or for being a trailer queen

I have some customers asking for something stiffer because they think its the flex in the housing causing some of their pad knockback and others that go through bearings from heavy track use. Like the ER car that does 24hrs on track each LuckyDog race. They're not on the stickiest of tires but heat from endurance racing does some crazy things.

I also recommend everyone tighten the axle nuts to at least 250 ft-lbs, double the OEM spec. That helps a lot, but Im also not working directly on their car to see what's going on. There's potential the thermal expansion of the axle stub reducing load, it does on lug studs.

Sorry if this sounds dumb, but If you had an extra stub shaft lying around. You could bolt down a piece of tube to simulate the hub, then toss it in an oven and see how that plays out.

Or bring a torque wrench to check at the track after a session.

I was thinking an oven would make it easy to plot out over a range of temps, but yeah generally field data > lab data.

It's mostly a heat over time problem. Doing hours at a time can eat bearings much faster than higher power for less time. In short races bearings don't hit a "saturation" temp and if it does it's not up at that temp for very long.

One thing I've contemplated making was a bearing heat barrier (stainless or titanium shim) to put between the rotor and the hub to keep brake heat from creep into the bearing through the hub.


I've done this plenty over the years. The bearings are still self contained, just not preloaded, there's really no harm in doing it.


Yea I've heard people say pad knockback before. I'm not saying it's impossible but I've had people tell me that and they were still using factory calipers... So I'm not quick to rush to that conclusion.

But I agree on the higher torque, over torquing axle nuts is one of the must do's for older Hondas being used on track, They use bearings with preload controlled by the axle nut like the evo does and they definitely see longer bearing life from it.

yea if they are doing 24hr events etc then i can see why it could become an issue. thats alot of km and the heat soak at the same time

Root cause and cost-benefit analyses on 8/9 wheel bearings. This thread is fun to spectate :cool:

baffle-ing concept


While doing the Kigly & PCV modifications. I decided to see if i can improve the oil-air separation function of the valve cover, plus improve drainage and avoiding pools of oil that would get blown up again
I could go lighter on the material if i could find it but i think this will do for now. Does anyone know where to get a better material to use? These a hard to bend :( Thanks

Ready for testing. I'm thinking I should have tested this with a steamer. Too late to get a baseline now

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...45da0a42a5.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...196bb70252.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...7b0b98e6f6.jpg

I doubt anyone else would do this mod/test but just in case...You dont need this kind of modification if you've already invested in a catch can and are happy about it and the hoses/fittings etc. I hate those things

Why not fill the baffle area with some steel wool?

Vibration and air flow will cause metal to metal rubbing and put tiny metal particles in your oil. If theres a more rigid material that can provide more surface area for oil droplets to cling to then what would work IMO

That's an interesting idea, not sure I'd agree with it though.

NP. Hey did you know they can collect drinking water from thin air in the desert? :)

did you put gasket maker when you reinstalled the baffle? which is the best one for this? grey? thanks

I did notice bearing failure every 2 years or so too. In my case I think it was down to heat from the brakes. I had plenty of evidence around that area that I had excessive heat. I switched to Curt Brown's ceramic bearings and haven't changed anything in years.