SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1508148
MAXIMA RACING OILS The Proof Is In The Teardown, Not The Breakdown By Dan Sanchez Modern SCORE Trophy Truck engines make lots of horsepower, but more importantly, these engines need to be reliable through the entire race, or the vehicle won’t make it across the finish line. To showcase the effort it takes to keep a 1000+ horsepower off-road racing engine reliable like the one in Luke McMillin’s SCORE Baja 1000 winning Trophy Truck, we followed along with Maxima Racing Oils during the teardown and inspection of McMillin’s engine with famed engine builder Kevin Kroyer of Kroyer Racing Engines. While this is a normal procedure with any off-road racing engine at the end of a SCORE season, the collaboration of Maxima Oils, Kroyer Racing Engines, and the McMillin team didn’t come overnight. It took 10 years for these three entities to come together and form a relationship that has proven reliable. “In 2015, I knew the McMillin team’s crew chief from when I was off-road racing in a different class,” says Chris Shell of Maxima Oils. “They had issues with another oil they were using and he knew I worked with Maxima. He approached me to try some of the product, and after using it on Dan McMillin’s truck and seeing the results, they switched.” While that seemed easy enough, getting the team’s engine builder Kevin Kroyer to allow them to put Maxima Oil into his racing engines was another matter. “It took a long time to earn Kevin’s trust in the product, but once he saw the results from using Maxima Oils in his engines, he’s onboard.” RESULTS OF THE TEARDOWN Fast forward to the teardown of Luke McMillin’s SCORE Baja 1000 winning engine, Maxima Oils, wanted to see what the vital engine components looked like while using Maxima Oils’ RS1550 racing oil. They sent one of the company’s representatives, Troy Green, to inspect and report on the engine wear during the teardown at Kroyer Racing Engines by Kevin Kroyer. According to Kroyer, engine breakdown in Baja racing is a serious matter, one which he and the team at Kroyer Racing Engines take into account in every off-road racing engine they build. When they tear down an engine after a long race like the SCORE Baja 1000, they expect to see wear from microscopic particles of dirt entering the engine, and some additional wear from the vehicle and drivetrain pounding as they take on a rough course. During this teardown and inspection, both Green and Kroyer first looked at the lower main bearings. “We see some minor picking on those, and it comes from the dirt in the engine,” said Kroyer. “The bearings themselves, however, look great with very minimal wear. The rod bearings show tiny scratches but no wear.” Troy Green looked at the pistons from the engine and noticed they didn’t show signs of burning on the undercrown of the piston, (underneath the piston head). “We don’t have oil squirters going to the underside of the pistons on these engines, so you would think there would be more heat in this area and show more signs of burning, but there is none,” said Kroyer. “The Maxima RS1550 racing oil is very stable under extreme temperatures so we’re not cooking that oil at the bottom of the piston with a ton of cylinder temperatures,” said Green. “On the wrist pins, these came out and showed no galling. The pin bores and rod bushings also showed no wear and there’s none on the pushrod tips.” Getting to the point where teams like McMillin Motorsports and elite engine builders like Kevin Kroyer use your products, comes from a history of proving a product over time. Maxima Oils began in 1979 and has worked with many racing teams in a variety of motorsports to perfect their products. According to the company, they are a race-inspired company from the start and work to formulate, develop, and manufacture high-performance lubricants and ancillary products. In addition to the lubricants used on McMillin Motorsports vehicles, Maxima Racing Oils also has products for moto, powersports, and recreational vehicles that are designed to help make these vehicle’s engines and drivetrains last longer and perform better over time. Sources Maxima Racing Oils https://maximausa.com/ Kroyer Racing Engines https://kroyerracingengines.com/