A World Class Racer’s experience with the X-Tracker Hubs

X-Tracker hub is a high-performance hub unit designed by SKF to improve the performance, cornering, and stability characteristics that race and super cars demand. The X-Tracker is a performance-engineered hub unit consisting of a double row angular contact ball bearing arrangement in which the outboard row has a larger diameter and contains more balls than the inboard row.

This asymmetrical arrangement is the core of the X-Tracker design. This unique design increases the bearing load carrying capacity and operational life, while significantly increasing camber stiffness compared to traditional symmetrical hub units. Increased camber stiffness reduces the brake rotor tilt during vehicle cornering. This reduces brake caliper piston knock-back, allowing the driver to brake later, and reducing lap times on the track. The small inner ring is retained with orbital forming which means the bearing will stay in preload under heavier loading, providing a longer service life.

SKF has performance hub designs for the 5th and 6th generation of Corvettes hubs that are available from several SKF Speciality Distributors services for the Corvette Enthusiast Market.