[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by JSM

Ron, just outa curiosity. I was wondering what one of the Speedway Floater Hub set-ups weighs that you run on your track cars? I am curious as to what the actual weight savings is.

Snout -
Hub (steel or aluminum? -
Bearings/Races -
Drive Plate (I assume you run steel) -
Studs -
Caliper Brackets/gussets) -

Also if you wouldn't mind?

Rotor Adaptor (steel or Aluminum?) -
Rotor 13"x1.25" -

Jay

Hey Jay,
The floater rear end is not lighter than a flange axle rear end ... all other things being equal. The reason to run a floater is safety, bearing longevity, elimination of hub flex & brake knock back. We do a lot to make them light, so they end up pretty close to the weight of a regular flange axle rear end. Sometime they're lighter, depending on what they're being compared to.

I'd have to go find my notes to know what a rear end weighs. The Mod-Lite floater uses a light 10 gauge housing. For the Grand National floaters, we use either a 10 gauge or heavier 7 gauge housing. We typically run the .188" DOM tubes & occasionally run the .125" 4130 tubes. For road course, autocross & street, I prefer the aluminum Mod-Lite hubs & the XHD steel GN drive plates. I dissuade people from running the aluminum drive plates except in high end racing where we can replace them often. The aluminum axle splines wear out too quickly.

For most kits I use Wilwood Spec-37 rotors. For my higher end stuff, we'll run AP rotors. If we're looking at short run cars, we'll go light with a 12.19" x .81" rotor. For long run cars where we need to deal with the heat, we run 1.25" wide rotors in whatever size we pick ... 12.19, 13.06" or 14.00". (FYI - rear brakes run cooler than fronts by about 1/3).

There were no brake kits for floaters that use 13.06" or 14" rotors, so I designed some & had them made. My rotor adapters for the large 13.06" & 14" rotors are made from 6061-T6 & black anodized. They are scalloped for both weight reduction and increased airflow into the rotor.

The caliper brackets welded to the housing are 3/8" thick 1026 steel & we double gusset them on the brakes packages with 13.06" or 14.00" rotors. Speedway Mod-Lite floaters use 18690 Timken bearings rated at 1800# thrust load each. Speedway Grand National floaters use L610549 Timken bearings rated at 2630# thrust load each.

We have some clients that occasionally run 1/2" studs. But ever since we found a good 5/8" fine thread lug nut from Moroso that has a smaller 7/8" hex & 60° conical seat that works with aluminum wheels ... most of my clients run 5/8" fine thread studs.

The Speedway Mod-Lite floaters are complete with hubs, bearings, studs, hardware & axles for $1299, so they're not much more than having a flange axle rear end built. It is safer & eliminates brake knock back.