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They say to change the ACR hub and bearing every 12 competition hours. Mine busted at 19 hours. Luckily, I decided to take it apart and see why the axle nut had slacked off twice, so no harm done. It broke right at the outside edge of the bearing, so the spline of the outer joint was doing all the support for the wheel. I wonder how long the axle would last before the wheel/brake assembly exited the car in a spectacular fashion?
Any pics?
Love to if I could figure out how. Pic has to be hosted somewhere, right?
http://www.improvedtouring.com/galle...php?i=295&c=12
Maybe this works....
The acr hubs I just changed out had over 25 hours of w2w track time. Thing alot of it has to do with what type of tracks you run and car setup.
I experience a hub failure this year at Sebring and my hubs only had approximately 10 hours on them, when it failed it snapped the axle and luckly the wheel did not exit the car before I got it stopped. After being put on a flat bed and brought back into the pits upon jacking the car the whole wheel assembly fell off. What Chris Childs told me was to check the torque on your hubs every session for two or three times and them make it pre race weekend check. The hub tends to back off and allows to much slack. But yes you need to change these every 12 hours of track time to be safe.
The ACR hubs are on national backorder up here- there was 7 on b.o. this morning when I phoned my dealership, now there is 11, since I run a Neon ministock too. If they don't show in a couple of weeks I may have to start beating the bushes for a source. Any suggestions?
I had to go with the Napa Hub, they make a Heavy Duty Hub which is thicker than a stock neon. IIRC the stock hub flange is 8mm, the ACR is 10mm and the napa flange is 9 and change, plus you can get them for around $80 each if you have an shop acct.Quote:
Originally Posted by Streetwise guy
Napa is a block from my shop. I shall inspect, and look for "Made in China" signs. Thanks!
Check with your dealer regarding this # 04670292 (ACR)
This is the hub only. The Hub and bearing kits are all gone and not likely going to return from what my sources @ Mopar tell me.
The napa part is junk, I would only use it in a pinch.
Email me for further info.
Cheers
I've got over 10 hrs on my "NAPA-junk" hubs & bearrings with ZERO problems. During which, I even had a braking problem that melted & warped a set of Hawk Blues. Since I run the same tracks as Darryl & he was using the ACR hubs, how can you say which is better or worse (ACR vs NAPA)????????????:shrug:
Quick poll:
Which Hub/Bearring were you using when it failed??
1) ACR (mopar)
2) non-ACR (mopar)
3) NAPA
4) other
Have not had a failure on any yet.:happy204:
Quote:
Originally Posted by splats
Slow the cart down there a minute.......
I ordered 6 hubs from Napa and not one of them measured the same as any other one?
Hub failures on Neons; gen1, gen2, SRT-4 are very common. What tire compund you use, what spring rate you use, what bushings you have, all play a factor.
I have never broken one, but I replace them every 10 hours, period!
If you wish to risk your car, or your life with an inferior part, that is your business. No car leaves my shop with anything other than the Mopar piece.
I have broken a stock piece ice racing 5 years ago, and an ACR piece roadracing- big springs and Konis and poly bushings and one curb exiting a chicane on my home track that is probably pretty hard on things. There are two Napa parts listed, one Chinese, one SKF. The Chinese one I would not even put in a street car. I got an SKF kit, so we'll see how it performs this weekend.
Thanks for the hub number- the only listing I had seen was the upgrade kit from MP. It never occurred to me to look for the hub only. Thanks.
All that I was trying to point out was that ALL the failures that I've heard about were the ACR's. I've only had the Neon for 2 seasons, so I'm still trying to sort it out. It just seems strange that an ACR hub will only last for 10 hrs on 'our' cars, yet the street version will last 125k-150k + miles. Yes, I know that we are rougher on them. But, that much rougher???? I'm running 400# springs on the front & Toyos.
As far as the NAPA (or other) hubs, how many of them have failed??
Just because a part has Mopar (or GM or Ford) on it, does NOT automatically make it supperior to the after-market parts.
I'm not trying to start an argument or offend anyone. But if all (most) of the failures are factory hubs, maybe I/we need to try other ones. Safety is my #1 concern, finishing is #2, & speed is #3. If all brands of hubs are failing, then WHY?? My Daytona had 100k+ miles on it before we turned it into a circle-track car. It ran asphalt, dirt, & figure-8. We then put it in ITB & ran 4 seasons with it (mostly Sebring). Had several axle changes & VERY stiff front springs. It still has the same hub/bearrings that were in the car when I bounght it in '00. WHAT IS SO STRANGE ABOUT THE NEONS?? I've not heard of this problem from other brands (VW, Honda, etc.).
