Sniff! I'm not at Daytona...

[StumpysWife]

Stump told Benji to call with updates this weekend, so hopefully he will.  We'll post anything we hear.  

Good luck Tom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heather

[Super Dave]

I actually expected calls from some of my children at Daytona.  It's an easy place, but it isn't.

Talked to Jesse Janisch yesterday a couple of times.  I think he did fifteen laps during the day then rode the Team Challenge.  I think the team he was on got 3rd in GTO.

[tshort]

You go Tom.  The whole Midwest is behind you.  If a fat old man like me could get a fifth there, then I believe you can win!
But even if you do win I'm still gonna kick yer @$$, Harley Boy!!!! ;D

Phew - guess I'm safe then - best I did was 3rd ;D :P

[Super Dave]

You did well, Tom.  Nice job!

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

Tom, so how did it go today.

Disappointed that I haven't heard from Benji, Mike and MJ.  How are they doing?

The place is fun.

Did you get to the Port Orange Steak House?

     Dave, Though I will let the other guys speak for themselves about the event, I will say that they all seemed to have had a great time.

     For me this was the worst overall ROC experience I have had, of the 3 times I have gone. My procrastinating self was putting on my new rear shock spring Monday morning before I was leaving when I found out that I was sent the wrong spring. After deciding to just use my stock spring I then cross threaded the yoke onto the shock shaft, which resulted in not bringing my 750 to the ROC. Due to this and a few other thing I left about 6 hours later than originally planned. I then picked up MJ and drove to Kentucky, where we slept for about 4 hours before continueing on.

     About 1/2 hour North of Nashville on Tuesday morning a motorist signalled us that we had a problem with the trailer, so we pulled over to find that ANOTHER wheel had come off of the trailer (ripping the studs out of the drum). But this time I new I hadn't hit anything that would have caused that. We then limped the trailer to Nashville where we spent the next 7 hours (and 60 miles of running around) trying to find a spare, new studs, and lug nuts. At this point we found out that the trailer manufacturer (Cargomate) had installed the wrong drums on my trailer and the entire weight of the trailer was being supported by the lugs, not the center hole like it should be! We then got under way again early Tuesday evening, arriving in Daytona 20 minutes before registration opened at 8am Wednesday morning. At this point I had about 11 hours of sleep total across 4 nights, and an attitude that was far from positive.

     I decided not to even go out on the track on Thursday, then went out for practice on Friday morning and found myself 10 seconds a lap slower than the last time I had been there on my old 750! Finding it difficult to stay awake and focus at this point I decided it would be safest to not race on Friday. Saturday I bought new tires and went out for my ULSS race on my '99 GSXR 600. I was gridded Row 1 B, and had no one else on the front row with me! After doing an unintentional wheelie almost all the way to turn 1 I quickly found out just how slow I am on that bike, watching as people blew by me like I wasn't moving. Definately lost all ambition as I watched everyone effortlessly run away from me, all while I was trying to wrap the throttle around twice. I was so pissed off after that, so I said screw it and decided not to be in the way of everyone else and didn't race my other 2 races.

     We left Daytona at 6pm on Saturday and drove to Atlanta where we slept for about 5 hours (We almost rolled the truck and trailer before we got that far, but you'll have to ask MJ about that! :o ;)). We then drove to Nashville, where we were commenting about how much time we had wasted there on the way down, when the rear drivers side tire EXPLODED and dropped the rear of the truck down to the point that the bottom of the dropdown hitch was dragging on the ground! We made it off the interstate, changed the tire, and got under way again. We finished the trip without problem after that, dropping off MJ in Chicago around 9pm.

     My ROC experience this year was like my overall racing experience this year, just wanted it to be over with and done!

[Super Dave]

At this point we found out that the trailer manufacturer (Cargomate) had installed the wrong drums on my trailer and the entire weight of the trailer was being supported by the lugs, not the center hole like it should be!

Ok, trailer manufacturers don't build axles.  They get them from Dexter or whom ever.  Cargomate isn't going to waste time putting on hubs on an axle.

Wheels, however, are made in two ways:  hub-centric, the wheel centers itself on the hub at the center; or lug-centric, the wheel centers itself on the hub with the lugs.  All the trailers I've seen, they have lug centric wheels.  So, whoever told you that, I think they're really, really wrong.

Still was looking for you guys to call.  Could have given you a motivational speech....

 ;D

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

.

Wheels, however, are made in two ways:  hub-centric, the wheel centers itself on the hub at the center; or lug-centric, the wheel centers itself on the hub with the lugs.  All the trailers I've seen, they have lug centric wheels.  So, whoever told you that, I think they're really, really wrong.

 ;D

I don't doubt your trailer expertise Dave, but with the unbelievable, almost impossibly bad luck Mike has had with wheels on this trailer, something is definitly WAY WRONG with his rig.  Perhaps you could guide him to someone "in the know" who could properly diagnose his problem.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

Ok, trailer manufacturers don't build axles.  They get them from Dexter or whom ever.  Cargomate isn't going to waste time putting on hubs on an axle.

