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BADDASSC6 · 04-02-2009, 09:46 AM

This is not a delayed April fools joke.

I as most of you guys know I was at California speedway racing on hte Roval (road course+ Oval, the ALMS course) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Well this course is hard on cars so I wasn't suprised that the new Hawk HPS pads were completely gone after one day (Autozone Duramaz were better

)). I was running some really strong times (2:00.7) and hitting 165mph on the front straight. The problem came on Sunday morning. About half way during the first session just as I started to make the right had turn into the complex the driver side wheel failed. When I say failed I mean sudden castastrophic failure. the Wheel hoop seperated the center section due to all five spokes breaking about .5" from the center section. the center section remained attached to the car and I drove the car on the brake rotor to a safe zone. The end result is a sracthed up brake rotor, one destroyed plastic fender, some misc. broken plastic pieces. Fortuantely it happened in one of the slowest corners.

The frustrating part is that this is the second time this has happened

. September of 07 I was driving back to SD from Phoenix and felt a vibration. I pulled over and did a quick visual inspection of the car and found that the front passenger rime had three spokes with hairline fractures that went completely through. This time there was no indication of the imminent failure probably because of the increased load on the car.

I have full coverage insurance, but I don't think it would be worth the claim. I will get an estimate and make that decision. The silver linning is that I am now going to get new forged rims and increase the front tire size which will make the car much faster.

If you are running the factory c6 (05-07) GM rim I would perform priotic inspections for cracks.

I will upload some pictures later today.

Vettezuki · 04-02-2009, 10:15 AM

Firs things first, glad to hear your ok. That could have turned out rather worse.

Yeah, you drive your Vette so hard and so often that I guess you're just at that point where OEM components have to be swapped for "Race Bred".

BADDASSC6 · 04-02-2009, 10:26 AM

No doubt, I ride that car hard. I will never deny that. Unfortunately, mine were not the only ones to fail. Some guy with a c5 posted TODAY that his five spoke GM wheel failed on him too. I didn't post my recent event until I saw his thread. This is shitty. I really don't care if I get the fender. I don't think there is even $1k worth of damage and I will not run the factory wheels again. I think that there is a potential safety issue. If the wheel held for another 20sec or failed a minute earlier I would have lost a wheel at 165 mph in the banking and gone straight into the wall. I and my passenger would be gone.

Vettezuki · 04-02-2009, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BADDASSC6

No doubt, I ride that car hard. I will never deny that. Unfortunately, mine were not the only ones to fail. Some guy with a c5 posted TODAY that his five spoke GM wheel failed on him too. I didn't post my recent event until I saw his thread. This is shitty. I really don't care if I get the fender. I don't think there is even $1k worth of damage and I will not run the factory wheels again. I think that there is a potential safety issue. If the wheel held for another 20sec or failed a minute earlier I would have lost a wheel at 165 mph in the banking and gone straight into the wall. I and my passenger would be gone.

It IS a safety issue. Honestly, at those kinds of speeds you really should have a full cage and automatic fire system and should be wearing a firesuit with Hans device. You're not in play time territory any more.

BADDASSC6 · 04-02-2009, 12:00 PM

You are correct. It's a shame too. The ALMS track at cal speedway was the most fun I have ever had behind the wheel of an automobile. It did get loose in hte oval one time

at speed and I lifted every time since

. With that the times the car was putting in were still really really good. I was faster than any other HPDE 3 cars and mid pack with the Time trail cars.

BRUTAL64 · 04-02-2009, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BADDASSC6

You are correct. It's a shame too. The ALMS track at cal speedway was the most fun I have ever had behind the wheel of an automobile. It did get loose in hte oval one time

at speed and I lifted every time since

. With that the times the car was putting in were still really really good. I was faster than any other HPDE 3 cars and mid pack with the Time trail cars.

Damn, that is good.

BADDASSC6 · 04-02-2009, 06:47 PM

Here are some pics of the damage.

SeanPlunk · 04-02-2009, 07:00 PM

Wow, that is really unacceptable. I'm glad you're okay though Carlos. Even though you do drive the car hard there is no reason for that to happen

BADDASSC6 · 04-02-2009, 07:09 PM

I got to tell you guys. Road racing stresses components. Drag racing definately put huge impact loads on parts, but that entire wheel was heat soaked. The center section took a solid twenty minutes to cool down to the point where you could handle it with bare hands. I am going through the car to find some solution.

1) I'm installing spindle ducts to better remove heat from the brakes.
2) I'm going with either corsair or CCW forged rims
3) Changing out the brake fluid again to Motul 600.
4) I will be shopping for a vented hood to help heat evacuation.

Leedom · 04-02-2009, 10:44 PM

Glad to hear you are safe. In some ways I feel like kind of saying shame on you for pushing your car so hard while saying the OEM parts should be better, but the fact is that Vettes are high performance vehicles and should be able to handle the stresses. At the same time with the type of driving you do I think it is time that you take preventative measures like you are talking about. Even doing these things on a car that is not pushed as hard may in some cases be a good thing. I have even thought about cooling ducts for my brakes. Not because I need to but because it might help the components I have last longer and work better. I even give Sean shit about pumping up the HP on his car and not doing the much needed upgrading to the rear suspension that Cobras notoriously need. Not putting you down Sean so relax. A better comparison would be Sean's friend who completely build his cobra motor and did nothing for safety and suspension and that almost cost his potentialy his life. When we mod out our performance vehicles most people do not think about braking, safety and suspension like they should. They think go fast and not go fast and be safe.