Any part failure is bad at track speeds. Few are worse than an entire wheel bearing failing. Without the benefit of the tethers most race cars are equipped with, there's a risk of the wheel simply flying off on its own chosen trajectory with nothing to stop it but what it can find to hit.
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Jeremy Rohan, a driver who was racing in a NASA event at the Eagles Canyon Raceway in Texas, found out what a worst-case bearing failure can look like the hard way. His V-6 swapped RX-8 had a bearing issue on the Saturday before a race, so he and his BSP Motorsports team went to a local auto parts store to find a replacement. He finally found a store-brand component and installed it before the race, and after a few laps it suffered a catastrophic failure at full speed on the start/finish straight.
The scale of what had happened was immediately obvious to Jeremy, who was able to actually see the tire fly by as it happened. As the on-board video shows, it seemed to break out of nowhere, popping off without any of the vibrations that signaled a less catastrophic failure the day before. With an entire contact patch suddenly gone, his attention turned to the actual process of slowing the car:
"When coming onto the front straight I started to straighten out the car," Rohan said. "I heard a loud pop, saw the tire bounce up, and knew at that moment we had a major failure. I then touched the brakes to see what we had and looked for the exit as to not black flag the race. We didn’t have brakes so I knew I needed to find some dirt to slow down. Grass wasn’t going to do the job. I saw a long patch of dirt and drove for it. Fingers crossed that the front end wouldn’t dig in too hard. If needed, once the speed was down enough I was going to turn the car a bit to let the wheels dig. Good thing that plan wasn't needed."
Jose Garcia Jr.
The entire wheel, tire, and brake disc went flying at full speed as one piece, actually hitting the bottom of the flag stand and leaving a mark before landing in the grass past turn 1. BSP Motorsports team owner Brandon Piper, who had been watching from the hot pit area where the video was filmed, estimates the tire was flying past at around 70 mph when it first broke off.
Brandon Piper / BSP Motorsports
What remained of the wheel and brake structure stayed together in one piece after the unplanned trip, a clean break that showed shockingly few signs of having been thrown clear of a running car at full racing speeds.
For drivers and teams, the lesson here is to understand the stakes when testing out a new component. For everyone else at a track, it serves as a great reminder that absolutely anything can come flying off a hot track. Yes, spinning cars and debris from crashes are always the main concern, but sometimes an entire wheel will simply disconnect and continue forward.
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The Link LonkApril 13, 2021 at 08:18PM
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a36097004/what-happens-when-a-wheel-bearing-replacement-goes-very-wrong/
This Is What Happens When a Wheel Bearing Replacement Goes Very Wrong - RoadandTrack.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=Wheel&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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