Brake Failure at the track ~pics~

**SexOnWheels** · 05-07-2007, 07:55 AM

This past weekend I went for my 2007 racing licence for road racing at RCMP in Calgary, Alberta, Canada!

Here is the track layout:

The road course meets/shares the track and as a result there is a very long straight section which at the best of times tests your balls/brakes. The track was very wet from record rainfall on the previous Thursday and Friday. The licensing track day was Saturday which was very warm so as the day wore on the track was getting dryer and therefore faster.

I have a scanmaster installed in my car so I had it set to the MPH readout and on the front straight I was achieving speeds of almost 170mph!

Needless to say that this track is very hard on brakes as the speeds out of the two straight away sections. So hard on the brakes in fact that one of the rear calliper bolts sheared off while braking into corner one (the super long straight section). The top bolt loosened and the calliper swung out and got lodged inside the rim (11"x17") and caused the wheel to lock up and force the car into a spin. I did bounce out off of the 'candy cane' curb and into the 'drink' (highly saturated grass)!

Wheel lock at speed was unsettling (even bordering scary) so I guess I was lucky/decent enough driver to not flip and keep the damage to a minimum.

Here is a picture of the inside rim damage:

The only other damage was a dent under door from the curb:

So we repaired the damage, changed the rims/tires and I was back on the track in less than an hour. I 'passed' the licensing tests and was cleared for the 2007 racing season!

I don't have any in car video (tech inspection did not like my tether strap) but I had a friend filming from the top of the grandstand so hopefully there will be footage to follow in the next couple of days.

Moral of the story: Bolts do wear out and on major driveline/suspension components should be replaced on a regular maintenance schedule, but That's racing!

Be careful out there boys/girls.

Cliff notes: Experienced brake failure at a road race course, wheel locked up, spun off the track, good times!

**SSwt00SS** · 05-07-2007, 08:36 AM

glad you're ok SOW, and the same for your car as well...

your butthole pucker up?

**SexOnWheels** · 05-07-2007, 08:40 AM

Thanks brother!

I really thought I was going to flip/roll so ya I was all puckered up for sure!

**9t8z28** · 05-07-2007, 09:48 AM

Damn, dude! I wanna see a pic of the whole car! What all do you have done to it?

**Spaz** · 05-07-2007, 10:03 AM

that is some scarey shit bro... i'm glad you're still here with us... how bad are the skid marks in your underwear?

**310stanger** · 05-07-2007, 10:46 AM

wow, sorry that happened dude. You are so lucky you are ok and that your car isnt destroyed. But I can honestly say that with brake caliper bolts properly fastened I've never heard of that happening. The only time I've ever seen that is when the bolts were left loose or missing. Hope you fix the problem alright.

**86 IROC-Z** · 05-07-2007, 10:59 AM

Glad you're alright man, thats one of the last things I would expect to happen... crazy shit happens when racing though

**SexOnWheels** · 05-07-2007, 11:42 AM

I agree that it has to be a rare occurrence for a bolt to reach failure, but I do own the service manual and torque everything down so it is not as if it was too tight or not tight enough.

I think I just need to start replacing some of the critical bolts that are under allot of stress.

@Spaz ~ thank gawd the 'ginch' were not white, heh!

@9t8z28 ~ I will try to get some video footage posted up specifically the crash/spin/lock-up. Anyone recommend Video editing software to edit (and rename) a clip for me to post online?

@310stanger ~ The bolts must be getting old on SOW from constant maintenance and extreme heat cycles from the track which caused the bolt to brake.

@Iroc ~ That is what everyone said at the track and was the catch phrase for the day. That's racing!!!

Now I would like to hit +180mph once I am more comfortable with the track/brakes again. This track is definitely HBB = Horsepower - Brakes - Balls combo!

**Spaz** · 05-07-2007, 11:56 AM

did you have a chase car behind you with a camera?

**SexOnWheels** · 05-07-2007, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by Spaz

did you have a chase car behind you with a camera?

No a buddy was there with his new camera and got over an hour of footage from the grandstand, but he just got it (the video camera) and said that the records in a 'funny' format (uses DVD-ROM) so we need to figure out how to convert it so I can get some footage to post up!

**Spaz** · 05-07-2007, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by SexOnWheels

No a buddy was there with his new camera and got over an hour of footage from the grandstand, but he just got it (the video camera) and said that the records in a 'funny' format (uses DVD-ROM) so we need to figure out how to convert it so I can get some footage to post up!

google!!!

**9t8z28** · 05-07-2007, 03:43 PM

Actually, I was wondering if you have any still pics of your car, not neccessarily a moving pic(video) cause with this F-in dial-up I can not watch vids!

**TheKitchenSink** · 05-07-2007, 03:55 PM

Same thing happened to me, except I was just getting off the highway, on the ramp coming to a stop and it felt like I had a flat, so I get out and look, and my caliper is hanging and only being held on by 1 bolt. Messed up my rim to, got a nice gash it in. Luckily it didn't happen when I was going down the highway though.

**astyles** · 05-07-2007, 04:38 PM

damn! i had the front top bolt back out on my z,but lucky for me it fell off at a stop sign.....lol but it did fuck up my rim and ground off some of the caliper........glad to hear you got out ok

**94z28l** · 05-07-2007, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by SSwt00SS

glad you're ok SOW, and the same for your car as well...

your butthole pucker up?

i'd think itd be the opposite

**INMY01TA** · 05-07-2007, 05:29 PM

Are these bolts torque to yeild?

**ATCharming** · 05-07-2007, 05:45 PM

is it an m6 or a4? if its an m6 did u consider downshifting to slow? (not tryin to sound like a smartass, jw)

**JonB** · 05-07-2007, 06:28 PM

Glad to here your ok I'd say you made out fairly good with the minor damage, stuff could have gotten real ugly at those speeds.

Are you running aftermarket brakes or stockers?

**SexOnWheels** · 05-08-2007, 06:45 AM

@Spaz ~ Found a proggy called AVS tools just having trouble with the crack/keygen!

@9t8z28 ~ Stills I have: http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49298 <---- shameless plug on install guide

@INMY01TA ~ The bolts are torque to spec and I use the green (high heat) lock tight.

@AT ~ Not sure what you are trying to say? Do you mean to suggest that "downshifting to slow" would have done anything considering my wheel was locked up (not turning anymore) which induced a spin? Do you really believe that when you are spinning off the track a downshift will save you?

Here is what the tire looked like after the 'skidmarks' were left:

**ntimid8r** · 05-08-2007, 06:55 AM

Glad to hear you survived!!! Must be a nice and wide race track, that helped. But yeah, you're lucky the car slowed before it hit the water and didn't start flipping.

Do you have a roll cage and 5 point harness in that thing? I don't know how that race group governs safety. Not much you can do when a part breaks on ya. Looks like minimal damage considering it could've got much worse. Still sucks to get damage none the less.