Floater Rear Ends

[TGural]

Hope Tracy and Brent are okay today. That was a very hard hit. Is it time we lobby for floater rear ends again? IMO, safety alone, should be reason enough to consider changing the rules for next year. Seen many times over the years these wheels, tires, and sometimes whole axles break off and go flying. This is very dangerous to track workers, crews, and fans. We were just talking last night, about the the time Joey's wheel broke off and went thru the pit stands at us. Almost took Mrs. Smith out. Andrea got pretty brused and banged up, falling thru the stands. It went on to do further damage to parked race rigs.

What are other folkss thoughts about this and what classes do you think could make this change, without creating other issues?

[fastman]

My thought about this issue is that floater rear ends are costly but do insure that a rear wheel will not fly off a race car when a axle breaks. Now remember that a wheel can also break aroud the center section and then we have the same situation all overs again.

 

 

Couple of questions to the 11 car,

 

Are the axles in question stock ford axles?

How aften are the axle flanges checked for cracks?

Was the 11 car recently involved in a collision the prior race week end?

 

 

If you ask me, a after market axle in a ford 9", chevy 8.5", or 7.5" can almost guarante that the axle flage will not sheer off the way it did in the case of the 11 car. Most aftermarket axles are made of a good enough steel that the axle will bend and not crack at impact rather than bend and crack instantly.

 

If you ask me, some money in after market axles and routine maintenance can usually prevent axles from breaking on the track.

[Hansen99]

3-4 years ago a member of Thunder stock 20 crew was struck by a flying axel and was rushed by ambulance to brackenridge he was not crtical but was beaten up pretty badly stichess lose teeth and all it put a pretty bad hole in his neck

[TBSSS01]

My thought about this issue is that floater rear ends are costly but do insure that a rear wheel will not fly off a race car when a axle breaks. Now remember that a wheel can also break aroud the center section and then we have the same situation all overs again.

 

 

Couple of questions to the 11 car,

 

Are the axles in question stock ford axles?

How aften are the axle flanges checked for cracks?

Was the 11 car recently involved in a collision the prior race week end?

 

 

If you ask me, a after market axle in a ford 9", chevy 8.5", or 7.5" can almost guarante that the axle flage will not sheer off the way it did in the case of the 11 car. Most aftermarket axles are made of a good enough steel that the axle will bend and not crack at impact rather than bend and crack instantly.

 

If you ask me, some money in after market axles and routine maintenance can usually prevent axles from breaking on the track.

 

Answers to your questions.

 

These axles are aftermarket Moser

Axles and suspension are allways visually checked and measured after any impacts to the wheels

There were no collisions hard enough to bend any wheels this year ( only one cut tire )

I just put a new bearing on this axle about one month ago and saw no indication of a crack on the flange

I allways check run out of all wheels and none were crooked.

 

If you ask me if this car and the one Bobby mentioned had floaters then injuries and badly damaged racecars would not have happened.

[poorboy]

Installing disc brakes on the rear help contain the axle also. But this could cause another issue with asphalt cars by having to much rear brake in the stock classes with little or no way to adjust rear brake out of the car.

[Kathy]

And I believe every word of what Terry said. That is his daughter out there in that car after all. Glad Tracy and no one else was hurt. Cars can be fixed.

[TGural]

Good feedback. Agree with Fastman regarding after-markets. We run the Moser axles too. Maybe it's the quality of steel, just isn't what it used to be. There's still is no guarantee from breakage, but definitely better than stock. At a minimum, could everyone support running no stock axles? If we were allowed to run floaters, we could keep the rule requiring drum brakes, to avoid the disc brake issues. What about that?

[fastman]

Answers to your questions.

 

These axles are aftermarket Moser

Axles and suspension are allways visually checked and measured after any impacts to the wheels

There were no collisions hard enough to bend any wheels this year ( only one cut tire )

I just put a new bearing on this axle about one month ago and saw no indication of a crack on the flange

I allways check run out of all wheels and none were crooked.

 

OK then,

 

floaters is gonna be about $1,000 to everyone who wants to upgrade and even more to those people who do not already have the 3rd member with gears.

