Hub failure at Summit Point, thank God it was at low speed Options

[SuperMacGuy]

I was at Summit Point yesterday for FATT. During my 2nd heat I had my left front hub fail. It let loose in turn 5-6 or so, and if you know Summit, that's about the slowest part of the track. Which is right after the part of the track with the highest pucker factor IMO (downhill at 80-100 depending, about a 30 degree turn a little off camber and max braking soon as you're through it). So I am OK and there is no body damage.
The hub flange sheared right off, and the wheel getting pushed back it must have bent up either the brake caliper or the slide pins, the caliper doesn't float any more. A guy with a TA next to me thankfully had a spare hub, so I got that on and drove carefully home. This was a Mike Minear hub so I'm contacting him to see if he wants to inspect it. I'll probably get a new one from him over the winter.
I'm thankful that was all relatively low drama. If that happened almost anywhere else on track, well all the other places are pretty high speed, and it would've been a real wreck, literally.

Chris

[00 SS]

Chris,

I'm glad you and your car are OK. I got your email and sent you a reply.

[marka]

Howdy,

How much time was on the hubs and when was the last time you'd had them apart and checked grease, etc?

I no longer have a direct dog in this fight, but my old car has these hubs and if there's a design problem, I want to let them know.

Mark

[CMC #37]

Wow! Glad you are ok. Do let us know what happened there Mike!

[00 SS]

As soon as I know, I let you all know.

[rocky]

The carousel is the slowest part of that track I am gald to hear it went there and not on the down hill or at turn 1.

[cozog]

Did you get much warning? When mine failed it was vibrating 1/2 day before failure at M-O. I just didn't know what the vibration meant. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/banghead.gif)

[rmackintosh]

VERY glad that you are OK! Glad it is all "easily" fixable.

[SuperMacGuy]

There wasn't really much warning. In fact there was no definitely noise or vibration or anything. I was thinking that the brake pedal felt a tad longer than usual, but since the brakes always had more travel with those pads I did not give it a lot of thought. Hindsight though, says maybe I should have; but I don't know that I would have thought my hub was going to shear off. There was also, from looking at the parts, no visible way to have seen any problem with it at all. I'd say it's one of those failures that I could not have planned for nor avoided.

[Chevy053]

I was at Summit Point yesterday for FATT. During my 2nd heat I had my left front hub fail. It let loose in turn 5-6 or so, and if you know Summit, that's about the slowest part of the track. Which is right after the part of the track with the highest pucker factor IMO (downhill at 80-100 depending, about a 30 degree turn a little off camber and max braking soon as you're through it). So I am OK and there is no body damage.
The hub flange sheared right off, and the wheel getting pushed back it must have bent up either the brake caliper or the slide pins, the caliper doesn't float any more. A guy with a TA next to me thankfully had a spare hub, so I got that on and drove carefully home. This was a Mike Minear hub so I'm contacting him to see if he wants to inspect it. I'll probably get a new one from him over the winter.
I'm thankful that was all relatively low drama. If that happened almost anywhere else on track, well all the other places are pretty high speed, and it would've been a real wreck, literally.

Chris

How much track and or Autox time did you have on this hub? And what type/size of tires have you been running?

-Phil

[Doug Phillips]

A friend in a Corvette just replaced his driver side on Thursday and it failed in the right hand corner 1 at Mosport after EIGHT laps. Needs new caliper and rotor and some fabrication to hold the undersides together but he was very lucky to not get into the wall.

What have people found are the good ones and bad ones?

[marka]

Howdy,

A friend in a Corvette just replaced his driver side on Thursday and it failed in the right hand corner 1 at Mosport after EIGHT laps. Needs new caliper and rotor and some fabrication to hold the undersides together but he was very lucky to not get into the wall.

What have people found are the good ones and bad ones?

Was this one of Mike's hubs?

Mark

[Doug Phillips]

Howdy,

A friend in a Corvette just replaced his driver side on Thursday and it failed in the right hand corner 1 at Mosport after EIGHT laps. Needs new caliper and rotor and some fabrication to hold the undersides together but he was very lucky to not get into the wall.

What have people found are the good ones and bad ones?

Was this one of Mike's hubs?

Mark

I do not think so. Who is Mike? Does he have a link? What does he sell? Quality?

[SuperMacGuy]

Was this one of Mike's hubs?
Mark

Yes it was one of Mike's. He should have it in the mail today to look at.
It had about 6k miles on it, including about 70 AX runs and exactly 46 track miles. I run on 315 Kumhos for AX. Spirited street driving.
@Doug: Mike Minear, aka 00SS sells rebuildable front hubs with tapered bearings. Do a search there is a long thread about them and pix.
CP

[00 SS]

Chris,

I think Mark was asking if the Corvette mentioned by Doug had my hubs. I don't think it did. I've only sold one to a Corvette guy, and he was not in Canada.

[Doug Phillips]

Chris,

I think Mark was asking if the Corvette mentioned by Doug had my hubs. I don't think it did. I've only sold one to a Corvette guy, and he was not in Canada.

Correct. My friends failed hub WAS NOT Mikes.

He is waiting to see if Mike will be doing C4 hubs agter the above failure.

[Casey_SS]

Any updates on this? Very glad you were able to escape any major drama. Failures like this really get my attention for obvious selfish reasons...please keep the info flowing.

[SuperMacGuy]

I have not heard from Mike yet. But, at the autocross last week, the other side broke off in exactly the same fashion.

[Lawson3565]

I am Doug's friend and it was my 92 Vette that had the hub failure at Mosport (there is never a good spot to have a hub failure there).

I will expose my stupidity here in the hope someone else doesnt make the same mistake. I bought a "cheap" hub off the net from an American company which stated the hub met OE specs. I thought, "well it will vibrate or give me some sign of failure, so why not try it? This turned out to be a bad move. It lasted 10 laps and one corner. And just like in the earlier post I also had a low brake pedal, but didn't think much of it. In retrospect, the bearing in the hub was heating up and transfering the heat to the caliper and boiling the fluid, and or flexing the hub causing brake piston pushback. Eventually, well rather soon, the bearing froze and the intertia from the wheel/rotor snapped the stem of the hub like it was wood causing the wheel/rotor/brake line to leave the car at 90 mph. Thankfully I didn't hit the wall.

If anyone would like to see pics of the failed part, email me at chris dot lawson at haltonpolice dot ca I will send them asap

I contacted SKF as they make hi perf hubs for C5 and C6 Vettes. Unfortunately not for C4's/Camaros. The best I can find right now are Timken. Any suggestions? F body and C4 hubs are essentially the same.

The moral of the story, which I should have been smart enought to know, is buy top quality items for parts that matter!

I have not heard from Mike yet. But, at the autocross last week, the other side broke off in exactly the same fashion.

[robz71lm7]

I have not heard from Mike yet. But, at the autocross last week, the other side broke off in exactly the same fashion.

Any pictures?