See Ed Miller is selling aluminum hubs for several of his kits ?

My question is simple other a SMALL weight savings what would be the benefit of aluminum hubs ????? Any DISADVANTAGES to them ?
Thanks............

 

Disadvantage, slightly less durable then steel

Advantage, little less weight, better heat control.

If you really want aluminum hubs, look at kore3 hubs, they are beautiful and functional, reasonably priced too. I had them make me a custom set to help my current project along. They are a great company to deal with.

 

Don't know if the price justifies aLUMINUM HUBS ?

ED mILLERs site....APPLES to apples.....so to speak there is quite a difference in price. 140 pair versus 350 for aluminum.

Never had issues with heat on the steel ones so unless someone knows more I just don't think they are worth it ?????????

 

Aluminum dissapates heat faster, that's all. You will not have any issue with steel. Unless you need something custom, or are trying to save every ounce possible, there is no real reason to.use aluminum. You can't go wrong with steel.

Aluminum just worked for me, I needed customwork done, I wanted screw in studs, and I wanted some features not easily available is a stock steel hub. Was it a bit excessive, perhaps.

 

It's a small difference in total weight, but the difference in unspring weight is more significant.

 

Please explain ?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automob...nsprung_weight

 

Deep stuff............when they lighten the caliper, wheel and strut and etc I will start to be concerned with the few ounces each hub will save me. Interesting read but real world versus theory to much to me.

 

I have the Baer aluminum hubs on 2 of my cars.
They are just as strong or stronger as steel with half the weight.
I also have aluminum hat baer rotors and they are 5lbs lighter (each) than the all steel rotor.
Now with aluminum hat rotor, hubs and the lighter 2piston caliper I have a 13" brake system thats lighter than the stock Iron single piston 10.5" rotor setup.. I forget exactly how much lighter but it is enuff to make it worth it..

 

Not worth it on a street car. IMO and prob most other people's opinion as well.

 

You right, it depends on the person. Some people want every last inch of performance they can get from their street car, others like bling, others just want to drive from point A to point B.

Like i said earlier, you cannot go wrong with steel hubs. And if you are into weight savings, there are other places much more beneficial to start with before worrying about aluminum hubs.

 

Oh, its worth it. Street car? check. Track car? check. Pricey? yup, its that also.
All the aluminum helps keep the bearings/ rotors a tad cooler and they disipate heat faster..
I like to do everything I can to make the car lighter and better..
Lighter sprung/ unsprung weight and moment of inertia are all one key in most all of motorsports.

 

Never in my life have I had bearings in a steel servicable hub go bad. One would assume heat would be bery, bery bad on them. lol

As far as the weight don't think you will ever notice it in a street car..................

 

You've never had a bearing fail?? You are very lucky.
I'm actually replacing the timken bearings in my 20K mile GM 1LE rotors that I know for a fact were babied all their life and I personally have only put 500 normal street miles on. They were making noise so I took them apart to check them and they had small random dents in the races making noise. Nothing to do with heat at all. Bearings can just fail for no reason in any type of hub.
I don't know why everyone is hating the aluminum hub? Sure, there is a cheaper way to do things and there is nothing wrong with doing the iron hubs (I just helped do a friends 1LE hub with all steel 13" rotor and C4 caliper upgrade). I'd bet mine is around 7-10 lbs lighter at the front corners than his and thats 14-20lbs 4 the pair. Add 10lbs in the rear for aluminum hat rotors and your pushing 30 easy lbs, gone.
I didn't believe it either at 1st but yes, you will notice that, even in a street car. Now put the battery in back, another 40-50lbs moved around and you will feel the car acting different, even in a street car. all the little things addup quickly....
There is nothing wrong doing it either way, I'm just pointing out some pluses to upgrading to aluminum parts..

 

Another plus for alum. would be that the lighter weight would allow the shocks to control the suspenion easier, thus helping the shocks to live longer.

 

Some trolling going on here methinks

 

a street car for me is My SS454 1500 chevy truck. (a bit more then stock)
or My 89 s10 Baja. thats a street car. drive to and from work pick up parts. food stuff like that.. thats a street car. every day driver.
now my Camaro i drive on the street.. so you can say it's a street car.
but has it's 20 years old and has 34000 on the OD i dont drive it has much. so it's a street car also.. just a tad lighter. and faster then My 1500 chevy truck... i like light parts.. they save me gas...lol now that is funny..save gas...

 

Bang for the buck......horsepower or ET gain versus cash ?

You get my point ?

No noticable difference to the average everyday joe with ANY TYPE of street driven vehicle.

YOUR MONEY BUT LETS BE REAL HERE, OK ?

My GTA has 9k miles on it, your point is ?

