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Works Bell Rapfix II Quick Release - Manufacturing & Safety Testing Information

It is not widely known, but Works Bell actually invented the Ball Lock Quick Release Locking System as seen in the Works Bell Rapfix II.

Works Bell also holds the patent on this system.

If you go to the press release on our website you will see comments from the CEO of Works Bell, Mr. Masato Miyashita on this point.

It reads ...

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"CEO of Works Bell, Mr. Masato Miyashita said of the new business relationship with The Tuners Group ...

"Works Bell has been manufacturing and selling steering hubs since 1971 and we have provided the steering hubs for a lot of Japanese manufacturers and companies.

We developed the 12 Hole PCD steering hub which can be used both for Momo steering wheels and Nardi steering wheels in 1977. Furthermore, we also took the patent for this product.

From then on, we have never failed in technology, quality and durability of our products.

We are the number one manufacturer in Japan today.

We have also received some patents for our other products and we research, develop and innovate on new products every day.

We developed and received the patent on the Quick Release (Rapfix Ball Lock System) in 2001.

We have produced and sold 30,000 Quick Release Rapfix systems to date. "

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HOW THE GENUINE WORKS BELL RAPFIX II IS MANUFACTURED

So lets take a look at what goes into making a genuine Works Bell Rapfix II Quick Release ...

This information has kindly been provided by Works Bell Co Ltd in Japan.

The Works Bell Rapfix II Plug and Socket start out as billets of high strength A5056 alloy.

This high strength A5056 Alloy is then heat treated to H34 standard which increases the yield strength of the metal by 60%, to approach that of Duralumin, widely known as a super strong material.

Works Bell don't stop there though ...

This high strength and heat treated A5056 Alloy is then cold die forged.

Die forging is the same process used in the manufacturer of ultra high grade alloy wheels and is mentioned in our tech article about forging vs casting vs machining.

Here are some diagrams of a metal part (shown in red) being made using open die forging ...

This die forging process process produces a forged blank that is close to the final shape of the Rapfix II. The die forging makes the metal ever more dense, and aligns the grain structure matrix with the forging flow lines.

Here is a diagram of that process ...

Forging aligns the grains of the metal like this ...

Here's a close up photo of the grain structure of a Rapfix after forging. The red lines show the flow of the grain structure after forging.

Here is a photo of the two main parts of a Rapfix II after forging and before machining ...

Next is the machining. Only now is the machining done, and because the grain structure is already aligned with the shape of the part via the cold die forging, the machining does not "cut across" the grain structure like the example shown in our tech article about machining non-forged metals.

The main body of the Rapfix is machined ...

Next an Alumite oxide film is caused to form on the surface of the aluminium and stainless steel by soaking the parts in an electrolytic liquid solution and changing the temperature to produce a surface with superior corrosion and wear properties.

This produces a hard alumite oxide film, that is harder than steel. Alumite performs beautifully on the exterior while reducing any wear from use ...

On the black version of the Rapfix II, Works Bell use a special treatment called hard almite to effect a black sleeve ...

On the Rapfix II the inside sleeve where the socket and plug slide is then treated with a special teflon coating to make it much more difficult to scratch the anodizing ...

So now the Rapfix II is ready for assembly ...

As you can imagine, Works Bell don't scrimp on quality here either. SUS304 stainless steel springs, SUJ ball bearings, and SUS XM7 stainless steel cap screws are used to assemble the Rapfix II.

Not only does using A5056 in the Rapfix II make it even stronger than the Rapfix I, but this also shaved 174g off the weight of the Rapfix II !

And then you have a finished Rapfix II ...

The Works Bell Rapfix II we are giving away in our Works Bell promotion. See www.tunersgroup.com/win.html for details and to enter to win this product

So as you can see, an enormous amount of precision, care and work goes into making every Works Bell Rapfix II Quick Release.

SAFETY STANDARDS AND TESTING

In addition, The Works Bell Rapfix II meets the safety standards set by ASEA (Auto Sports & Special Equipment Association) which is the Japanese equivalent of SEMA.

Works Bell's products have been subjected to a huge number of safety tests, including the following:

• Material Hardness Test
• Material Tensile Test
• JASO C713 Static load bending test on steering wheel
• JASO C713 Static load torsion test on steering wheel
• JASO C713 Static load fatigue bending test on steering wheel
• JASO C713 Static load fatigue torsion test on steering wheel

Test methods for steering wheels including boss kits in Japan are defined by the public JASO standards and JIS Standards.

For the Rapfix, high impact tests beyond what is normally met during accidents are conducted.

So just like Rays Wheels developed their own safety standard for wheels that exceeds the normal Japanese standards, Works Bell test their products to standards above the Japanese safety standards requirements.

Here is a photo of one of the test rigs which was used to put huge loads into a Rapfix II during the safety testing ...

And finite element analysis is also carried out ...

You can learn more about the manufacturing and safety standards of both the Rapfix II and the tilting verison, the Rapfix GTC-R in the Works Bell quality library site ...

If you have a fast connection (the Quality Library is bandwidth heavy), checkout the Quality Library at

http://www.worksbell.co.jp/en/products/night_pager/quality_lib/

WHO USES WORKS BELL'S PRODUCTS ?

Works Bell products are also used extensively in Formula D and D1 in Japan

They are used extensively by Formula D and D1 drivers like:

• Nobushige Kumakubo (Team Orange)
• Kazuhiro Tanaka (Team Orange)
• Naoto Suenaga (Team Orange)
• Drift Samurai Imamura
• Kenji Yamanaka (Team Hankook)
• Toshiki Yoshioka (Team DROO-P)
• Gen Terasaki (G.T WORKS)
• Yoshinori Koguchi (Team I&D)
• Hiroshi Fukuda (Fluke)
• Tetsuya Hibino
• Yukio Matsui
• Michihiro Takatori
• Daigo Saito
• Chikara Mizuhata (HPI)
• Takashi Tanaka (T-DEMAND)
• Tomohito Murayama
• Shinichi Yamada
• Takanari Kato
• Hirotaka Hoshino
• Shirou Deura
• Hisashi Kamimoto
• Kazuya Matsukawa &
• Waki Yoshirou
• in circuit racing by Team Prova, as well as
• Option
• ORC
• Tamon and
• Road&Ster

That's a long list of formidable racers, and top level racing teams, and it just shows the kind of reputation that Works Bell has in Japan.

Mr. Kumakubo the leader of Team Orange (click image to enlarge)

The Works Bell Rapfix II and Works Bell Original Steering Wheel are exactly what JUN Automotive in Japan chose to fit to their mindblowing Mitsubishi Evo X project car so they are exactly the same quick release and steering wheel as JUN uses.

The fact that JUN could fit any quick release and steering wheel in the world, and chose to use Works Bell's products, speaks volumes about the quality of Works Bell's products, and their reputation in Japan. They are simply the very best available.

JUN Mitsubishi Evo X

A photo gallery of various Drift Teams, Drift cars and drivers who use Works Bell's products can be viewed here ...

http://www.worksbell.co.jp/information/support/

created on 2008-10-29 02:11:47 by adamr