b'TECH TIP PAGETech Tip 43: Bearing thrust load capacity, for hard cornering, is defined by several factors.The number of bearings in the unit, size of the bearings, angle of the bearings the race, materials used & contact surface area of the ball or roller bearings to the race.Todays hub bearing assemblies utilize angular contact ball bearing design, which loads the balls at an angle (similar to tapered roller bearings), increasing thrust load capacity over inline ball bearings. These offer lower friction & better fuel mileage than tapered roller bearings.But, they are not as capable of handing high G corner thrust loads we see with top level, high powered, big tired, race cars today. Hub bearing assemblies that utilize tapered roller bearings can be over 50% stronger than angular contact ball bearing hub assemblies, due to increased contact area of the roller bearing compared to the ball bearing.Tech Tip 44: How can we have more front end travel than ride height? The answer is simple. Were not measuring the two at the same spot. We measure ride height under the middle of the front clip dog legs on each side. Typically, this is about 1 behind the firewall. We measure front end travel in dive, under braking, at the front axle centerline (FACL). The rear of the car does not dive under braking, just the front. The rear axle centerline is the cars pivot axis under braking. So, as the car dives in front, the chassis angle (rake) increases as much as 3. To achieve this high front travel, the front crossmember is built 1-2 higher than the dog legs & rest of the chassis, for more ground clearance during dive travel.The ride height at the Dog Legs determine how far the chassis can travel. Ron often dives his race cars so the Dog Legs are 1/8 above ground. How much dive that is at the FACL, depends on how far forward the front crossmember is. Discuss your strategy with Ron Sutton. Tech Tip 45: Most Watts Link systems are mis-designed with the bellcrank attached to the rear axle, instead of the chassis. The Designer either didnt know better, or made the decision based on, I dont want the roll center moving with the chassis. When in fact, thats exactly what we want. Why? The movement of the chassis in the rear perfectly matches our needs.On corner entry, under hard braking, we want the rear roll center to raise up a little bit, with the chassis. It helps keep the body/chassis from rolling as much, promoting better, more stable turn-in. On exit, as we throttle up & the chassis squats somewhat, we want the rear roll center to squat with it. This increases rear grip & helps us accelerate out of the corner. "Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win."Enzo Ferrari Hand the trophy to the trophy gi rl and tell her, Here beautiful, take this home with you and I\'ll be by later to pick it up. 161'