Metal thickness for custom made hubs ...

chodjinn · Post by **chodjinn** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 11:37 am

Bought a load of engine parts this weekend, and as luck would have it I got a free set of front coilovers included. This got me thinking, that they would be perfect for a rear conversion and some custom hubs. Anyway before I get into that too far, if I were to make some hubs out of sheet metal, what would be a good thickness to use? I was thinking 4mm for the front face/bearing mount/caliper bracket, and 2-3mm for the rest?

They are to be like the WRC/Group A cosworth hubs. Bearing housings are bolt on so no problem with those. Similar to the ones in this link;

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/5 ... =printable

stevieturbo · Post by **stevieturbo** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 3:42 pm

That isnt going to be an easy one to answer.

But thicker will be safer than thinner !

I cant imagine 4mm would be that strong as a single face t bolt a hub/bearing carrier to though, unless the flange behind it had a good shape/pattern to it to provide the strength

unstable load · Post by **unstable load** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 5:30 am

I'd go no thinner than 1/4", personally. 6.35mm in Metric.

chodjinn · Post by **chodjinn** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 7:46 am

These are the types of hub bearing carriers that I use, these are the rear ones;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-200SX- ... 418c9e636b

The fronts are the same just don't have a hole for the driveshaft (they're for a 350z).

I've been trying to find out how thick the driftworks geomaster hubs are, as that's what I'm basically going to be making, but can't find any info on them lol! I'll measure the depth of the rear of the bearing carrier that I've got in the garage and see what that is, looks to be around 6mm I think so yeah that might be a good starting point

stevieturbo · Post by **stevieturbo** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 2:14 pm

AGain it's going to depend on overall design.

Clearly you'd never bolt the flange to a simple large flat sheet of steel at 4mm.

But if like the locost image there was a round tower, lots of structure around the sheet, that adds huge strength. So maybe 4mm where the bolts go through could be quite adequate.
Also factor in weight of vehicle, grip, usage etc..

If weight is not a real concern I'd just make them thick and strong