SkunkWurx Updates

[hamtt]

I get a lot of messages/emails asking me about the progress of new products or when something will be available or requests for products for parts so I thought I would just create a thread on here to keep people updated and where  anyone can ask questions in one place.

I used to post regular updates on products when I was starting out but certain members took issue to the exposure I/my products may be getting so I stopped bothering as I just couldn't be arsed with lengthy emails and responses. However a couple of years in now that the products I have been working on have become fairly common and been way more successful than I anticipated, I'm hoping those members are a bit more open to products being developed for the Atom by someone other than Ariel and accept its a good thing to have choice. If not, I'll keep my posts with regards to my products in this single threads and those members can just ignore this thread.

2016 is an exciting year for me for product development. This is pretty much still a hobby for me on the sideline but pretty much becoming a standalone business. However my focus and primary object is still the same, to give owners the option to buy quality parts at affordable prices and a wider choice. Despite the fluctuations in exchange rates, especially as of late thanks to Brexit, I have managed to keep the prices from increasing. The initial investments are starting to pay off and now that I have established relationships with the manufacturers of my own parts and distributors of stock parts, I'm hoping the rate at which new parts will become available will increase and that I can ramp up production to keep up with demand of existing parts.

Here's a starter for 3....

[hamtt]

New Dual Element front Wing

[img width=624 height=768]http://www.skunkwurx.co/forum/skunkwurx-fw.jpg[/img]

The prototypes are in and testing is being done on them with promising results.

[hamtt]

CF Atom 3/3.5 Front Lamp Covers/Light Upgrades



The carbon covers will be available separately to replace the plastic existing covers  but will also be available as a complete light upgrade for the Atom's with the old tractor lights. Rear lights will follow.

[hamtt]

2-part rigid/semi-floating discs for Alcon brake setup

[img width=778 height=768]http://www.skunkwurx.co/forum/skunkwurx-br2.jpg[/img]

[img width=761 height=768]http://www.skunkwurx.co/forum/skunkwurx-br1.jpg[/img]

These literally are a piece of art! Seems a shame to put them on the car and let them wear down!

Two part discs offer several advantages over standard ones:

1) Weight - The center part (bell) is made of aluminium and the outer (rotor) is made of steel. This allows the disc to be lighter as a single/fixed disc is made fully of steel.

2) Performance -When the rotor (outer secion) is subjected to serious heat it expands. By allowing it to float separately from the mounting face it is free to expand and shrink again at will without being constrained by its mounting. When this expansion takes place it does so in all directions at once and it will not be constrained. If you prevent this from happening in one direction (by fixing it on its mounting face) it has no choice but to warp, so floating_discs are made in two parts to allow the discs to expand and prevent them from warping thus more suited to higher performance applications. The Atom is a light car and this may not be as critical as on a road type car but the discs still do get very hot after a few laps of serious use, and I have come across warped discs on an Atom before so it is not unheard of.

3) Cost - The outer rotor can be replaced when it wears down, so no need to pay for a new bell. The cost of a new rotor is likely to be around £150 each, considerably less than the cost of a full disc.

4) Looks - the look neat!

Being tested as we speak!

[smokin]

Not a fan of wings on an Atom nor the new light setup the factory went for, but count me in for the new rotors when testing complete. There's always a place for aftermarket imho so please keep those options coming.

[PhillipM]

Those rotors are not floating types as far as I can see?
Just having an aluminium centre bell does not make them floating.

[hamtt]

[quote="PhillipM"]
Those rotors are not floating types as far as I can see?
Just having an aluminium centre bell does not make them floating.
[/quote]

These are the semi-floating ones. At the moment we're playing about with a simple 2 part, a semi floating and a fully floating discs. We'll decide on what we'll go ahead with once we've done the testing. The fully floating are very noisy at low speeds and it's quite off putting.

[PhillipM]

I can't even see how they're semi-floating given they're bolted to the centres.

[hamtt]

[quote="PhillipM"]
I can't even see how they're semi-floating given they're bolted to the centres.
[/quote]

The spring loading for the semi floating is between the socket cap screws. The full floating ones are riveted.

[PhillipM]

So you're just leaving the socket caps loose with a spring washer and driving on the shank of the bolts?

[hamtt]

[quote="PhillipM"]
So you're just leaving the socket caps loose with a spring washer and driving on the shank of the bolts?
[/quote]

No its not a simple spring washer. The mechanism hasn't been designed or manufactured by myself. These discs have been made by a very reputable company that provides discs to several OEM's to my specifications so I'm more than confident the assembly and components will be more than up to the job. If you have a look back on the forum of the history of the products I have  done you'll see there's usually extensive testing on parts done and usually several design changes before being released,  this interprets to the extremely positive feedback of the products pretty much unanimously from all the customers so far.

I'm not about to get two bits of metal casted and stick them together with socket caps and spring washers and call it a floating disc.

[PhillipM]

Well yes, Alcon do have a good design history with floating discs - and they use either big sliding bobbins or direct drive bells to do it, neither versions of which you have pictured. And your initial blurb about 2-piece discs being fully floating rotors and the pictures that accompanied that post suggested they were nothing like floating rotors. Which is why I asked.

The discs you have pictured there aren't floating (Unless you leave the bolts loose with a spring washer, then you'll have massive wear issues in the bell) - semi, fully or otherwise.

This is a floating Alcon and the suitable bell design to use them:

[hamtt]

[quote="PhillipM"]
[quote="PhillipM"]
Well yes, Alcon do have a good design history with floating discs - and they use either big sliding bobbins or direct drive bells to do it, neither versions of which you have pictured. And your initial blurb about 2-piece discs being fully floating rotors and the pictures that accompanied that post suggested they were nothing like floating rotors. Which is why I asked.

The discs you have pictured there aren't floating (Unless you leave the bolts loose with a spring washer, then you'll have (massive wear issues in the bell) - semi, fully or otherwise.

This is a floating Alcon and the suitable bell design to use them:

[/quote]

Can you not see why I'm questioning it when you advertise them as floating rotors, give a wrong descrition of what floating rotors are, and then picture some completely non-floating ones?
[/quote]

I'm not advertising these,  I'm merely letting people know of what products are under development.  Yes that may be an alcon design but alcon are contracted by ariel not to make the same size discs for anyone else so these are not made by alcon. Should it get to the point where I do advertise floating discs and you receive fixed ones, by all means I will address your issue then. The pictures I took were quickly taken yesterday as I was leaving work as someone was chasing me up for them, and they're not in line with the sort of pictures I normally have of my products so apologies if the details aren't obviously apparent. Once the deign and testing have been finalise by all means I will point put the mechanisms.

Floating and semi floating allow the same functions and the design differece is more to do with the brake pad contact with the surface of the disc rather than an allowance for thermal expansion.

[hamtt]

With regards to the wear with this type of design, yes that's exactly why I do extensive testing. If wear indeed is an issue then the design will be modified to the type you mentioned. In an ideal world we'd all have the best of everything but for the products I am working on, I have I make them affordable to the majority and the cost element has a direct bearing on the design sometimes.

[PhillipM]

Yes, semi-floating allow radial expansion whereas fully allow lateral movement too in order to keep the discs centred and true in the caliper.

Apologies if that was just a generic picture of a non-floating design for another application, it's just with the explanation of the bell being alloy making them floating (it's not, it's the provision for movement between the bell and the rotor, radially/axially or both), it was sounding a bit fishy. Understandable if it was just a rushed post for someone though.