, the wheel won't depart from the car
> unless the lugs shear off (or you forgot to tighten them!) or you have
> other damage that far exceeds the seriouness of the departing wheel.
>
> regards,
> rml
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
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