Davin Scites leads the field...
Davin Scites leads the field at the Bailey's 300 in Martinsville, VA. Tiger Rearends had been working closely with Davin to test out the new RF85 metal treatment.
Every once in a while there's an advancement in technology that changes the face of racing; the production of fiberglass bodies to replace the boxy steel bodies is one that comes to mind. But recently I ran across one that was right in my backyard.
Mooresville, NC-based Tiger Rearends has become well known for developing an extremely durable quick change rearend that can be found in dirt and asphalt cars alike around the country. The durability is a big reason why Late Model teams like JR Motorsports (owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.) are bolting on the Tiger rearend underneath their cars. Recently at the Bailey's 300 in Martinsville, VA, one of the largest pavement Late Model races of the year, Davin Scites, driver for JR Motorsports sat on the pole for the second year in a row. This year, the team broke the track record it set last year with a time of 20.316 at 93.207 mph. Impressive to say the least when you consider 112 cars tried to qualify for a 43 car field. Unfortunately for Davin, a broken sway bar component would relegate him to a 25th place finish.
Davin's rearend has more than...
Davin's rearend has more than 5,000 laps and it looks like it's brand-new.
The Wednesday after that event, I received a phone call from Gerald Williams, the owner of Tiger Rear Ends. He said he had something to show me. He mentioned that he was now applying something called RF85 to his rearends. So, we set an appointment for me to head over to his shop. I'd heard of RF85 because Circle Track's Project Dirt Late Model has "an RF85 rear," but I didn't know a lot about it. As luck would have it, I arrived at Tiger about the same time Davin Scites was dropping off the rearend he had in the car at the Bailey's 300.
"I left the rearend oil in it, I didn't know if you guys wanted to see it or not," said Scites, as Tiger's people started draining the oil out of it. Davin and all of JR Motorsports use Tiger's Synthetic HP Rear End oil, a 100 percent synthetic base with additives that prevent rust, oxidation, and corrosion, as well as an anti-foaming agent.
Like most racers, I've drained plenty of rearend oil, but here's where it started getting a little strange. Instead of pulling the drain plug, they just pulled off the back cover plate from the rearend, and then turned it upside down to let it drain. I thought to myself, This is going to take forever.
No sooner than I had thought it, the oil stopped draining out of the rearend. I leaned over to Davin and asked him, "How much oil do you guys have in this thing?"
The RF85 treatment is so successful...
The RF85 treatment is so successful that Davin and Tiger Rear Ends have discovered that the rearend only needs one quart of rearend oil once the locker has been treated.
"Just a quart," he replied. I looked at the rearend in disbelief.
"So you mean you have one quart in the gear casing and then the front case is full right?" I asked.
"No, we just have one quart in the entire rearend," Davin laughed.
So let's get this right. Davin started on the pole of the Bailey's 300 with a rearend that only had one quart of oil in it. Now they had my attention. Gerald went on to explain that what Tiger has been testing for a couple years now is a new metal treatment called RF85. Unlike a traditional coating like Teflon that sits on top of the metal, RF85 actually treats the metal. RF85 stands for reduced friction 85 percent, which was derived from frictional behavioral test results performed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Tiger has led the RF85 charge into racing to collect data for the domestic automotive market. The technology is derived from cutting tools, medical devices, aerospace, and industrial applications, but the company that produces RF85 firmly believes its true potential lies within domestic car or truck applications where oil needs could be reduced significantly. Imagine running just one quart of oil in the rearend of your F-150.