 

9K mile GTA? 391.304348 miles a year over 23 years(if its a 89)?? This has to be a very nice car but thats not even 2 tanks of gas a year!! You don't have enuff miles on that car to even know how it runs and drives!!! Shes not even broke in yet!
I have about 240,000K miles on one of my cars. I drive the crap out of them but they are taken care of VERY well.

At one point in your car building days your going to run out of "bang for your buck" mods and will have to start spending some coin,if you want more performance... This isn't a bang for your buck mod by any means.
This is a mod to do when you have done all the bang for your buck mods and are starting to move to the next level.
If one hasn't done the aluminum hubs and aluminum hat rotors one really shouldn't comment if you can tell the difference or not.(not calling you out at all,just saying). One has to ask, does any of my cars have aluminum hubs or have I driven a aluminum hub/rotor car??
I'm saying, wouldn't have believed it either until I did it. There is a difference, even with a street car.
Either hub works well but there is always something or someone with better stuff and you will find that out when they pass by you leaving the stoplight ..

 

Sorry but the little bit of weight your talking about will not be noticable. I have two nice low mileage TA's doesn't mean I haven't had many more cars with many of them going 150k before I sold them off in my 32 years of driving.

My aircraft maintenance tells me your theory is correct by going light with aluminum. Aircraft bodies are made out of a lot of aluminum and even some aluminum in the engines I overhaul. However you are talking just SLIGHTLY different situations here.

Few pounds here and there will not ever be noticed by the average joe and you spent some serious coin all together on your setup. Seriously doubt the mods you mentioned with the brakes could EVER be shown to make an difference in ET or handling for that matter.

If you see can't see it or feel it ... it just isn't worth it. If you want to do this and took the weight savings far enough in other areas you would notice some ET and handling benefits but I hope your not telling the average joe to pony up the dough on the aluminum brake rotor hats and hubs and etc and telling them they will notice a difference. Maybe a difference in braking from larger rotors and calipers but not from weight savings.

Again please be realistic here. Lot of youngins on here. As far as me commenting......been around the block a few times and heard quite a few claim this or that defending the money they spent. I have a damn good common sense compass and a damn extensive mechanical background and I know when something smells like BS it is just that.

Theory is one thing, real world is another. Take that theory far enough by lightening your car enough you definitely got something. All I am saying hubs and rotor hats made out of aluminum will not be noticed all by themselves.

 

I've only been driving for 28ish years but have logged many miles and quite a few of them at speeds 200mph plus.
If you haven't driven a car with them, you dont know if there is a difference.
This is not a mod for everyone for sure and I will not tell everyone to go out and buy them or promise 2sec gain in the quarter or off lap times.
I will stick by it and say yes, its worth it, IF you want them.
I have had iron and aluminum hubs, both do the job well.
If you have a lil extra cash for them and want em buy em, if you don't, your car will do just fine without them.
This car of mine I'm talking about has around 250lbs off of the frontend compared to a stock car. (25ish lbs unsprung a corner) All the little things really do add up.
Also, if you haven't, do some searching/reading on unsprung weight.. This will help ya..
The only real disadvantage with the aluminum hub is the cost, which you pointed out, is a bit silly for most of us..

I thought since you started this thread you wanted real world info on these parts but it seems you had your opinion already.

 

Lighter weight is always better unless too much strength is compromised. That's my opinion. I also want to point out that whether the "average joe can feel it" or not is very subjective and is silly to argue. Every person tends to be different when it comes to seat of the pants feeling after a mod is done, some may notice more than others.. I know my car VERY well.. 5lbs of unsprung weight I promise you I will feel it, that's simply because i've taken the car to its extremities many times and know its limits. That being said, aluminum rotors (if I had the money at the moment.. other life goals have put the brakes on aluminum exotic parts lol), aluminum shocks, lighter spindles, lighter wheels, lighter brakes, lighter suspension components like cromoly, etc. are all unsprung weight components that improve the car's ability to handle quicker, drive smoother and safer over bumps, accelerate faster, brake better, and in some cases dissipate heat and provide other benefits as well. Most of these parts provide other benefits as well as dropping unsprung weight, for example dropped spindles.. You get 2" lower a center of gravity, while reducing unsprung weight by like 8 pounds, plus its a part that moves with the steering which i'm sure improves steering feel. To me, it's well worth the money, IF I had it ofcourse. Will the average joe notice a difference with that part? You bet. If you're talking just hubs, they are not only unsprung, but rotational, so you accelerate, handle, and brake better. How much better? That is subjective unless you perform accurate real world tests. But for some of us, there is a noticeable difference. Is it worth it? How much is 450$ worth to you? You have to ask yourself that question depending on how fat your wallet is and what you want to accomplish with the car.