bearing cassette vs flangette

[Joe Rosse]

My son's AR-28X chassis came with axle bearing flangettes rather than cassettes (30mm axle). Is there much advantage to changing to cassettes? More specifically, is such a change cost-effective (not sure how much the cassettes cost).

If I was going to change, I guess the other question is whether to invest more in a 30mm axle, or go to a 40mm axle. He seems to be quite competitive with the 30, but all of the others running Rotax Jr (including two other AR28s) are using 40mm axles. BTW, he's about 100#, so we've got lots of ballast on the kart if that makes a difference.

[Jean Stafford]

Joe,

Since weight is not an issue, I'd recommend the change to 40mm. Your driver isn't going to get smaller, and the cassettes are much more stable than flangettes.

Flangettes wear, and the bearings become loose allowing the axle to float around. Not a good idea as is disturbs the handling differently each lap.

The AR 28 is a good chassis for up to around a 150# driver with limited Hp, so it's a good choice for this weight driver.

Good luck

Jean Stafford
www.staffordsracing.com

[Garry Lobaugh]

Our rule of thumb: cool weather, 30 mm axle, hot weather 40mm axle. It becomes a tuning kit. Will try to explain more as the weekend progresses.

Last year our very fastest cadet kart driver tested all of the combinations and the 25 mm solid axle proved to be the fastest in this category.