[trackbird]

Please welcome Hoosier Performance Engineering to frrax.com. A background in OEM engineering and a desire for better quality parts for our cars has created our latest supporting vendor. They have some neat stuff coming and I'll let them fill you in on all of the details. I should have website information soon, in the meantime you can reach them through the following email:

Inquiry@HoosierPE.com

Welcome aboard!!!

[HoosierPE]

Thanks Kevin. We are excited to be officially part of the FRRAX family.

A few quick words about myself before I tell you about a few products we are working on. My name is John Fehring and I spent about 14 years working for GM's Delphi division on their semi-active ride control systems, including the MR shock system that is offered on the Corvettes and ZL1 Camaros. (I'd really love to offer that system in the aftermarket, more on that later). The next 14 years I spent with Navistar, which builds the International brand big trucks. They moved the truck engineering operations from Fort Wayne, IN to Chicago and I took that opportunity to do my own thing and started Hoosier Performance Engineering. Besides consulting work in the truck industry, my real focus and passion is the automotive aftermarket go fast parts, particularly for the 4th Gens. Which brings me to the first product we have developed.

II picked up auto-crossing again about 7 years ago and I've been watching the problems with the front hub and bearing assembly. With four 4th gens in our family fleet, we've replaced every bearing in every car and a couple of them have been replaced multiple times. I've seen many attempts at various solutions, but it doesn't seem like anyone has really landed on one that has stayed. Over the last 6 months or so, my partner and I have developed a completely new, billet hub assembly which uses over-sized Timken tapered roller bearings. I've been dying to tell you guys about it, but didn't want to tease anyone until I knew it was going to happen. Well, the prototypes are done, two are on a car accumulating mileage and I'm waiting for the volume quote from the machine shop so I can post the final pricing and start taking orders. Here's some pictures, let me know what you guys think or if we've missed or over looked anything.

Complete hub assembly with ARP studs:
(IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1014542_375876139190953_1528206097_o.jpg)
(IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/976331_375876125857621_1907471607_o.jpg)

Disassembled OEM hub shown with new HPE components:
(IMG:https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1008535_375875995857634_207679871_o.jpg)

Side by side comparison. We made it longer to increase the bearing span:
(IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1008346_375876005857633_1174373569_o.jpg)

Pin (inverted spindle) with lock washer and retainer nut:
(IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1015262_375876245857609_442072466_o.jpg)

Wheel mounting flange and pin. We shrink fit these together for a permanent assembly.
(IMG:https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/1008279_375876219190945_1586806985_o.jpg)

All the new parts (excluding the sensor/dust cap):
(IMG:https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/1015189_375876202524280_1186530754_o.jpg)

Partially assembled:
(IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1009578_375876292524271_1755253073_o.jpg)

The shrink fit produces a retention force over 3 times greater than a press fit with the same amount of interference. The hub center length was increased to better accommodate spacers and still provide good wheel centering. This should be the last hub assembly any 4th Gen will ever need. Completely rebuildable and preload adjustable. Retains ABS functionality, but we need to reuse the sensor/dust cap off your old beaings until we can find a source/vendor for the sensor cap. Oversized Timken tapered roller bearings, 1.5" ID on big end, 1.25" on small end. A clear zinc coating on pin, flange and housing for corrosion protection.

Looking forward to your comments.

[StanIROCZ]

(IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/hail.gif) Very impressive!

I don't own a 4th gen so these questions/comments are just morbid curiosity.

1) The parts look beautifully machined.

2) The extended pilot is a great idea.

3) I'm still pondering the pressed-on (shrink fit) flange to the pin. My first thought was why didn't I think of that? It saves the expense of machining everything out of one piece of billet or tooling a forging. I'm trying to think of a gear box application that would validate such a concept, but everything in a gear box carries torque which this doesn't have to do. One thought I had would be to take what you have and use a selective thickness solid spacer between the bearings which would preload the inner races of the bearings and the flange like a big bolted joint. With the spacers being selective thickness (.001" increment's) the bearing preload can be precisely set and you can torque the nut to an absurdly high value. With that the flange doesn't need to rely solely on the shrink fit because it is now a bolted joint. You would add cost with the solid spacer but you could also remove the nut locking features(nut with bolt holes, machined slot in pin, keyed lock washer, bolts, etc) because the nut torque and Loctite would prevent nut from ever coming loose. PM me if you want more details.

4) is the pin heat treated? The zinc coating hides any evidence. I would think that heat treatment is necessary even with the larger than stock diameter.

5) I'm sure that going to taper roller bearings that are larger than the OE ball bearings will bring the life to infinity. But if you want to get nerdy with this and can give me some dimensions, bearings PN's, and loads I can run bearing life and stress calculations for you pretty easy. (I'm a sick individual that actually likes doing this type of stuff.) PM me if you are interested.

Great job, I'm sure many 4th gen guys will be interested!