stevefoster Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 2 weeks ago I bought new rear ear for my De dion (0.25 deg) to run slicks without the inside wear factor. The machining on the hole for the half shaft was a) not quite in the right place. b) not quite large enough. The result was that as the ear and hub bolts were tightened the half shaft was binding solid! Easying out (eng term for attacking with a file) and removing 1mm of offending hole sorted it.... Has anybody else expereinced this? Have they changed the dia of the new halfshafts a tad or is it just poor maching or a one off I got! BTW. with 0.25 deg I got nice even wear on the slicks. Well they don't wear much do they really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wong1697456877 Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 Not had your problem but I've found that my slicks wear out on the inside even with 0.25 -ve. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted April 7, 2002 Author Share Posted April 7, 2002 Alex, you are putting a bit more power through them than me. I found with 1.5 deg ears I could easily spin wheels out of hairpins but now it's much more even. Can you get 0 deg ones? I need a compromise as it must run on 'wets' and 021's for the road and not be horrible. Then again a live axle car is pretty near 0 isn't it and they are not horrible on radials.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wong1697456877 Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 I've tried radials at 0.25 and crossplys at 1.5 and the honest truth is I couldn't notice any difference with the "wrong" de-dions ears on. I use to swap de-dion ears fro trackdays but can't be bothered anymore. I've left it at 0.5 as I figure if I only use radials on the road and on track in the wet, less camber is no bad thing. I think Avon Crossplys do wear out on the inside from cornering but I don't know why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tight fart Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 all the race cars wear the inside. If it's set up properly it will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted April 7, 2002 Author Share Posted April 7, 2002 Tight F, I guess it is a definition of wear rate. Yesterday I was getting pretty even wear and the temps across the tyre surface were not hotter on the insides....This was measured directly after coming in with a digital laser sighted infrared heat sensor. Before going 0.25 deg the insides were chewed up, esp Left Rear....typical for a clockwise circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 You can shim the bearing carrier to ear to give whatever camber you want, going from 0.25 deg neg to zero would be a small change and easily done. You can also shim the ear to de dion tube for toe adjustments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 If you shim them and drive the kerbs on track the ears will crack. Been there, done it! 0.25 or 0.5 ears will dramactically reduce the wear on the insides on the tyres as well as immensely improving traction off the line. Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM siteid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix.klauser Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 You can also take them to a machinist who can machine them to any angle you wish, including parallel. Cheaper than new ears. And the v slight reduction in track isn't significant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted April 8, 2002 Author Share Posted April 8, 2002 My local machining company said it would cost more to set it up than to buy a new ear.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix.klauser Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 Ah, the perils of living in Surrey. In Sussex we pay a tenner per ear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 Steve It takes seconds to set up a mill to machine a set of Di Dion ears. There will be loads of small engineering shops closeby. Just look scruffy when you visit! Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM siteid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted April 9, 2002 Author Share Posted April 9, 2002 Ah and there was I all togged up in my DJ... must be the reason. Aff to gaar up tooooo norf or souf Lundon wone I. Has anyone run 0 deg? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix.klauser Posted April 9, 2002 Share Posted April 9, 2002 I run 0 degrees with slicks and ACB-10's and chose the angle based upon using a tyre pyrometer and the tyre wear. I went from the standard ears to 0.25 but realised that was still too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoster Posted April 10, 2002 Author Share Posted April 10, 2002 Felix interesting... I have had a reply from Caterham saying that someone from Engineering will be in touch with me regarding the machining anomaly I came across. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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