daveh

iTrader: (9)

Now that I am in the ever so short California off season, I was wondering what people would recommend for preventative maintenance for a heavily driven track car. So far I have done the following:

Replaced front hubs/bearing assembly
Rebuilt brake calipers
fluid changes (oil, diff, tranny, power steering)
Lube sway bar bushings

edit: added 12/4
Cleaned pop charger and cleaned MAF sensor
coolant done 10k ago at 30K service
Fuel injector cleaned at 30k service

Is there anything I'm missing? My shocks still feel ok and will easily go another season without freshening up. What tends to break on our cars from heavy track use? Should I do the rear hubs as well?

03Z33

iTrader: (49)

my to do list includes what you've already done plus:

wheel studs (probably came new with hubs?)
engine/trans mounts/rear subframe bushes (check for wear and torque, replace if necessary)
spray exhaust bolts with anti-seize and re-torque
flush coolant
clean MAF and intake piping/manifold
empty out catch cans (oil, diff fluid, etc..)
alignment
replace brake rotors and lines
flush clutch fluid and replace line (maybe slave cyl. and throw out bearing too)

commasense

Heh. I now know that I should have done that before the end of my fourth year with the car!

daveh

iTrader: (9)

Wow you're lucky nothing terribly bad happened to you.

commasense

Yes, very lucky. I was out on SPR and started getting a strange rumble and noise in the turns, so I slowed down and came in. By the time I came to a stop in the paddock, the sound was constant. I think it had probably started to separate on track and had pretty much finished by the time I stopped. Basically the only thing holding the wheel on the car was the rotor slotted into the caliper. The caliper got a few nicks, and the rotor is scored, but there seems to be no other damage to the car.

If it had just come apart suddenly in a hard turn, it could have been pretty ugly.

Lesson 1: if your car starts doing something funny on the track, slow down and come in. Better to lose a couple of laps than the whole car (or worse!).

Lesson 2: check those hubs and bearings before every track day!

betamotorsports

iTrader: (1)

My general list:

Front

R&R control arms and inspect for cracks.
R&R hubs and inspect for cracks.
R&R rotor hats and inspect for cracks.
R&R shocks and test on shock dyno.
R&R calipers and inpsect for damage - rebuild or replace as needed.
R&R rotors.
R&R wheels and inspect for damage/cracks with the tires off.

Inspect/Replace (I/R) all wheel bearings and seals.
I/R all ball joints.
I/R tie rod ends.
I/R steering rack mounts/bushings.
I/R steering shaft mounts/joints.
I/R shock mount bushings/monoballs.
I/R spring perches.
I/R ARB mounts/monoballs/end links.
I/R subframe.
I/R all suspension mounting points on the chassis.
I/R undertrays.
R&R wheels and inspect for damage/cracks with the tires off.

Rear

R&R exhaust system replacing gaskets/clamps as needed.
R&R control arms and inspect for cracks.
R&R hubs and inspect for cracks.
R&R rotor hats and inspect for cracks.
R&R shocks and test on shock dyno.
R&R calipers and inpsect for damage - rebuild or replace as needed.
R&R rotors.

Inspect/Replace (I/R) all wheel bearings and seals.
I/R all ball joints.
I/R shock mount bushings/monoballs.
I/R spring perches.
I/R ARB mounts/monoballs/end links.
I/R CV shafts.
I/R subframe.
I/R all suspension mounting points on the chassis.
I/R undertrays.

Interior

I/R harnesses.
I/R seats and seat mounting.
I/R fire extinguisher or fire system.
I/R kill switch.
I/R door latching mechanism.

Overall

Complete undercar nut and bolt check - put a wrench on every nut and bolt underneatht the car and mark it when you're sure its tightened properly.

Replace all fluids and have fluids removed inspected.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

Wow, thanks for the complete list!

commasense

daveh: did you replace the hub/bearing yourself, and if so, what is involved? The official service manual doesn't have a procedure, so I didn't know if I needed special tools or if it would be reasonably simple to do myself (out in the parking lot: I don't have a garage). Is there anything tricky about it?

