I can think of a lot of grips I have about the spitfire design. I'd
say the biggest complaint is with the poor outer rear trunnion design. The
problem
has to do with the tiny roller bearing set. I think the fundamental principle
behind the current design is that the big ball bearing is supposed to take all
loading and the little roller bearing is to keep the trunnion and the axle
aligned
properly. As it turns out the little bearing does have a lot of loading and it
soon eats its way into the axle unless you are fanatical about keeping the rear
end greased. The other problem with the design is that it is very hard for
grease
to get into the roller bearing due to its small size. Every spitfire I have
worked
on has had bad rear axles and they cost about 150 each new. What needs to
happen
is a new trunnion should be produced which allows a more macho roller bearing
to be
installed, perhaps even one with an inner race. A really vogue design would
be able to use the old damaged axles by putting the new bearing in a slightly
different place, or by having a wide inner race
On another note, A friend and I want to start a small engineering firm
to do the sort of things Rob does. I would be very interested in meeting him.
I'm planning to go up to Traverse city this weekend and I could blow through
Holland. Do you think he would be interested in going out to dinner with me?
I'd like to find out how he got started and what sort of plans he has for the
future.
woodruff@caen.engin.umich.edu
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