Howdy all you Track Animals:
Yes, that is my cracked hub. I was running at Spring Mountain on Saturday and half-way through the 3rd session it started to make a snapping sound when I turned to the right and heavily loaded up the weight onto the left side of the car. It was making a low note snapping sound, almost like what I would expect a 3/8" rebar to sound like if you could pluck it like a guitar string and then dampen the sound. It would do this a few times in each right turn. It did it a total of three times. I then slowed up and finished the lap and came into the pits.
Eric, of this forum, gave the car a visual and check and tightened the lug nuts with a torque wrench. All seemed OK so I went back out on an easy lap. Each time I put heavy turning pressure on the left side it would snap. I came back in after one easy lap.
MGARFIAS of this forum helped me lift the front of the car and we removed the front wheels. MGARFIAS has a sharp eye. He notice a nut was loose on my left front sway-bar. I don't think I would have noticed that. We tightened both sides of the sway bar and all was well there.
My session was over so I decided to change my rotors as they were starting to crack from too much abuse on the track. As I pulled off the left rotor I saw what looked like separation of the hub flange around the hub center pictured here:
I ran around to the other side of the car to visually check that one and it looked quite different. I was trying to remember if it is swaged (spelling?) onto the center, but the inspection of the right side ruled that out. It was cracked!
I managed to find the hub in Las Vegas as a guy from Colorado had just bought the last two hubs from the local Chevy dealer as his bearings gave out.
The guys at the track are great. Eric let me borrow his cool Excursion to run to Vegas so I did not have to disconnect my truck/trailer. While I was gone, Eric, MGARFIAS and Ed the Fireman worked on my car to remove the hub. When I got back it took us less than 10 minutes in the dark to put it back together.
The car performed great the next day and in the second session I set the fastest time for the weekend out of the 80 drivers/vettes there. That lasted until the third session when the guy that bought the other two hubs beat my time. My car is mostly stock with race rubber and sway bars. The other guy was running a supercharger, coil-overs with reserviors, Brembos, oil coolers, big radiator, carbon fiber wing, Goodyear 335 and 305 slicks, etc. I had never driven that track before that weekend. I thought I could get back the Fast Time of Weekend with more work on my lines, etc. But mother nature would not have it. The winds kicked up to about 40MPH and sand and dust was blowing onto the track. I had to settle for #2.
All in all it was a great weekend made even better by the most excellent track buddies from this forum and elsewhere. You cannot beat that combination. I am blessed to know such people and to be able to partake in their caring generosity. I hope I can live up to the standard they have set.
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