24 replies to this topic

[Jim Boemler]

Mazda Motorports carries them as an assembly, ready to bolt in. Thought I had the numbers for you, but I can't find them -- call, and they'll be able to fix you up.

[Bench Racer]

I have a question to add to this topic. For the race season, I got some fresh front hubs w/bearings, as the 19 year old ones should be replaced

I know that guys buy the rear wheel bearings, and have them pressed in. But I also want to replace my old ratty/rusty rear hubs. For some reason, I am having trouble finding them online together. Do I need to purchase the hub and bearing separately for the rears? Or is there somewhere that sells them put together, like the fronts?

Thanks guys!

This should get you the part numbers & cost.

mazdamotorsports.com

log in

under catalog links select "Stock Parts"

Select your "car year"

Select "Miata"

Select " Chassis Axle Suspension & Steering"

Select "Rear Axle"

(I attempted to paste the complete address, but that didn't work.)

Call Dave Wheeler at Advanced AutoSports for the longer hub studs. 1-608-313-1230

[FTodaro]

The rear hubs can be cleaned up, but are available on line. Try importreplacementparts.com

[Justin Baltrucki]

I have had bad experiences with aftermarket hubs on my VW. I had 2 on track failures at high speeds after 3hrs use on new hubs. One failed under braking in the downhill at limerock and unscrewed the drivers side axle nut so bad the brake rotor was all that held the wheel on. Scary, and expensive to fix the damage to caliper,rotor,spindle etc. I later found out that the heat treatment was sub standard. Overall hardness was very low and there was no induction heat treatment. OEM's induction heat treat the corner radii on the hubs for fatigue life. Many aftermarket companies cut corners here, or do not have good quality control to guarantee proper penetration. I had the metalurgist at work section oem vs the aftermarket ones and it was pretty scary. He is a former timken engineer and spotted the problem right away. This is one of the areas I would never go away from OEM unless made by a bearing manufacturer Timken, FAG, INA etc. Stay away from mystery brands. I just ordered some mazda hubs from mazdaspeed think they were ~$85 each with studs installed. (FYI they were 1.8 large stud hubs eventhough I was shopping for a 1990, I think that's all they sell as repalcements. Since hubs fatigue, and fail very suddenly I would not re-use them unless they are just a few races old, and you can extract them without marring them. I would definitely not ever heat them with a torch as you can easily temper them.

[davew]

Justin, your are comparing apples to oranges. The hubs are visually very similar between the VW and the Miata. Except they are on opposite ends of the car. The Miata rear hubs do not take anywhere near the abuse that the front wheels on a VW does.

You are correct in that you can not buy new 1.6 rear hubs. They have been supercedded by the 1.8 hubs with the larger stud hole.

Dave