SR3 Upright "life" Part 2
Discussion
Unbelievable - last week I read arnoldhars thread and yesterday the same thing happened to me!
Before a 180 km/h sweeping right hand turn I suddenly felt my brakes getting spongy. I immediately slowed down and headed to the pit exit. Half way down the pit lane the car started to shutter and came to an abrupt stop. After close inspection it was clear that the left rear hub had sheared off and the wheel was being held in place by the drive shaft and the brake callipers! The sponginess of the brakes must have been caused by the wheel already having excessive play rubbing against the brake pads causing the brakes to overheat. Scary stuff and I think I am very lucky that the failure did not happen at full speed inside the turn. I had very limited information on the ageing of my car parts as to my amazement the previous owner (Radical Australia) was not able to provide me with a detailed parts replacement record. Only front uprights and drive shaft were dated all other parts had no date. Since my ownership I have dated all new parts but obviously there are still parts that have no date. P.S.: Anybody has a spare/not wanted new left rear upright for sale?
Before a 180 km/h sweeping right hand turn I suddenly felt my brakes getting spongy. I immediately slowed down and headed to the pit exit. Half way down the pit lane the car started to shutter and came to an abrupt stop. After close inspection it was clear that the left rear hub had sheared off and the wheel was being held in place by the drive shaft and the brake callipers! The sponginess of the brakes must have been caused by the wheel already having excessive play rubbing against the brake pads causing the brakes to overheat. Scary stuff and I think I am very lucky that the failure did not happen at full speed inside the turn. I had very limited information on the ageing of my car parts as to my amazement the previous owner (Radical Australia) was not able to provide me with a detailed parts replacement record. Only front uprights and drive shaft were dated all other parts had no date. Since my ownership I have dated all new parts but obviously there are still parts that have no date. P.S.: Anybody has a spare/not wanted new left rear upright for sale?
Most driver use different "lifing" criteria of parts depending on whether they are full-on racing or using the car for more relaxed track days. In regards to engine life 80 to 100 of track day hours are not uncommon when compared to the Radical recommended 50 race hours.
I think the same can be applied to other parts. At the end it is a personal decision how far you want to go beyond the recommended exchange intervals. As I only use my car for track days I have been increasing the recommended exchange hours by 50% and some less important parts (regarding safety) to 100%. I have been applying this to all parts I have installed or to the pars that had been dated. Unfortunately there are parts on my car where I have no age information - in particular the upright in question! After my little incident I will replace all important non-dated parts to make sure I am aware of the age of all components on my car.
I think the same can be applied to other parts. At the end it is a personal decision how far you want to go beyond the recommended exchange intervals. As I only use my car for track days I have been increasing the recommended exchange hours by 50% and some less important parts (regarding safety) to 100%. I have been applying this to all parts I have installed or to the pars that had been dated. Unfortunately there are parts on my car where I have no age information - in particular the upright in question! After my little incident I will replace all important non-dated parts to make sure I am aware of the age of all components on my car.
Very interesting as I just started to us the hub tie down method a couple of month ago. I always feel uncomfortable putting preassure on to them. We used to simply put the slings around the rims.
Not tying down the front is fine during normal driving but could be very danderous when having to do an emergency brake (in particular in a turn) or having the trailer swing. Securing the car is mostly related to those situations and you certainly do not want the car coming off the trailer while trying to avoid an accident in the towing vehicle.
Not tying down the front is fine during normal driving but could be very danderous when having to do an emergency brake (in particular in a turn) or having the trailer swing. Securing the car is mostly related to those situations and you certainly do not want the car coming off the trailer while trying to avoid an accident in the towing vehicle.
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