Sheared hub shaft, check the photo!

Steve,

Ahh yes, the lap of shame at the track...

No one i know makes alternatives and do not believe there is a drop in replacement (from Porsche, BMW, etc), though nowadays a guy with a scanner and appropriate fabrication machines should easily be able to reverse engineer them and make them out of better materials. Look at volume discount and sell them to others, as i have a feeling in a few years you will be able to sell more and more of these. The problem you had is normal, especially for guys who actually drive their Ferrari 308s at the track. It has been speculated (not proven) that it is the bolts that loosen, which then causes fatigue/problems. Frankly, virtually nothing in a car designed for lightness/racing/exotic cars under stress will last forever.

PS: Am glad you finally got the brake rotor off and agree, while you are in there you may as well.... Welcome to racing

PPS: what matters is that YOU are ok. Keep the rubber side down and have fun at the track

 

My other hobby is off-road rock crawling and I often to see these axle studs breaks on the trails and I usually carry my own spare axles. To reduce the chance of breaking these axles, I swapped them out for chromoly axles which are much stronger than stock, there are couple places that make custom axles that you can contact. The shops will ask you to send in your shaft and give an estimate for cost and delivery, Here are some of them:

http://www.moserengineering.com/Pages/Shop-Services/shopservices.html

http://www.dutchmanms.com/4_axles.html

Here's my favorite, he makes one of _the_ best axles for Toyota 4x4s, I am running these in my truck. You can try to contact him to see if he would custom make your shafts:

http://www.longfieldsuperaxles.com/

Btw, if you already broke one chances are you will break the other one, I would do both axles.

 

There is probably more demand that you think. I know I've been concerned about breaking the shafts, especially since I run slicks on the track. Please keep us posted.

 

I would not run a 30 year old 308 on a track without new stub axles, seen this before! Show us pics of the car too!

 

Very nice, so when the wheel went off into the rhubarb and the suspension hit the road it didnt do any damage? Usually the rear lower quarter extension takes a hit from the wheel.

 

Stub axle failures on 308's are common when tracking with rubber that produces more lateral grip than anything available when the car was new. This essentially means that all modern tires and especially R compound tires will place too much load through stub axles causing them to fail. This is not a design flaw but rather technology has overcome the 'safety' that was built into the original design. While older axles are more prone to failure the difference in track miles is minimal between an old and a new axle. That said, 308's that are being tracked should have the stub axles replaced regularily as part of preventative maintenance. Without a large re-design of the mounting there is not enough room to beef up the axles enough to withstand the load. I say run off a few axles and replace them every 10 track days or so. With an unbroken car this is a simple procedure and addresses one of the only weak points on the 308 when being tracked.

 

You did what I have thought about many times: install the 208 Turbo ducts in the rear fenders. Looks very nice!

Sorry to be off topic.

 

Wow you're lucky, I probably should have read your entire first post too lol. My 308 is finally done, what a relief. Ive been to one FCA meet with it this year and been too busy to do any more. The car is a blast to drive. When I saw your side ducts it reminded me of my boxer ducts, didnt think of the 208Turbo but that makes more sense. Shouldnt cost too much to have some super strong ones made, make some extras and sell them so your two are free.

 

Frank Capo/Modena Engineering in Australia told me he'd made 'em and would make up some more back when I was exploring this. He's made everything for these cars.

I'm running "later generation" used models that I had sonic checked and get magnafluxed whenver I have things apart back there.

If I don't want to make something for my 308's I just call Frank . Check with him. I have his contact info if it's not on here somewhere.


cheers

 

If someone is really passionate there's a much better design that can be incorporated.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9dNg-dAEBw&feature=channel

Hossier R6

I think it's time for another tear down ... I got a track day coming up

 

caused by accident damage maybe? the hard hit of a curb perhaps?

 

Nice driving and WOW those Hoosiers on the 308 give nice stick! Would love to see a G circle, looks like just over 1G of grip.

 

Good write up Steve.

Those with the 2v small diameter shafts need to look very closely at this.

 

The OP was very lucky to have it break where it did causing only a loss of drive. I know someone who had the same type of failure and only first noticed it when his rear wheel overtook him on the track. He continued to notice it as he hit the guardrail though.

 

Thanks Steven especially coming from you sir !

Definitely over 1G 'cause I was seeing that with worn street tires on the street.

How many hours of track time did you put on your car between inspections?

Cheers,

Sean

 

{Blushing}

Looks like maybe 1.1G or so, but hard to tell for sure. MUCH better grip than the Mich PS2 (wet/damp) or the Pilot CUps is the dry.

Define inspection. ALWAYS gave her a good look over (after each run) and bolt check (each day) plus various fluid changes (each event). Was fortunate to have a few engineers/mechanics who KNEW the car and about tracking Fcars and what to look for. Trust me, no one here really wants to know the costs involved INCLUDING myself. The new owner was given a VERY thick book of ALL service records rom the day this Euro-spec car reached US shores and SPECIFICALLY told to NEVER add it up my 'donations' and tell me the costs. Seriously, i DO NOT ever want to know though let it be said the car was well-prepped and parts re-engineered or replaced for non-Ferrari better bits.

PS: the car passed inspection at an event yet afterwards i found a near fatal flaw while doing my own checks (a cracked coolant hose). Was 20 minutes to my run group and fixed her and lost only 5 minutes of the 20 minute run group. Had she let go on the track, the mess would have been highly dangerous to others on track as am sure i'd see the flaggers and thus caused no engine damage due to said coolant loss (was the small hose on the upper part of engine/driver's side). So sometimes even after inspection it is ALWAYS good to trust... but verify.

 

The PO did A LOT to the car. The shafts were checked and i did replace the boots and had it all inspected by a guy who KNOWS these cars. On a side note, he used aero-grade grease/lubbricant and not ordinary automobile stuff.

Maybe i was lucky at not cracking a shaft as she was a Euro 1985? Still, great guy Aussie racer Steve really could make a nice go at it selling better shafts as these cars are getting long in the tooth. Better anti-sways are also nice as the 308 really rolls with stock bits.