76mm MotorSport Wheel Bearings

The Oily Bits S1 Specific Topics
1

Does anyone know the part number or which vehicle the motorsport 76mm wheel bearing originates from. Thanks.

2

I thought that the lotus sport bearings were 72mm and made by NTN - Sorry if that’s just being pedantic. If so I always got mine from Lotus Sport, I tried Goldline bearings(no website!!) who are the sole importer and supply LS with these only to be advised to go to Lotus as they’d be cheaper as they’d bought in bulk. Usually about �50+vat each. I think they’re from a Mazda but come pre-installed on a new hub if you go that route.

3

Thanks Mate, maybe I got my dimensions wrong :slight_smile: I am looking at having made a set of cnc machined front and rear uprights. Similar to the items Eliseparts advertise http://www.eliseparts.com/products.php?product=569 Out of interest is there any mods that you would have incorporated if you had a wish list. I am thinking about selling sets afterwards at a realistic price to help fund the venture if anyone is interested. They can be anodised in any colour. I am also looking at manufacturing some kits to convert the inner mountimg of the wishbones to spherical setup, probably only useful for race car as will probably be too harsh a ride for road use.

4

Tony

Rear upright suggestion - suitable to fit the oem 2 pot calipers, plus a small caliper (Wilwood?) for the oem handbrake cable to operate?

5

Thanks, I had thought of that one also :slight_smile: I am thinking about an additional mounting point for a small spot caliper to take car of parking duties and to pass MOT if required, caliper can then simply be removed for track use if required as it will only have a cable connection.

Out of curiosity what sort of ball park price would be attractive to people. I am trying to gauge interest as I need to have made a minimum quantity to make it cost effective.

6

Ah, I see where you got the 76mm from now Tony, the eliseparts uprights look pretty good value. The bigger bearing and aluminium construction you’re planning on would alone cure alot of heat issues to start with on the rear uprights. Also if you’re interested Kelsport wishbones are modified from standard ones to take spherical bearings, so could be worth a look.

Rob I can go even better and show you some Pilbeam rear uprights (that you’ve probably already seen before) where you can put the AP 4 pot and a handbrake caliper on, this also makes the main rear calipers ‘leading’ which is a nice touch. These are off the RSW Evo but they also fit perfectly on the S1, trust me

[image]http://www.pilbeamracing.co.uk/photos/general/lotus_rear_upright.jpg[/image]


Shameless self promotion clicky warning

7

Hi Steven, Have looked at the Pilbeam stuff before, nice but very very expensive. Regarding the wishbones, I use tweaked standard wishbones on my ZR race car, they have spherical bearing in place of rubber bush, should be a straight forward mod if I can locate the correct bearing. Just need to check inside diameter of the standard wishbones, hopefully a standard metric size.

When is your first race this season, I assume it will be an Oulton meet.

PS I am glad you think the EP uprights are good value, I thought ‘ouch’ especially rear offering.

8

PS Just noticed Pilbeam rear uprights have only single shear fitment on toe-link, seems strange that they didn’t go for double shear.

9

Rob, these are the spot handbrake calipers I was thinking of using, nice and small, perfect for handbrake only duty:
http://www.compbrake.co.uk/COMP%20R3%20Rear%20Mechanical.htm

10

Yeah, if you fit their wishbones to standard uprights you get a double shear link but these new uprights are SO much stronger and stiffer added to the fact that the outboard bearings mount on spigots and not directly onto the bolt mean that the double shear link was found to add nothing but weight.

It’s worth noting the blindingly obvious that you can’t use a double shear bracket on the outer wishbone joint if you’re still using a standard outer balljoint, you’d need to put a spherical there too.

11

Thanks Chaps - all excellent stuff, but out of my “budget” for the foreseeable future, I’m afraid. I only mentioned it for the benefit of others who may be interested.

12

I have run spherical bearings in my standard wishbones for the past three years, great, cheap conversion and never had a bearing go. The ones I use are about �7 each. Can’t find a part number to hand though, sorry.

13

Thanks Sean, if you remember give me a shout, do you use some form of top hat to keep bearing central in the wishbone?

14

…do you use some form of top hat to keep bearing central in the wishbone?

nah…any old hat will do


[image]tsuphoto.com - tsuphoto Resources and Information.

15

PMSL @ Benja

17

LOL

Yes I turned up some stainless spacers that fit each side.

18

I thought they were call ears?!