I am at the Div 4 IHRA Bracket Finals, and in the gamblers race, I sheared both axle shafts at the spool. Eliminations tomorrow are at 1:00. I have a spare pair of Mosers at home, (about 1.5-2 hours away). Problem is they do not have C-Clip elims on them.
If I can find a shop with a press out here in farm country, that will be open tomorrow morning, I'm thinking I could pull my axles, go home and get the spares, and have the bearings pressed off the old ones, and onto the new shafts. Or do they get trashed when removed? If they can be reused, I may be able to salvage the weekend...
Thoughts? Thanks guys.

Another thought - I could also drive to the Summit store in Arlington, and buy a new set of Eliminators (assuming they have em in stock). So maybe the biggest challenge is finding a shop. (Man, I almost bought a press stand a month ago)... Now that I think about it, the axles will also need the C-Clip nubs cut off the inner ends. Better grab my die grinder and some cutoff wheels too...

I don't know how you would get the retaining rings off without damaging them.



Take care. Tom Worthington

You can press them off using a bearing splitter and then press them on your new axles with out any damage.

IHRA ACDELCO Canadian Nationals
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The eliminators I had on the broken axles were the Moser type, (1-piece block, not the split 2-piece Strange type like the ones in the picture Tom396 shared). They don't use a separate press-on retaining ring, it is actually part of the inner race, and integral to the unit. To be honest, I don't know that you could remove either type successfully, unless they were a loose fit on the axle to begin with. It seems there would be no way to avoid putting all of the pressure on the block, so the bearings would be taking the entire load, in an axial direction, (not something they are designed for at all). If there was no other option, I guess why not try it, right?

I ended up making a huge triangle drive, from the track Southeast of Dallas, to get my axles far North of Dallas, then to Summit which is well Southwest of Dallas, then back SE. Almost 200 miles. I bought 2 new C-Clip Eliminators, (they did not have the 2-pack in stock, thank goodness I had my phone in hand to look up the P/N for the individual blocks, the kid at the Summit computer said I was SOL). And I bought a 12-ton press, Chinese special in kit form, for $145, and two 5-packs of ARP studs.
I caught a break with a morning rain weather delay, and another when my son drove down after he got off work, to help out with what truly was a mad thrash like I've never seen, and I have had some crazy ones before.
My long telescoping magnet tool pulled one axle stub out, (that one had sheared off perfectly straight, as if it had been laser cut), and the other stub which had twisted and shattered was wedged fairly tight in the spool, but I used the handle of my trailer broom to push it out from the opposite side. Used same broom stick with blue shop towels on it to swab out the axle tube, repeat several times, and magnet tool to try and catch remaining metal particles. Other side tube was clean, and fortunately, didn't have to pull the main caps and spool, which saved some time.
By now they are beginning time trials. (1 shot for both of the classes). "We don't need no stinkin' time trials". The spare axles had short wheel studs in them, so I then spent half an hour putting the press stand together, and began pressing the studs out. Went to press the new ones in, and found out the kid at Summit had given me 2 different sets, one pack was correct, the other a different part number. (Even though I had told him what P/N I needed!). OK, just more time wasted, had to press 5 studs out of one of the old axles and reuse them.
Now as I am finishing up pressing the new bearing blocks onto the axles, the call to the lanes goes out for No-Box. No pressure, right!
(BTW, had no anti-seize or high-pressure lubricant on-hand, so I used some synthetic Valvoline racing oil with high-zinc content - worked like a charm!). My son sticks one axle, as I stuff the other in and we begin bolting them to the housing ends. We pause and stand for the national anthem, then get back to work. As cars begin going down the track, son is slapping the brake drums and wheels back on while I am bolting on the differential cover. He puts the impact gun to work while I am filling the diff with fresh oil. Drop the jack, wipe my hands and face and fire the car for the first time all day. Check weather station, DA up 570 feet since yesterday's only good pass. Dial up 2 numbers. Almost messed up, nearly forgot to add fuel to my half-empty 3 gallon cell. Being on a first year team, we are pitted on the spectator side of the track, way down past the stripe, and the route to the lanes for us is like a maze, zigging and zagging for about a mile through the pits, which are packed to the gills. Burns about a gallon of alky to get there. One of the turns is a narrow, very sharp 90* left, in a big block car with no power steering. As I navigate that, I feel a brief tightness in the wheel, and hear a little snap inside the car. No biggy, that was just the coil cord for my trans brake. Have not foot-braked this car in 4 years. Miraculously, I get to the lanes, and there are 4 pairs plus 1 still in line. My son arrives on golf cart, I told him what happened, and said I'll have to take a guess on ET, dial up, and try to pull a light out of my you-know-what. Quick look at coil cord, it snapped 6 inches from the wheel, both wires. Check glove box, and there is a small box of butt splices, including some tiny red ones! But no crimping tool. Just then, some guy's car breaks at the line. not a big mess, but enough so I told son to go back and get some crimpers. Check flag poles, now a stiff headwind which had not been there during my only good pass the day before. Dial up 2 more. Just as they start firing the next pair, my boy shows up with crimping tool. I strip the 4 wire ends, and splice things back together as the last pair before us rolls forward to the water box. Test the t-brake, and car rolls forward. Cr@p! Then I realize I forgot to arm the brake with my lighted toggle on the dash. Flip switch up, retest, got it! Couple quick trans brake stalls to warm the fluid, and into the water. Sweating like a MF'er, taking breaths through nose to calm, reminding self to see the yellow. Burnout good, feeling great, pre-stage, opponent goes pre, then quickly stages. At this point I guess I forgot my mental note that this new track seems to have really short rollout. Yesterday I had flickered the bulb, set brake, and went .016, this time my normal bumps went straight to Staged on, no flicker. So probably was a hair deep. Left first, and saw enough yellow I thought I may be late. Hit 2nd and as I got ready to look for other car, noticed their win light flashing. Turns out I had Bulbed it by .011, and ran .02 slow, confirming my thought that I went in a bit deep.
So after all that, if I had remembered that one bit of info about the short stage beam rollout, might have been .00 and dead on. But we all know “might have” wins you nothing, and dang it, I did not care. It was hard to even be upset at all – Shoot, with everything that we managed to overcome, it actually felt like a big WIN, just to put the darn car down the track!
I have been a one-man team for many years, and I truly felt defeated until my son showed up. There was just no way I was going to get it done in time, only good thing would be driving it back into the trailer and watching some racing. But when we got working, we kind of fed off each other's energy. Talking through it, making sure all steps were covered, it was the kind of father-son time I had always hoped for at the track, but never really had before. He grew up in the pits, but once he became a teen, it was more about what his friends were doing, and I understood that. But this time, to see the looks of concern, and the sense worth on his face while we thrashed, and later on his smile when the T-Brake test finally worked, I will never forget. And as I drove back into the pit, there he was, biting his lip, grease on his face and hands, looked like he was ready to console a loser. Nope, this guy hopped out of the car smiling and laughing about it. A big grin erupted on his face, and he gave me a bear hug that made me feel better than if I had not had a single problem, and had won the event.
Sorry fellas, once I got started telling you the story, I just couldn't cut it short. Car seems ready to do some damage next time, or heck, you really never know what could happen, or when. But if that turned out to be my last day at the track, it was a great one. Literally an unbelievable one.
The old saying about a bad day racing is better than a good day at work? Absolutely true for me. Savor the win lights, yes. And learn to enjoy ALL of the moments, even if things don’t fall your way. (That is if you haven’t learned that lesson already, but I think most of you have).
Here we are 2 days later, and I am still smiling about it. Be Blessed. Give Thanks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FootbrakeJim,

