Birdcages

[Arrington002]

Wondering if there are much difference in a bearing birdcage and one that is just metal to metal against the axle tube? Our car currently has the metal to metal setup and just wondering if its worth the extra money for the bearing type?Thanks

[Confused?]

Metal to metal is always a bad idea. Friction! Some have bearings(my preference) some have bushings. Either one is way better than what have.

[Lizardracing]

Bushings seem to be the best way to go if you have cast or forged tubes. The bearings require a better fit (machined tubes) to get the most out of them.

I run the BSB bearing type with a reworked 9" axle and spent way to many hours hand fitting them to work well without destroying the bearing with tube distortion. The bushings are much more forgiving to axle tube temperature changes too.

[mod71m]

Yes the bearing birdcages are a huge gain in freeing up the suspension. I did nothing but change my LR birdcage from a teflon lined BSB birdcage to a bearing BSB and i could tell the difference before I even started the race.

There is no way I would run a race car that has birdcages with anything but a bearing type birdcage. Others may have different opinions but that's mine.

[1cln_sdime]

BSB work great and are extremely strong!! Just make sure u measure your axle tube because u can get different id sizes on the bearing and u need to makes sure u get them to slide on nice and free.

[Lizardracing]

brg is way to go. I didn't even know they still sold non brg.

Who builds or sells a cast nine inch is what I would like to know from lizard?

I don't like arguing with antagonist's so I'll clarify just in case I wasn't clear to someone else. I never said anything about cast anything. I was try to convey that axle tubes aren't often very round in comparison to the precision of the bearings tolerance level per the BSB advisors. I hand fitted mine rather than locate a person/shop with a large enough lathe to turn to my desired diameter.

[Lizardracing]

Many Axle tubes are made from 3"x.188 wall DOM tubing. It's found in many inexpensive housings. That tubing has a dimensional tolerance of +.009. Just for clarification because you like deflecting, that means no smaller than 3" no bigger than 3.009 OD and beyond the tolerance for the bearings used in many BC's.

Your right that centerless ground tubes are ideal but that doesn't work with a center housing still attached. Other means such as between centers on a metal lathe only as an example because a lathe large enough would more likely be found locally.