Wheels, however, are made in two ways:  hub-centric, the wheel centers itself on the hub at the center; or lug-centric, the wheel centers itself on the hub with the lugs.  All the trailers I've seen, they have lug centric wheels.  So, whoever told you that, I think they're really, really wrong.

Still was looking for you guys to call.  Could have given you a motivational speech.... ;D

     Dave, I worded my complaint about my trailer wrong (I was almost asleep). The person who told me this was a service tech at a Semi truck and trailer repair facility. He said he has seen this before, but it's usually the result of someone changing to a different type of wheel from what originally came on the trailer and not paying attention to this detail. He said most likely someone grabbed the wrong wheels when they assembled the trailer, only looking at the wheel design and bolt pattern, not the fact that there is an obvious shoulder on the center of the hub designed to carry the load. This is what he told me and it sounded very logical and convincing to me.

     If it was just me transporting my own stuff and driving I wouldn't be as concerned, but MJ was with me and I was carrying his race bike and street bike along with Tom Short and Benji's bikes and equipment also. But on the other hand even if I was alone I still don't know where those wheels ended up on their 70 MPH ghost ride, hopefully no one was injured!

          I personally don't know what is correct for this hub design, but after loosing 2 different wheels (1 for no obvious reason, and the other assumed to be from hitting a pothole) I am very concerned and angry at the same time! I am very open to any suggestion as to what anyone might think may be causing this. When I ordered this trailer I paid for the heaviest axles I could get ( I believe they are rated at 6500 lbs. each). The trailer weighs 4400 lbs. empty and I had about 3000 lbs worth of cargo in it. I am planning on selling this trailer, but I don't want to sell it to someone knowing that this will probably continue to happen. If I knew how to fix it before I sold it I would.

     As for motivational encouragement, I think I personally was beyond recovery. I feel bad that I negatively affected MJ's 1st ROC experience due to my problems, hopefully this will not be an issue in the future. I think MJ had a good time and didn't need any motivational boost, just maybe some advice from you after being on the track may have been good for him.

     Sorry for hi-jacking your thread Chris, that was not my intent.  :-/

[tshort]

We then drove to Nashville, where we were commenting about how much time we had wasted there on the way down, when the rear drivers side tire EXPLODED and dropped the rear of the truck down to the point that the bottom of the dropdown hitch was dragging on the ground!
     My ROC experience this year was like my overall racing experience this year, just wanted it to be over with and done!

Awe, man - unbelievable!  :'(  Really sorry to hear that, Mike.  That really is a bad run of luck - on the other hand, you didn't crash (on track or off :))  So that's good.

Thanks, again, for transporting my gear.  I'll give you a call this week and we can work out a pickup date/time.

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

 
     Sorry for hi-jacking your thread Chris, that was not my intent.  :-/

Not even close to a problem! ;D

[Super Dave]

He said most likely someone grabbed the wrong wheels when they assembled the trailer, only looking at the wheel design and bolt pattern, not the fact that there is an obvious shoulder on the center of the hub designed to carry the load. This is what he told me and it sounded very logical and convincing to me. :-/

Again, trailer wheels are lug centric.  As an example, my Merkur XR4Ti had lug centric wheels.  Mustangs use hub centric wheels.  Just different ways of doing it.

I'd bet that you have six lug 15" wheels, but maybe you have different ones.  That would mean 5k# axles.  Either way, if a lug nug is loose, the wheel will wobble.  Eventually, it wears a hole in the wheel and the wheel can come off.  One of the important thing to do with new trailers is to check the lug nuts for tightness.  Regardless, it's mechanical, so anything CAN happen.  You just hope that it doesn't happen to you, right?  Wish things went better for you.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

Again, trailer wheels are lug centric.  As an example, my Merkur XR4Ti had lug centric wheels.  Mustangs use hub centric wheels.  Just different ways of doing it.

I'd bet that you have six lug 15" wheels, but maybe you have different ones.  That would mean 5k# axles.  Either way, if a lug nug is loose, the wheel will wobble.  Eventually, it wears a hole in the wheel and the wheel can come off.  One of the important thing to do with new trailers is to check the lug nuts for tightness.  Regardless, it's mechanical, so anything CAN happen.  You just hope that it doesn't happen to you, right?  Wish things went better for you.

     Your correct, the wheels are Aluminum 6 lug design, but the axle rating is higher than #5000. I know this because I intentionally had Cargomate put the trailer rating on the ID tag at #9900, when I could have had them put the actual rating which was either #12,000 or #13,000, I can't recall. I did this for licensing reasons, trying to avoid going over a #10,000 license for the trailer, which at the time would have put me into a different classification in Illinois which required inspections (I believe that has changed now?).

     As far as the lug nuts being tight, I checked them with a wrench before we left and at fuel stops along the way.

     I personally want to write off this entire year and get on to what is next. There have been so many things both in and outside of racing that have been trying to get me to quit racing, but I don't want to quit, so I just stumbled thru this year just to stay involved. I am going to start out fresh with a new trailer next year and not let this be an issue anymore!