Ask around, and you will find that VW's and Hondas have similiar issues. I have seen Crx's break them aswell as A1/A2 Golfs.
Wheel spacers really put the T2 SRT-4's over the edge with hubs. Then came the loved Hoosier A compounds :)
My first one broke during driver's school at Nelson. Went for a wild ride coming out of turn two. NOW I check/torque the axle nut after EVERY session and replace the hub/bearing assembly after 8-10 hours of abuse. That and I keep a spare set of loaded knuckles in the trailer, just in case......
Dan
The SKF one is the Heavy Duty hub, it is thicker than any of the other aftermarket ones and the stock non-ACR Mopar Hub.Quote:
Originally Posted by Streetwise guy
autoparts123.com shows a timken hub kit for 66.48 w/free shipping. They are sitting on the bench ready to go in our ACR this week. The bearings are actually FAG if I remember correctly.
autoparts123.com is actually parts plus america web site. Nobody has been able to touch their prices on anything!!.
I paid $96 canadian for an SKF to go racing this weekend. It looked like an acceptible piece, and survived a very enjoyable and enthusiastic 2 1/2 hours of track time. I figure 10 or so hours, then bin it and put another on. Another couple hun every 4 race weekends is, sadly, a pretty small part of my budget this year.
I phoned my Dodge dealer this AM to tell him to drop the backorder on the MP kits, and order me the hub only. He phoned back and said they won't cancell the backorder, as they are in the pipeline somewhere. I will let you guys know if and when they show up.
When the Mopar Hub/Bearing assy went disco we started using the SKF with acceptable results. With any of the hubs, proper torque and adherence to a strict replacement schedule is key.
Last year at Nelson's Longest Day, we ran a set of Mopar hubs 24 hours without re-checking torque with no problem but in that situation there really wasn't much in the way of heat cycling like in more typical sprints.
Hi, im new to the forum and stumbled across this thread. I have a 95 ACR that i run in ITA in the PA hillclimb series. I have heard about the hub problem but never quite understood the severity of the failure. You guys have me freaked out now. When something fails on the hills you usually fly off into the trees because we dont have a nice runoff area like the tracks do.
So, from this thread it appears i only have two options. Get the SKF hub from Napa or the Timken from autoparts123. To me both are respectable brands, it seams hard to beat $67 bucks for the bearing and the hub for the Timken. Does the SKF come with the bearing too?
How often should i replace hubs. It would take 10 years of hillclimbing to accumulate 10 hours. We have about 10-15 runs a weekend and they are only 1-2 minutes long. I do about 10 events a year.
I have stock ACR suspension, poly bushings and run auto X V710s tires, sometimes RA1s when we do track time trials. Only twice a year.
As soon as i get some more money i will be taking some drivers schools and joining yall on the track, but for now its the affordable scary as sh*t world of hillclims for me. THanks for reading.
My MP ACR hubs and bearings showed up yesterday. $105.08 Cdn each on my doorstep. When I priced the hub alone, it was over $200.00.:shrug:WTF? I do have a tame dealer who sponsors me, but retail on the invoice was $135.
Anyway, I got 4, which should do me for quite a while.
Any feedback on how the Timken hubs have performed in your car?Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleXL240Z
Did you slap a micrometer on those jokers and see what the flange size is compared to the Mopar and/or NAPA hubs?
For anyone that's interested I spoke to Timken and found out that their hubs are 9mm thick. They are manufactured by Bearing Technologies in Avon, Ohio. BT is the ONLY manufacturer of aftermarket wheel hub assemblies in the US, so I suspect that these are the same hubs as the NAPA/SKF ones, as NAPA does claim that their 9mm hubs are made in the US.
so those of you that check your axle bolt every race...does that mean you remove the cotter pin and the keeper every time or just removed them all together.
I have a set of MP hubs on my bench; i am going to get them cryo-frozen before installing them.
Yep, take the cotter pin & keeper off, check the torque, and put em back at least once every race weekend.
We run cryo'd Timkens on our car.
I leave the pin off all the time and torque after every session.
k
I ordered a set of Timken hubs and when they arrived they came in an SKF box. So, that would confirm my suspicion that they are the same hubs as those NAPA sells. I put a micrometer on them and verified that they are 9mm thick at the flange.
I had them pressed onto the knuckles and cryo'd both assemblies (hub,bearing,knuckle). Ran them last weekend in an enduro and will run another 4 race weekends or so then replace.
I'm thinking of sending them to a metalurgy lab when I pull them off to get an analysis done to find out how much fatigue has occured. I am interested to know if the cryo makes a huge difference. Anyone have a hookup to a metalurgy lab who might want to donate an analysis for the sake of research?