With that being said why dont we just ask for after market front hubs aswell. Then we will have the beginning of a TSRS car that is 400 pounds over weight, and not to mention the only thing holding the motors back is the intake and valve size.

 

If we all take a step back we can see the line that is drawn on the ground, everytime someone mentions safety or upgrade they are usually over the line and just can not see it anymore. The line has to be drawn somewhere and we just got to go with the flow.

 

I honestly remember when the TSRS used to be the equilavent to the A-line SSS. WOW

[poorboy]

I don't believe you can fit drum brakes to a floater.

[Crazyhorse]

it is WAY over due.

the times the supers are running they should have had rear disc brakes 5 years ago.

if you justify the amount spent on a HANS or HUTCHINS , but then say the cost off a floater is extreme?

 

poorboy- the THR supers are allowed to run a brake biast.

[abrungot]

If you can save lives/prevent injuries by doing this its already over do... You don't have to make it manditory.. Just highly encuraged...

 

And terry doesn't cut corners do it right or don't do it...

[TBSSS01]

floaters is gonna be about $1,000 to everyone who wants to upgrade and even more to those people who do not already have the 3rd member with gears.

 

The Moser rear housing and axles were $900.00 so I dont see very much difference in cost

[fastman]

dont forget to add tax and freight

[jwmbishop]

I don't believe you can fit drum brakes to a floater.

Floaters have been around since the 50's - rear discs as a commonality appeared in the 70's. We used the rear from a 68 TBird with stock drums (well not quite stock they were drilled full of lightening holes - which we learned NOT to do!!!), under our 68 Camaro super stock.

 

But thats neither here nor there. the challenge of class racing makes the sport what it is. the line in the sand is quite clear.

 

One thing to look at is the track itself - does it lend well to containing the loose stuff? Thats a good place to start before changing a whole class of cars - change the weak points of the facility itself.

 

I just can't see a floater on a Strictly Stock or Bomber stock etc class. It is no longer a class car!

[usra43]

There is no advantage what so ever of running a floater rearend. They are actually heavy that most rearends. They are safer and it saves you axles or even a whole rearend. IT is NOT a performance adder. Quick change would be but not a 9" rear.

[racer61]

As usual I was watching the wrong cars and missed seeing what happened. But I did hear the thud. Glad to see she climbed out ok. I dont know if she had contact first or just got caught up with another car or even a part failure. One thing Im sure of, Ive never seen any of Terry's cars fall apart. He knows how to build good stuff, and by the success of his team, there taken good care of. Now stock non floater axles have been a part of racing for years and years. I agree that newer technology is required to keep up with the times, not just for safety but from an economical stand point. Eventually, there will NOT be anymore camaro clips in the salvage yard. Last I checked, GM was not still manufacturing them. With that said, I dont necessarily agree that changing the rules because an axle broke is right either. Yes the tire could of went into the stands, yes it could of hit a safety worker. The tracks and staff do the best job possible to prevent against everything possible within reason. Axles have been breaking on racecars for over 100 years. It just happens. Floaters are safer in that its much more difficult to loose a wheel, but its still possible. Upgrading to a floater isnt too terribly expensive, but not all of the superstock teams have them lying around, or have the money to afford the change. Then what? They cant race? Someone posted earlier that with just a few more changes they will be a TSRS late model. Thats true. The Idea I thought was to provide different classes of racing so that it was possible to compete on any budget. I cant say that Im leaning more one way than the other. i agree with both sides. I will say that because the balljoint broke on my car and it went sailing off the track almost into the tire barrier that i sure hope the more expensive ball joints dont get mandated. J/k

[gundogC3]

If you can save lives/prevent injuries by doing this its already over do... You don't have to make it manditory.. Just highly encuraged...

 

And terry doesn't cut corners do it right or don't do it...

I wouldn't be afraid to put a family member in one of his car's. Having the caliper over the the rotor does help the chance of the wheel getting loose.

[Blue Moon Motorsports]

If you can save lives/prevent injuries by doing this its already over do... You don't have to make it manditory.. Just highly encuraged...

 

And terry doesn't cut corners do it right or don't do it...

 

I can attest to that. Everything Terry does is checked, rechecked and then checked again for good measure.