[Fot] Southwick front hub failure

[yellow04]

I am throwing this out there as a public service announcement, I broke a 
part that I thought we had bulletproof solution to. At PittRace last 
weekend I broke one of Southwick's aluminum front hubs. The area of the 
hub that the inner race presses into sheared off, thankfully the wheel 
was retained by the outer bearing and stayed on the car. I don't know 
for how many laps that would have been the case!

Has anybody else heard of one of these hubs failing?

Discussions with Richard Good, who took over manufacturing these hubs 
revealed his hubs are turned from a stronger material, the GoodParts 
hubs are made from 7075 T6 aluminum, while Southwick made theirs from 
6061 T6. Yes, it is a little heavier, but the GoodParts hub is still 
about a pound lighter than stock. If you are unsure where your hubs were 
made, I provided details in the writeup.

I have also been in contact with Chuck Gee, our resident metallurgist. 
He is suggesting anybody running these Southwick hubs should start a 
program of dye penetration testing.

Pictures and writeup here.

https://tr250racer.com/southwick-front-hub-failure/

Hope this helps everybody keep the shiny side up!

Henry Frye