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Posted

Meh...

So after Simon raised the topic I and being the weight weenie that I am, I decided that I would, at long last, bite the bullet and purchase a pair of alloy front hubs for the Mk1.

So a pair of GT6 alloy hubs were duly ordered from Canleys (the car runs GT6 uprights and hubs but with Spitfire brakes coz they're lighter, see) and arrived a couple of days ago.

Been faffing about with the bonnet mould (more of that later on that thead) so decided today that I would do some mechanical work and fit the new hubs.

Car is on the hoist still so easy access and started on the drivers side. And decided to use the opportunity to fix the leaky trunions while I was at it and the hubs/discs were out of the way. Straightforward job to remove the trunouns from the uprights, knock out the bushes, clean things up and solder up the 'pennies' to the trunion body.

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Then remove the (good) bearings from first of the old hubs and fit to the new shiny alloy one. My main concern about alloy hubs was that the races have been known to spin in the hub body. Not a probelm here methinks as the hub needed to be well heated (in the outlet from the diesel heater) before they would even look at going in.

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Then time to fit back on the car. Which is where it all went mammaries up :verymad:

The car has Shack's solid bearing spacers. So these went in before nipping up the hub for a check on end float. Which was enormous. Thinking I had done something I took the spacers out and refitted the hub without them. The castellated nut went past the hole for the split pin before the bearings contacted.

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Compar and contrast with Triumph's version...

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Too the hub off and did some measuring against the OEM hub. Basically the seat for the outer bearing race is 4mm inboard from where it should be

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Side by side it's clear...

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The outer bearing is the more highly loaded one, particularly when cornering which is not helped by it also being the smaller one. Getting slightly bigger outer bearing is the reason I went with the GT6 hubs in the first place given the huge increase in front end grip over the standard car. Moving the bearing in simply increases the load, in this case about 10%, thereby undoing the benefit of the larger GT6 bearings.

So these will not be going on the car. So much for weight saving.

Tried phoning Canleys this afternoon but they must have loused for the day so I sent an email with some pics asking if they would give me a call to discuss.

I cannot believe no-one has raised this issue before. Although if you arent using solid spacers (Simon?) then wouldn't necessarily notice I suppose.

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Posted

Oh. :blink:

That’s….. disappointing….. among other things.

4mm is rather a lot! I think you would notice even without the spacers as the split pin hole if left looking somewhat pointless. I take it both are the same?

Posted
34 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

Oh. :blink:

That’s….. disappointing….. among other things.

4mm is rather a lot! I think you would notice even without the spacers as the split pin hole if left looking somewhat pointless. I take it both are the same?

Disappointing indeed Nick :confused:

Both unfortunately are the same. The unfitted one is back in its box and I have removed the races and cleaned the other one as best as possible. Just need to wait on Dave P getting back to me hopefully soon so I can decide what I'm going to do.

 

Posted (edited)

Got a reply from Canleys yesterday. Ten words and a full stop (including the greeting and signoff)

"I will look into this and get back to you."

Rather terse but we'll see.

Edited by Escadrille Ecosse
Posted

Hmm…

Been thinking about this and it be occurs to me that it’s just possibly done intentionally to drop the bearing into an area with more meat around it to better withstand the tight fit required for the bearing race?

Posted
Just now, Nick Jones said:

Hmm…

Been thinking about this and it be occurs to me that it’s just possibly done intentionally to drop the bearing into an area with more meat around it to better withstand the tight fit required for the bearing race?

Hmmm. Meybees, but on the disc brake hubs the bearing race is is still mostly supported by the stud flange. 

My thought was that is allows a common casting with the sealed bearing mod where you definitely need more hub material for the larger outboard bearing. 

Either way as of itself it fecks the split pin and increases outboard bearing load. Neither of which are 'optimal'.

Also means that my nice solid (and not cheap) bearing spacers are no longer fit for purpose and I'll need to get them modified. At which point they will be useless if I ever go back to the steel hubs. Or a properly dimensional alloy replacement.

And at the very least the purchaser should be made aware beforehand.

As it stands the cons (including the £240 quid cost, plus postage) outweigh the pros. For me anyway. 

Posted

Yep, no argument from me on any of that. Split pin situation easy enough to sort with a second washer (putting weight back in!), but a bit ghetto and should not be needed.

7 hours ago, Escadrille Ecosse said:

I will look into this and get back to you."

So he is out there with his ruler wondering how much shit he’s in….

Dunno how many actual manufacturers of these there are. Merlin Motorsport also sell them

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/s/driveline-suspension-and-steering-parts/alloy-hubs-and-bearings/alloy-hubs

Also Moss. Not sure about Bastuck

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Nick Jones said:

So he is out there with his ruler wondering how much shit he’s in….

Dunno how many actual manufacturers of these there are. Merlin Motorsport also sell them

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/s/driveline-suspension-and-steering-parts/alloy-hubs-and-bearings/alloy-hubs

Also Moss. Not sure about Bastuck

Yeah. I wonder that myself.

The photo on the Merlin site looks like the hub is machined from billet. The Canley's ones are cast.

Meanwhile... I've put it all back together with the steel hubs. I suppose the one real improvement in all this is that the trunions no longer weep oil.

Edited by Escadrille Ecosse
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