The dealership is replacing the one that broke, and will give me an estimate for doing the remaining three. But if I can do them myself, I might prefer to save the dough I'd spend on the dealer's labor charges for other mods to the suspension. (I've already paid $300 just getting the car from the track to the shop!)

daveh

iTrader: (9)

I sent you a pm. Not sure what is involved in the installation since I had my local shop do mine.

betamotorsports

iTrader: (1)

That hub failure is really strange looking... almost as if it failed at a series of welds. Does anyone know of the hubs are built up parts as oppsed to machined from one peice? That seems unlikely, but the failure looks like fatigue failure along a weld.

BTW... the year end maintenance list is far from comprehensive. I have much more comprehensive lists for a 240Z, a E36 chassis BMW, and a Viper GTS Coupe, but they are in hardcopy. One of these days I'll type the lists into Ecxcel. FYI... Its about 96 hours of work to go through the "big" list at the end of the season.

krazE

iTrader: (1)

this is some expensive sh*t to get into!!!

commasense

No, I think it is a cast piece. There are no welds. And now that I've seen the right side hub, there were no signs of cracks on that side. It's far from clear to me why it failed as it did. I'm sure that other Z owners have worked their cars at least as hard as I have. The mechanic at the dealership said he had never seen anything like it.

I plan to get in touch with Nissan to let them know about it.

Sure. We're all millionaires. Aren't you?

Eagle1

iTrader: (2)

Not compared to your life.

sfarrah

iTrader: (4)

I saw the same thing happen to a 350Z at Hallett this summmer. The owner said the car had many track days prior to the failure. It was a pretty scary sight to see and I hope it never happens to me! Luckily the wheel stayed in place via the rotor just like you experienced.

merlot350Z

iTrader: (3)

Wow, Betamotorsports thats a pretty comprehensive list. For our race car we change the differential oil before every race weekend and we do that because we have found the diff. temps to be at or near 300 degrees after 30 minutes of track time. And thats with the finned diff cover. We use Red Line Oil exclusively. Other fluids to consider are motor oil everyother race weekend, transmission about every 3rd weekend and power steering fluid every weekend. We dont drain the power steering we just take out as much as possible from the reasavoir. We also use Ford Motor Company HD brake fluid and have used that in various race cars for 10 years and it works great and is cheap and readily available. I guess we need to look a little closer to our hubs. When we ran the camaro we had bearing failure a few times but not to the point where we lost the hub totally.

MoodDude

Sounds like you could use a Differential cooler. I was planning on making one for my car this winter when I replace the LSD. Racerwholesaleparts sells everything you need to make one, pump-cooler-hoses. The vented cover is only good for a few degrees of cooling. After that you need a diff oil cooler.

daveh

iTrader: (9)

Probably would not be legal in T2 to use a diff cooler. I have the same problem but have found royal purple gear oil to run smoother. Nissan Motorsports recommended it to me. I put in some extra limited slip additive to smooth it out (for street driving).
How long are people's drive belts lasting. I think I hear a squeal when I start the car but the belts look ok. I might add that to my list.

knight_white99

iTrader: (5)

I think you mean racerpartswholesale.com

I am also thinking of making one of these for my car for running the Silver State Classic. We are talking about running at around 150mph for more than 30 minutes straight - things get pretty hot.

amolaver

iTrader: (1)

might want to check any new Ford HD fluid you buy. it appears they have reformulated it, and the dry boiling point dropped from 550F to 500F. i've still got a few bottles of the 550, but the last batch i got that nasty surprise... it is clearly printed on the bottles.

as much as it pains (my wallet), i'll probably be using either the motul rbf600, or ATE. ATE is cheaper per unit (oz, liter, whatever), but even a full flush doesn't use a whole can, and i always throw away open but unused fluid. only exception being a flush before a weekend, i'll bring the open can, then toss it if i haven't bled them and used it up. and the rbf has a higher dry boiling point...

ahm

Machupo

iTrader: (6)

this is my daily commute to and from work -- i haven't noticed any issues w/ my Cusco RS (1.5w @ 60%), still have the stock stuff that it was installed with in there