1. Introduction

The seemingly unending debate of outsourcing & offshoring is back on top of America’s “What Matters Most” list. As the proud co-owner of Spidertrax Off-Road, an American company that designs & manufactures its products in-house, it should come of no surprise what side of this debate I sit. My interests however in publishing this article lie not in politics but in engineering ethics, focusing not on “you get what you pay for” but rather “you didn’t get what was advertised”.

Below is a detailed mechanical & material analysis between a Spidertrax JK Wheel Spacer (Domestic) & an “Unnamed Brand”* JK Wheel Spacer (Import). The take away here is not so much one product being superior to another. The issue is with the import wheel spacer being advertised as using 6061-T6, the same high quality material used in our domestic wheel spacer. Although these claims leave the impression that both products are virtually identical, the analysis detailed below tells another story.

*Before moving onto the results, I wanted to clear up any confusion ahead of time regarding the use of “Unnamed Brand”. The conflict in sharing this identity comes from singling out just one manufacture as we have duplicated these same test results from other import wheel spacer manufacturers. So, in an effort in “taking the high road” the import manufacture in this test will remain nameless and be referred to only as “Unnamed Brand”.

2a. Tensile Test (Aluminum Spacer)

Both domestic and import JK wheel spacers are advertised as using “6061-T6” aluminum. As referenced on MatWeb, Aluminum 6061-T6 should provide a minimum Tensile Strength (Yield) of 40,000 psi & a minimum Tensile Strength (Ultimate) of 45,000 psi.

As shown above, our domestic wheel spacer exceeds the minimum requirements for 6061-T6 (as advertised). The import wheel spacer, on the other hand, is off nearly 35% in terms of Tensile Strength for 6061-T6 (not as advertised). What is just as, if not more, concerning is the closeness in value between Yield Strength and Tensile Strength for the import spacer. This closeness in value suggests the material is cast and not billet (also not as advertised).

2b. Chemical Analysis (Aluminum Spacer)

This test confirms that, although there are differences in material composition as shown below, both our domestic wheel spacer & import wheel spacer conform to a 6061 series grade.

There is an important distinction made when combining the results of both the tensile test & chemical analysis though. When combined, the results clearly show our domestic wheel spacer is indeed billet 6061-T6 (as advertised) while the import wheel spacer is cast 6061 (not as advertised).

2c. Hardness (Wheel Stud)

The last test is a cross sectional hardness traverse on the wheel stud (a component which is pressed into the wheel spacer).

The results, as per SAE J429, indicate our domestic wheel stud exceeds Grade 8 specification (as advertised) while the import wheel stud meets Grade 5 specification (not as advertised).

3. Conclusion

As shown in the above analysis our domestic wheel spacers are manufactured from billet 6061-T6 aluminum and run Grade 8 wheel studs as advertised. Although the import wheel spacer is advertised using these same high quality materials, the above analysis proves it is manufactured out of nothing more then cast 6061 running Grade 5 wheel studs. “Buyer Beware” certainly doesn’t capture these outrageous findings.

For reference, you can also download a copy of the complete Domestic & Import metallurgical reports. All testing as detailed in this article was performed by Colorado Metallurgical Services (CMS). Spidertrax Inc. (Spidertrax Off-Road) is not affiliated with or a subsidiary of CMS. 

It has been a wild year for XRRA rock racing. In the past, each XRRA event had two courses where one rock racer would run on each simultaneously.  Even then, the action was intense but the changes made to this year’s format brought rock racing to a whole new level.  New for 2010, each XRRA event brings just one course where two rock racers compete side by side.  Without question, the level of competition & intensity among drivers is beyond anything seen before.

The 2010 season finished this past weekend in Cortez, CO and in the end of 8 brutal rounds of competition, Shannon Campbell proved the master of this new XRRA format. He not only took the 2010 season title but he did so by taking 1st in all 8 rounds of competition, something that has never been done in XRRA history. Derek West, Brian Shirley, & Levi Shirley rounded out 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively for the 2010 season with all 3 rigs powered by Spider 9 axles & components.