^^^^^^^^ Good Recap of what happened. Definitely an A+ for effort.

Great story!!! Thank you!

Great story, great effort. Sounds like one of those father son moments that memories are made of.

I can relate to your story.

I was at the bracket finals at RT 13 years ago and destroyed the ring and pinion in my Chevelle on the last time shot. Was ready to pack it in the trailer,but decided to rip it apart. Put a call out for gears and had three people in front of me wanting to sell me their used up junk. I bought the one that had the pinion bearing still on,being a 12 bolt rear.It ended up up cracking both races for the spool once I took it apart. Nothing I could do until the next day. I was at Napa before they opened.I bought two bearing kits and put it back together in a mad thrash just using the races. Checked the tolerances by touch.

Made it to run first round and won! Felt it was so worth it.

Second round, not so much!
My .02X was no match to his
.007

It still felt good though that I was able to race. So I understand what you went through.


PS: Still have the gears in the car today the way I set them up!

They'll probably put a hole in the cover next time out! Lol

Great story and glad you got to give it a go on the track. Am I the only one worn out just reading this? LOL

Curtis

Thanks Guys. Curtis, yeah, it was a long one. Sorry 'bout that.
Tell you what, that new track down in Ferris has got some major hook! I've broken one axle before, never seen 2 of them snap. I probably got lucky, when the first one gave it put the entire load on the 2nd one, and quickly ended it's life. Otherwise, it could have turned me real quick. My car had it's best 60' time and 1/8 ET ever. Air was ranging from 1650-ish to 25-2600 Ft, not bad for Texas in September.
The brand new Sticky Mickeys helped, I'm sure.

quote:

Originally posted by FootbrakeJim:
Thanks Guys. Curtis, yeah, it was a long one. Sorry 'bout that.

No apology necessary. It's not from the length of the story. I meant from empathizing with what you went through.

Curtis