I made a one-off mid-engine car (see Midlana.com) which uses Miata uprights. The front wheels are very slightly loose, so I tried tightening up the wheel nut, but it's already around 150 ft-lbs (no exaggeration) and still slightly loose. Since they're donor parts I don't have a Miata factory manual. Am I doing something wrong, or is it normal to have to tighten that nut to >150 ft-lbs?
Answered my own question. Miatas don't use bearings that can have preload adjusted by the nut tension; they have to be replaced.
What little research I have done indicated that a failed bearing involves a new hub, and that 150 is about right for the torque value.
The good news is that they are not terribly expensive. I checked on ebay but no idea of what brands are crap or good value.
Yeah, that. And if you are putting big loads on the bearings, a lot of people will re-pack them with better grease when installing.
This is relevant:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/1992-yellow-mazda-miata/join-us-sebring/
This is also slightly relevant for brand discussion (mainly, buy Timkin if you aren't getting blueprinted/repacked from someone): https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/whats-the-best-wheelhub-bearing/110573/page1/
If you're car is light and not going to see heavy track use, Timkin will be fine. If you're going to race with slicks, get something blueprinted.
I can tell you that cheap bearings only last a few rallycross events even if you repack them with good grease.
Tom Suddard wrote: This is relevant: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/1992-yellow-mazda-miata/join-us-sebring/
This is going to cost me... thanks, I think*
*Last time I saw pictures of you I think you were about 3 years old.
EvanB wrote: I can tell you that cheap bearings only last a few rallycross events even if you repack them with good grease.
That's what I'm reading; I guess I expected the Miata front spindles to last a lot longer since Midlana has literally half the weight on them. OTOH I don't remember if I installed new front hubs or if I used the old ones from the donor... probably the latter.
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