Stage8 Marks 20 Years of Zero Failures
Stage8 Marks 20 Years of Zero Failures
John Wolz
Stage 8 Locking Fasteners Inc. is marking 20 years and 10 million installations of zero failures of its retainer designed to act like a wrench to lock bolts in critical applications. The patented GrooveLok fastener locking system acts like a wrench locked onto a bolt head. The locking retainer is braced against a nearby abutment.
On the racetrack, engineers search for answers to the extreme conditions racing puts on machinery, such as the fasteners used to hold the hub bushing on the rear end assembly of a 7,000 HP top fuel dragster or funny car. “We had problems with the way our old fasteners were retaining,” says engineer Jeff Capek of racing equipment manufacturer Strange Engineering. In an application to hold the hub bushing on the rear end assembly of a 7,000 HP top fuel dragster or funny car, the hub was moving around under the pressure and flexing on the axle. Engineers tried staking or welding but the fasteners could shear off. “The bushing walks out, and then the hub moves around on the axle . . . a dangerous situation because it causes erratic handling at speeds of over 300 MPH,” Capek pointed out.
“You could wreck a $20,000 rear end assembly, simply because four screws came loose. And, you could loose prize money and ranking or somebody could get hurt.”
Stage8 manufactures products for industrial, mining, construction, manufacturing, automotive, railroad and oilfield drilling assemblies. and is located at 64 Louis St., San Rafael, CA 94901. Tel: 800 843-7836 Fax 415 485-0552. E-mail: info@stage8.com Web: stage8.com �2006 FastenerNews.com
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