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every try this with your bearing flanges, it really does free up the axle bearings ... they spin much freer after making this adjustment to the flanges...
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Jeff,

Thanks for the great idea. I always spend a lot of time trying to keep the bearings free and this will be a lot easier.

Dick Teal

Dick, give it a shot, it really works well ... expect to do this a few times on each flange before getting to the final fit. The great thing about this method is that most of us have some old bearings lying around just looking for a purpose! On the kart I just set up, the axle spins about twice as long after adjusting the flanges this way ... evidence that those flanges can really distort the bearings.

Another idea for old bearings, is to take the retainer out, disassembling the bearing. The inner and outer rings work great for pressing parts ... I have a bin full of bearing rings of various sizes, they come in handy around the shop. Even the balls can find a purpose now and then.

Jeff

It's a neat trick, but c'mon, guys! We're not running National Championship events here. I'll bet you don't gain 1/100 of a second doing all that work. We tried unsealed bearings with oil back in the early sixties. After one or two weekends, we went back to regular sealed bearings. The lap times were absolutely the same. And, yes, we DID run machined casettes and free-roll bearings in B Limited, but we WERE running for championships in the eighties and nineties. No offence, you guys are my friends, but I believe using that same amount of time to do just a tiny bit nicer job on the ports would be better spent! TJ

Ted,

What's cool about this is that it will help a kart with many bearings like a dual with swing mounts. Try putting six bearings in a kart and then tighten them down and as you know some of them will bind because the bearing will be cocked by the flangette. I work hard to make sure the axle slides sideways after it's installed. I just put my triple together with eight bearings and it took quite a while to get it right.

I'm not trying to get faster lap times; I'm just assembling a kart where things line up easily.

Dick Teal

Hey, Dick. I can see it making the kart a lot easier to assemble. I admit to taking care tightening flangettes so I can get the axle out without loosening the bolts. I can't, however see that it'll make any measureable difference in lap times. I remember the hassle of eight bearings on my triple! The Go Kart 1200 had full circle bearing hangers, so you had to slide in the axle through all the mount bearings in order. On the Bug, you just mount the swing mounts to the axle, then put it in as a unit. See you both in a few weeks! Ted