Over the past 20 years, Caterpillar have continued to develop and modify the design of rear wheel hubs on the entire product line of their off-highway trucks.
From Caterpillar 777, right through to 793-sized machines, there are 3 significantly different wheel hub styles featured:
- The solid-fabricated wrapper-band type,
- the porthole, cast-style type and
- the cast paddle-type hub.
These three designs each have their own unique variations which have pros and cons for different operating environments and conditions.
Wrapper band type
The initial wrapper band type design lasted for many years, and was the industry standard fabricated wheel group. This style featuring cast ends attached by a fabricated wrapper band, joined to the two casts and joined horizontally with a singular weld.
Cracking became evident in the welded areas after many years of use, which paved the way for the development of the full cast style wheel hub.
The solid-fabricated wrapper band type.
Porthole style
The porthole style design was developed as a full casted wheel hub to prevent cracking, having no welded areas across the surface, which prevented the cracking experienced in the previous design.
While this design was an improvement on the wrapper-band type, the holes in the design opened it up to ongoing maintenance issues within certain operating environments.
The porthole, cast-style type.
Paddle style
The paddle style rear wheel hub was developed as a full casting, allowing for greater heat dissipation but without trapping the elements which caused heating and premature bearing failure across the previous designs.
The cast paddle-type hub.
With so many interchangeability options available for the application of rear wheel hubs across the Caterpillar off highway truck range, we’ve developed a handy chart to outline suitability in relation to truck models and component type, available for download here.
DGI specialises in sourcing and distributing Caterpillar off highway truck components internationally. We are consistently identifying ways to minimise operating costs and maximise the output of our clients’ mining and construction machinery fleets.
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