Quote:
Originally Posted by southernstar
Charles, once your bearings are sold and installed, surely it should be up to the owner whether he chooses to improve the lubrication of the bearing. Are you really suggesting that increased oiling of the bearing will lead to its failure? I can understand, if not necessarily agree, with your expressed concerns over the effects of DOF upon lubrication elsewhere in the engine, but as regards IMS bearing durability, your comment seems to be nothing more than a scare tactic intended to undermine a competing technology. It would be one thing to say in general terms "we do not recommend the installation of DOF" - we all know and understand that. It is quite another to say that DOF is NOT to be used with any LN Engineering Retrofit kit: that implies that it will cause damage to the bearing (or at least, your bearings). If a customer such as Kirk has chosen to upgrade the bearing AND install DOF based upon his own analysis, so be it. If the bearing subsequently fails, he will have much more to worry about that claiming the cost of your bearing.
In any event, I am beginning to see why TuneRs has tuned out of this discussion. At the very least, seeing as you are implying that DOF will lead to premature IMS bearing failure, don't you think it would be appropriate to give us your reasons?
Brad
|
Actually, I believe that Charles has said that the design of the DOF flange is too thick (see Pedro' s published photos) to correctly obtain nut engagement and torque loading on the LN bearing, which is a
real issue on IMS bearings, OEM or after market. Improper center bolt torque is a common source of IMS retrofit problems. Secondly, there is a real concern about how the oil is being fed to the bearing and how debris free the oil is when it enters the bearing, again regardless of what type bearing it is. Anyone that has disassembled one of these engine's can appreciate this concern.
The DOF system may or may not be a good design; but in lieu of significant test data on a large sample of cars, only the passing time and a large number of installs will tell. Unfortunately, this entire dialog reminds me of another very similar one were a poster that apparently botched the install of an LN retrofit choose to both denigrate LN and shout the praises of another aftermarket retrofit company's system, right up until his engine grenaded from an IMS failure. Opps.........
Rather than taking up sides, I think readers need to be aware of what is available in the market, and if concerned read everything that they can get their hands on about the subject. Generally, there are usually at least two side to every story, sometimes more. Some people, those that are less risk adverse, are going to be "early adopters" of new technology, others may choose to take a more wait and see position; both of which are completely justified. Currently, LN has the market based upon history and a very large base of successfully installed units, they also have the confidence of a large number of shops that do the installs. To be successful, the DOF system has to accomplish the same market penetration and earn that level of confidence. All the internet postings in the universe is not going to change that.