The issues were addressed in the latest technical video hosted by team owner Brad Jones following the Sandown 500.
Amid significant concerns over the Ford crankshafts after a spate of failures, Jones revealed that the Chevrolet V8 in BJR’s #96 Camaro suffered a crank failure during the pre-Sandown test at Winton.
According to Jones, the less robust nature of the Gen3-spec crankshafts is the genesis of the issues.
“Let me explain a little bit what is going on with crankshafts,” said Jones.
“What used to happen is the crankshafts were made out of Timken billet, and they would machine them up and give us that crankshaft. It cost around $9000 and it lasted 60,000 kays.
“What we run now is a forged crankshaft made from 4340 steel, so it’s not nearly as robust and strong. But it’s cheaper, it’s about $4000 cheaper.
“The old crankshaft would do 60,000 kays, the new one, well, it’s done a season and a half. I don’t know exactly what the kilometres for a year are, but it will be somewhere between eight and 10,000 kays, so a bit of work to be done there.”
Jones also explained that there are ongoing concerns over the thrust bearing weakness that was in the spotlight back in July.
“Thrust bearings are still a problem for us,” he said. “We’ve pulled the engine out of Bryce [Fulllwood’s] car before Bathurst and sent it back to Queensland.
“[Chevrolet engine supplier] Kenny [McNamara] will put a new thrust bearing in it. We were a bit worried about whether it might have blown a head gasket at Sandown as well, so we’re getting that checked.”
Watch the video below.
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