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disk brakes on rearend as safe as a floater?


dancer52

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on a drum - when the axle breaks and the wobble takes out the bearing (and retainer) the wheel and axle come off. I have seen a left side axle (and wheel) come 2' out of the tube down the straight. When he went in the entire wheel drum and axle came out and bounced harmlessly over the wall and into the grass outside of the crashwall. Would not have been so harmless had it catapulted into the grandstand!

 

On a disk the rotor is trapped within the caliper. There is a lot more that must fail before the entire assembly comes loose. As a matter of fact - the rotor would bind and lock before the wobble could take out the bearing retainer. I had a chrysler new yorker come in with a rf wobble and lockup complaint. When I jacked it up the wheel, hub and rotor fell off. The outer bearing had failed and the spindle was broken off right inside of the race! The only thing holding the entire hub assembly in place was the rotor being in the caliper and movement enough to escape being limited by the stub of the spindle! Not only did I test drive it to see what he was complaining about - he had driven it three days that way!

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ok...here is my thoughts....the only thing the disk brake can do...is hold the axle in place if the c clip retainer breaks....all the stress of racing side force and rotational force is still stressing the axle....and when it brakes...it still comes off the car....sure it might slow it down...but stop it? I dont see it... a floater seperates the stressors...the axle only sees rotational forces...and the hub only sees the side force....making this setup much stronger....but...maybe i am missing something...?

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No dancer - you pretty much got it. A floater is less likely to break an axle as the axle sees substantially less thrust effect at the diff. A non floater with disc is less likely to toss the tire than a non with drum. If the rules allow I always recommend the floater - you will see a ton less wear at the diff carrier. Downside is increased unsprung weight at the wheel.

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Cast Rotor might be more apt to crack and fall apart. The Speedway version is two piece has a stamped steel inner hub and bolt on rotor. I'm contemplating making a floater 8.5. Should be a snap with 28 splines.

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Cast Rotor might be more apt to crack and fall apart. The Speedway version is two piece has a stamped steel inner hub and bolt on rotor. I'm contemplating making a floater 8.5. Should be a snap with 28 splines.

 

I would like to see pics of that...I made my own floater from a stock 9" once...(no great feat)...but I could see doing it on an 8.5...but I am sure someone would still claim it to be an advantage....

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