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I Broke Another... racing story



One of my constant fantasies is having "drop spindles" made for the
Mk1.  I have been meaning to take a hub in to one of the design labs
here at school and work it up in SolidWorks but just haven't had the
time.  I could probably even convince a lab tech to CNC a dummy part
to test fit and then just have it sent off to a machine shop for the
real thing.

It'll never happen, though :( :(

-Grant-



On 9/24/06, Don Walter <dswalterwi@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ben,
> I ran across this while looking for this company again.  The Drive Shaft
> Shop makes Axles and Hubs for Stage 3 Racing performance.
> http://www.driveshaftshop.com/item9521.ctlg
>
>
> On 9/3/06, Ben <vwtype53@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > <long...well, for me at least!>
> >
> >
> > Well, this weekend was not so nice to my mk1...
> >
> > As most of you know, I road race my '80 Scirocco.  Amazingly enough, I am
> > still using many stock
> > components, like A1 hubs, wheel bearings, ball joints, axles, 020 trans,
> > etc.  There is no
> > question that I am pushing my luck with some of these components.  I am
> > pushing quite a few more
> > horses through the drivetrain than the little 1.6 did back in 1980.  I am
> > also generating a lot
> > more grip with my 205-width race tires... oh, and I'm braking, and
> > generating a LOT more heat,
> > than the VW engineers ever imagined that mk1 chassis could.  Needless to
> > say, things are being
> > stressed and have a tendancy to break now and then.  Now and then was
> > today.
> >
> > For the second time in 3 years I have succeeded in breaking a hub!  Yep,
> > the hub sheared at the
> > point where the neck enters the wheel bearing.  So basically my wheel was
> > being held in place only
> > by the axle and axle nut!  I consider myself lucky that my wheel stayed in
> > place (for the most
> > part) as I came to a stop.  I was exiting a turn and applied throttle only
> > to have the engine rev
> > freely to redline.  I thought at first my clutch had just exploded or
> > possibly the trans pinion
> > shaft sheared all it's teeth... I ended up coasting down the straight and
> > pulled into the grass to
> > wait for the session to end...they hooked me up and towed me back to the
> > pit area where I pulled
> > things apart... I hate getting towed back into a sea of Porsche's... not
> > that they don't break too
> > (more than one Porsche was towed this weekend), but it doesn't help for
> > them to see the vw being
> > towed back.  It's happened more than once to me over the years.
> > Then again, I try to make up for it when I keep up with most of them on
> > the track...   :)
> >
> > I think that the hub failure was due to a combination of the heat cycles
> > from braking and the load
> > cycles from each and every turn I make on the track.  The heat generated
> > from my brakes while
> > slowing from 120mph down to around 70mph (in about 2 seconds or less) is
> > intense.  Then add in all
> > the smaller turns throughout the track and you have some serious heat
> > building... not only in the
> > rotor and pad, but surrounding knuckle and hub assembly.  And doing this
> > for 25 minutes straight,
> > 3 times a day for a 2-day weekend, and several times a year... yeah, it's
> > a lot of heat cycling.
> >
> > Obviously, the biggest factor here is that I am racing on sticky tires and
> > generating a lot of
> > grip... which puts a lot more load on the hub/bearing assembly.  One trick
> > that the A1 race guys
> > use that I've read is to over-torque the axle nut.  The axle nut
> > sandwiches the hub against the CV
> > and will help reduce some of this stress.  I read of guys using massive
> > breaker bars to get the
> > torque on that nut to over 300 ft-lbs!  Anyone heard about this?
> >
> > Well, just wanted to share my experience.  A friend helped me get my car
> > home, so no worries
> > there... I'll be repacing the hub and bearing soon.
> >
> > At this point, I think my only option for upgrading would be using the A2
> > knuckle and bearing.
> > But then I would need to use the A2 strut/shock housing and ball joints I
> > suspect.  Not sure if
> > the A1 tie rod end would work on the A2 knuckle... has anyone upgraded a
> > rocco to A2/A3 front
> > suspension components?
> >
> > Tighten that axle nut!!  ;)
> >
> >
> >
> > Ben Harder
> > 1980 Scirocco
> > 1997 Jetta GLX
> >
> > http://www.geocities.com/vwtype53/
> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> Don Walter - Waukesha, WI
> 1986 8V Black Scirocco (Daily Driver)
> 1984 8V Audi 4000s (RIP 2/14/2006)
> 1986 2.0L 16V TEC 2 Black Scirocco (see progress at
> http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/708939)
> 1986 2L 16V Toronado Red Scirocco (Ben's Car)
> 1988 1.8 16V Toronado Red Scirocco (sold on 3/29/04)
> 1984 1.8 8V Pewter Scirocco (sold years ago)
> 1971 Karman Ghia (sold)
> 1969 Karman Ghia (sold)
> 1969 Beetle (sold)
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