Track Tac

New style bearing hangers on new (er) karts?

1fasttiller

1fasttiller

Member
Anyone else see the possible flawed design in this? I see room for tons of deflection and possible bending on very high grip tracks, especially with high HP karts... I personally prefer the old style bearing hangers with much more support of the bearing/clamshell and the 3 - 5/16" or 3/8" bolts holding it. This setup just looks a bit "cheap" to me. I also don't see the need for these elaborate rear bumper supports and adjustability? Is there actually something to this or is it just hype to help sell a new $2500 chassis?


Capture.JPG
 
The bearing hanger strength is all at the bottom . The box desigin is actually stiffer .
The bumper attachment is over kill , nice though . With all the different organizations the rules change . Was a time the rule was bumper must be secured to chassis . Still i belive anything fall's offf your DQ .
 
I've never liked how little the new bearing carriers are... and little point to the "quick swap." I mean, if you bent an axle badly enough to have to quick swap, chassis likely tweaked too... Quick change gear hub, that's a different story.
 
You also have to understand how the load works when cornering. The first to give way or deflect is the tire....then the axle. The bearing hanger is the last to deflect, especially since the bearing oscillates inside the bearing ring.

The clamshell setup is much more convenient for maintaining and replacing the rear axle assembly with no strength loss. The clevis on the rear bumper for the above chassis is a good fail safe to help keep the rear bumper from being torn off.

Does it make the chassis any faster? No. But a Honda Civic still gets you from A to B just like a Mercedes, some people like nice stuff :)
 
Very often, some things just look right, but then, with professional stress analysis, and then track testing, the errors in your thinking becomes clear. My 1st impression of the pictured bearing hangers was much like yours. Still is. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. What would a professional stress analysis say about this design, better yet, how does it perform on the track?
 
I have an example; when I built my 1st kart, in 1973, I was thinking about the front spindle holder yoke. Building a fixture, with my limited resources and equipment, that would hold the kingpin tube (reverse spindle) at the proper caster and kingpin inclination angle was a problem. Holding it at the proper caster was easy, but adding kingpin inclination was a problem. Through some rudimentary investigations, I decided kingpin inclination was not needed. Testing of the karts handling ability proved me right. That kart had no push, no loose, no detrimental effects from the lack of kingpin inclination. The whole world built karts with kingpin inclination, to leave it out was a big gamble. Actually, as I later found out, the Bug Stinger was built the same way.
They say to copy is the sincerest form of flattery. Over the years since I built that kart, many of my innovations have been incorporated into the designs of many karts.
 
Wasn't sarcasm from me, Al.... I've never dogged you. :) I meant in terms of raw steering effort, felt as resistance in the wheel.
 
Ted Hamilton said:
Wasn't sarcasm from me, Al.... I've never dogged you. :) I meant in terms of raw steering effort, felt as resistance in the wheel.
Click to expand...
Okay, sorry.
I had a Margay Cheetah before I built my kart, the Mayko Shark, and all I ever noticed was that it handled good. Don't remember it being easier, or harder. I did notice a slight discrepancy in turning consistency on one corner of the track, which I attributed to my front steering shaft mount design. Coincidentally, the one I changed from was very similar to the Margay design a couple of years later. They went to market with it but later changed to the more conventional style.
 
Those rear type hangers have now been on karts for years, back 6-7 years ago at least. And those karts have been winning. The Triton had them, and that was most likely the winningest kart ever produced in the last 10-15 years.
 
That's the funny thing about statistics....whatever the major brands do, (and monkey-see-,monkey-copy), will look like "the best" because the sheer numbers make it look like the dominant performing chassis. I'm convinced that there's still .001's to be found in optimization and creativity, and that's what keeps us closet Engineers motivated and thinking. I wonder how many manufacturers bother to use a skidpad for chassis testing...
 
manufacturers need to make new gadgets and things to help up the price of their chassis, New is not always better. I personally know a guy with this bearing cassette holder , Second race it failed. Just sayin.
 
aracer50 said:
manufacturers need to make new gadgets and things to help up the price of their chassis, New is not always better. I personally know a guy with this bearing cassette holder , Second race it failed. Just sayin.
Click to expand...
What failed ? The weld , the material or the connecting hardware ?
 
aracer50 said:
manufacturers need to make new gadgets and things to help up the price of their chassis, New is not always better. I personally know a guy with this bearing cassette holder , Second race it failed. Just sayin.
Click to expand...
lol they just dont fail, that style of hanger has been out since 2006 if they were failing you wouldnt be the first to mention it.
Blame Phantom and perception for the cost of chassis
 
SoCo Tire Treatments said:
Those rear type hangers have now been on karts for years, back 6-7 years ago at least. And those karts have been winning. The Triton had them, and that was most likely the winningest kart ever produced in the last 10-15 years.
Click to expand...
Funny, I still remember what people was saying when Mike Ward invented the clamshell, then everyone copied him....go figure.
Infiniti chassis is still the only chassis to have a true clamshell cassette
 
aracer50 said:
manufacturers need to make new gadgets and things to help up the price of their chassis, New is not always better. I personally know a guy with this bearing cassette holder , Second race it failed. Just sayin.
Click to expand...
I witnessed a brand new kart tear apart at the bottom of the L block hanger this year. It was spot welded and never completed the full weld.
Stuff happens, hopefully the manufacturer took care of him like they did for the guy I know.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top