Front Axle Assembly - 410 Sprint Car Build
Today we’re focusing on assembling the front axle of our sprint car. The brake kit is from Wilwood, Weld hubs, spindles, and Eagle axle. We have everything we need, so let’s get started!
The first step is putting the spindles together. It’s important to avoid having drag on the spindles for multiple reasons. First of all, it puts excess stress on the steering box which causes more wear and tear. Secondly, it prevents everything from running as smooth as possible on the race track.
Front axle tethers are required for some sanctioning bodies. Theses tethers keep the spindles tied together in case of a wreck and keeps the hub assembly from separating from the car. When you install the tethers, they replace the aluminum bolts that typically go in the bottom of the kingpin.
Next, we’re assembling the brake rotor to the hub. Titanium bolts are better to reduce unsprung weight. Roughly 10 to 1, if you take one pound of deadweight off, you would only need to take a 1/10th of a pound of rotating weight off to make the same difference.
After that, we need to pack the bearings. It’s definitely a messy process. After the grease comes out of the top, you know it’s fully packed.
Then, we assemble it all together with the steering arms. We are putting new seals in because we pulled the bearings out to repack them. Moving on to the tie rods, we chose to make all of the tubes on the car polished, sliver. We chase the tie rod to make sure there aren't any burs or powder coat on the inside, even though ours is steel, you want to make sure you do it for aluminum. Finally, it’s time to attach the caliper and brake kit.
That's all for today! On the next episode, we will be installing the front axle. Thanks for following along and be sure to tune in next time!