In the end, we want to thank all of the XRRA teams who supported Spidertrax throughout the 2010 season. In total, 12 of the 18 rock racers in Cortez were running Spider 9 axles & components which was awesome to see.  For those looking for more XRRA action, we took over 50 videos from last weekends competition and posted all of them online (links below).

2010 XRRA Round 7 Video | 2010 XRRA Round 8 Video

When I bumped into John Gardner, Media Director of Miller Motorsports Park, I couldn’t help but ask “How big is this place?”. He responded with a smile “511 acres. I like telling people we’re 3-1/2 times the size of Disneyland with better rides.” He wasn’t kidding! I’ve gone to countless rock crawling competitions over the past decade and this one is easily among the best.  Put simply, W.E.Rock Round 4 at Miller Motorsports Park was THE rock crawling event of the year.

The battle was fierce all weekend long in both Unlimited & Pro-Mod classes with each team not only working on an event win but shooting for the 2010 Season Title. In the end, Dion Wakefiled & Jesse Haines rained victory by grabbing the Unlimited & Pro-Mod top honors for the weekend (final scores for both classes below).  Although not officially announced until October’s Grand Nationals event, the 2010 Season Title will go to Brent Bradshaw of Unlimited and Troy Bailey of Pro-Mod.

The “2010 W.E.Rock Round 4 | Highlights” video above is a small tribute and testament to the many teams running Spidertrax Spider 9 Axles & Components during this event.  To the many drivers & spotters who support us and what we do here, thank you!

The Grand Nationals, which is rock crawling’s All Star Game, heads back to Miller Motorsports Park on October 1st & 2nd.  We’ll be there again providing live updates via Twitter (http://twitter.com/Spidertrax) and hope you join us in person or online for what promises to be another amazing event.

This is a follow-up to our very popular "Domestic vs. Import Unit Bearings – Bearing Play Comparison" video posted back on October 15, 2009. In that video, we discussed the differences between domestic & import grade unit bearings using Kevin Sacalas’ domestic grade Spidertrax Unit Bearings for our case study.

Since that time, Kevin has now racked on over 2300 miles of extreme desert racing on these same unit bearings with his nearly 5000 lb race vehicle. So how are our unit bearings holding up? Watch the video and see for yourself.

Brad & Roger Lovell, also known as the Lovell Brothers, have done something over the past six years that others have only dreamt about. They’ve taken a passion of theirs, in this case professional rock crawling and rock racing, and turned it into a full time career. This passion fueled by the reality that winning keeps their lights on propelled these brothers on a fast track to success. Although rock crawling and rock racing is still a big part of their lives (both are very active in the 2010 rock crawling & racing season), the need to push and sharpen their skills further remains vital for staying relevant in the ever changing off-road competition world. So, when we got the news that Brad decided to take on short course racing, we were not at all surprised.

At first, it may seem that short course racing is as far from rock racing as underwater basket weaving. After my trip out to Crandon, WI this past weekend to witness Brad’s first short course competition, I can safely say rock racing and short course racing have much more in common then I initially thought. In summary, short course racing takes a dirt track with tight turns/jumps/whoops, puts a dozen or so 900+ horsepower trucks on course, and has them race to the finish. To get an idea of just how fast these guys & girls are racing, check out the quick video below of my standing, arguably to close, on course at the start of one race.

Brad is officially taking on the Traxxas TORC Off-Road Series this year with his brand new Pro Light truck powered by Spider 9 axles & components.  Last weekend was Brad’s first ever short course race and all things considered it went rather well.  The truck is still in one piece (hard to pull off your first time out), our Spider 9 axles performed amazingly, and Brad is one step closer to mastering the art of short course racing.  Although I wouldn’t expect many podium finishes from Brad this year, rest assured he is the kind of driver that will push and push until he’s on top.

I have posted two videos below (Part 1 and Part 2) of Brad’s first race out in Crandon, WI on June 19th.  Although he did race on June 20th as well, he was taken out very early due to a busted tie rod from contact by another vehicle.  Because his time on course was literally about 1 minute I have elected not to post this race online. Brad’s next short course race will be at the Bark River Raceway in Bark River, MI on July 10 & 11th.

2010 Traxxas TORC Round 1 – Brad Lovell (Part 1 of 2)

2010 Traxxas TORC Round 1 – Brad Lovell (Part 2 of 2)