crane operator
Senior Member
I've got a 1992 pete that we're slowly putting to use, I bought it as a "project". Anyways, front steers and three out of the four drives are all pilot hub wheels. Drivers rear is budd/ ball seat. There's nothing wrong with the budd hub, I'd just like the truck to be all the same, so I made a little trip to the junkyard today.
They had a whole great big tub with probably 30 hubs in it. The only steel ones in it, were ball seat ones (and there was only two of those). All the pilot ones were aluminum. We had to go for a cruise around the yard until I saw one laying on the ground by a truck. And evidently all I work on is old obsolete, heavy stuff, because I'll admit, I didn't even know they used aluminum for wheel hubs.
How in the world do you drive races in and out and not ruin the seats on the aluminum ones? I was talking about it at the truck parts store, and he said they have guys split them all the time putting in new wheel studs. I could see them being easy to split also with someone getting a little carried away with the big air gun putting on wheels/ tires.
Wouldn't it be a lot easier to spin a race in the aluminum ones? I did notice the aluminum ones all had spacers in them for between the bearings, I suppose that's so they don't crush or push the aluminum on the lip on the bearing/ hold tolerance with the bearings?
I'm sure it saves a little weight doing the aluminum hubs, and the truck parts guys said they sell a bunch of them, but I guess that wouldn't be the place I would have thought of to save weight. I guess I'd rather have steel- I'm buying a permit most of the time anyways, and don't care that much what I weigh.
They had a whole great big tub with probably 30 hubs in it. The only steel ones in it, were ball seat ones (and there was only two of those). All the pilot ones were aluminum. We had to go for a cruise around the yard until I saw one laying on the ground by a truck. And evidently all I work on is old obsolete, heavy stuff, because I'll admit, I didn't even know they used aluminum for wheel hubs.
How in the world do you drive races in and out and not ruin the seats on the aluminum ones? I was talking about it at the truck parts store, and he said they have guys split them all the time putting in new wheel studs. I could see them being easy to split also with someone getting a little carried away with the big air gun putting on wheels/ tires.
Wouldn't it be a lot easier to spin a race in the aluminum ones? I did notice the aluminum ones all had spacers in them for between the bearings, I suppose that's so they don't crush or push the aluminum on the lip on the bearing/ hold tolerance with the bearings?
I'm sure it saves a little weight doing the aluminum hubs, and the truck parts guys said they sell a bunch of them, but I guess that wouldn't be the place I would have thought of to save weight. I guess I'd rather have steel- I'm buying a permit most of the time anyways, and don't care that much what I weigh.