Sheared a Spindle

[aromocki]

Hello everyone, I sheared a spindle while racing this weekend and was lucky to slow the car down on three wheels and then put it into the grass. I am running 13" wide tires in the front and 14" wide tires on the back so there is a lot of force on that spindle. That coupled with an estra 5" offset makes matters even worse.

Just wondering if anyone has put on a beefier spindle to prevent this sort of thing happening. Iy may also be likely that there is nothing wrong with the stock spindle other than it is 10 years old....

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[PanozDuke]

Glad you were able to get it controlled without major incident

Here is some info from earlier post(s):

"Check your spindles for cracks. They fatigue over time and the spindle pin can shear off. If your maintenance log doesn't indicate that they've been replaced then it would be real cheap insurance to do so. You should pull off and repack you bearings anyway which will give you the opportunity to inspect.

I believe you can comfortably get about two seasons out of new spindles (on slicks) before you have to worry about them cracking due to fatigue. On the street tires it was 4 or 5 years into the program before they started having the random problem show up.

Replacing my front spindles. I had the old one's magnafluxed, and there were cracks on the top and bottom of the snout. Time for new Coleman units."

I believe at least one other owner indicated he replaces them every two years as a matter of routine. With the additional forces you have, I would think you need extra attention to these. Apparently there were issues with these because Hayes Harris at Wire Wheel got quite a few spares when he purchased a load of parts from the school after they closed. I think the ones I saw were take offs. I know that the load dramatically increases for those who crash the curbing. Colman might be able to help with a better unit. I don't recall any posted info on a better unit than what is on the cars originally.

If you find an alternative, please post it.

Mike

[aromocki]

Thanks for the info and I will let you know if I find another solution. It looks like these parts are basically a consumable and I will likely change them every half season to be on the safe side.

[Fast Viper Dan]

I think they were $100. ea.
Change them every 20 hrs.

[aromocki]

Thanks Dan I think I will do that. I will run them for 10 hours and get them Magnafluxed and then put them on for 5 more and do the same until I get 20 hours and can document that there are no cracks. I will share the info with you on the forums.

I also uploaded a pic of the car.

[Cobra4B]

That looks amazing in Gulf Oil livery!

[aromocki]

Thanks, I put a lot of effort into trying to get it right. I wanted to wrap the nose as well but it was going to be a huge pain in the ass so I just did the orange stripe.

[Fast Viper Dan]

Originally Posted by aromocki

Thanks Dan I think I will do that. I will run them for 10 hours and get them Magnafluxed and then put them on for 5 more and do the same until I get 20 hours and can document that there are no cracks. I will share the info with you on the forums.

I also uploaded a pic of the car.

Car looks Bad to the bone!

Mag would cost the same as new spindles.
If they crack it might too late?

[boothkc]

As others have said change them every 1-2 seasons (depending on hours) they are available direct from Coleman and are pretty cheap. This goes for all the other fatigue/wear points such as Heim (sp) joints wheel studs, tie rods blah blah blah.

Failure of anyone of these can kill you or really wreck your day.

I think failure really depends on how much you stress the car. If your lap times are in the 2-3 second/lap range of a 911 Cup car then you are really stressing it and should follow a schedule as above. If you are closer to a well driven Miata then things are a long way from the stress limit.

In addition very close inpsection every weekend of the suspension welds especially Panhard mounts and frame links is key. We have had many of the welds around the rear suspension stress crack over the years.

Kevin
GTS
GTRA

[aromocki]

I just want to get them magnafluxed to get data points on failures. I can therefore be positive that they arent breaking on me!

[boothkc]

I dont think there is ANY value to Magnafluxing them. Magnaflux just shows cracks (perhaps microscopic). So perhaps you would get lucky and find a small crack prior to a race event failure, but most likely they will fatigue, then crack, and fail suddenly with wheel off etc. Magnaflux won't show fatigue....just actual cracks. I guess they could be Xray'd and mag'd, but I think they are <$100 so just throw them away!

Your car has lots of "poop" and will stress stuff much more than a stock GTS so be prepared for it.

Kevin

[aromocki]

Good point, I will toss them after ten hours just to be safe.