Aftermarket parts - what works and what is a waste of cash?

[DGatzby]

BUT, like I posted in the former place, I ran all weekend at RA with the same combo of rotors and pads and they look and feel great. I say for a lap time savings of 3-5 seconds you are pounding those things too much and there may be nothing that works. So b4 we recommend that DP rotors (Girodisc brand) along with Hawk DTC-xx pads suck, we better describe what we have been doing.

TD, combine the fantastic speeds produced by a good driver, plus the performance of a Hellcat for attaining speeds others dream of on the straights, then (the bad) the physics of hauling the weight down to a speed to make a corner. That combo may be a recipe for impossible at RA. The only thing I suggest we CAN do is what I did this weekend at RA. Not press the brakes hard into #2, #4, #14, but be more moderate, including unfortunately “lifting” prematurely on these straight runs. Seems of course counter-productive and don’t shoot me for the suggestion. I did it, had a blast and remained very competitive. See ya soon TD! We will have fun on the 23rd. I won’t be afraid of pounding them at BIR as the course is more gentle than RA on the brakes IMO, AND from your reports also.

 

[DGatzby]

Oh yea, my black calipers are beautiful! They matter!

 

[Old Mopar Guy]

Oh yea, my black calipers are beautiful! They matter!

All calipers matter!

 

[DGatzby]

All calipers matter!

Good one.

 

[TrackDay]

Completely understand DGatzby. I just don't have much fun on a road course if I have to tiptoe around a hardware limitation. An A8 Z06 would kill me having to wait on cool downs before I could run hard again.
So far Road America is my only problem road course. I can work with that. DTC80 pads up front and some fans will likely be enough so I can run it reasonably hard and just flip the pads and bleed the brakes after every 2 sessions or so. Have trailer and tools and spare parts will use them.😉

 

[sad]

Oh yea, my black calipers are beautiful! They matter!

I wish mine were black! Questionable quality powder coat plus 700 degree rotors made my red ones all ugly and brownish.

 

[BULL]

Completely understand DGatzby. I just don't have much fun on a road course if I have to tiptoe around a hardware limitation. An A8 Z06 would kill me having to wait on cool downs before I could run hard again.
So far Road America is my only problem road course. I can work with that. DTC80 pads up front and some fans will likely be enough so I can run it reasonably hard and just flip the pads and bleed the brakes after every 2 sessions or so. Have trailer and tools and spare parts will use them.😉

Did you dig into the boots and seals yet?

 

[Hickster]

Calipers do matter. Had mine painted in the factory to Tenn orange then at $950. Tenn had a bad year so I had them repainted red to go with the red and black engine, rear lights, and made red and black the colors. Fixin to have the ceramic coating done and will have the calipers sealed. Alot of road dirt gets stuck in those areas.

 

[fumanchu182]

A mother fucking drive shaft, ask me how I fucking know...

 

[TrackDay]

Did you dig into the boots and seals yet?

The dust boots are dry and crusty but no other damage is noticeable. No leaks. I'll check piston movement this week when I install the pads after putting on temp paint.
The 70 rear pads and titanium shims arrived for the rear brakes too today so I'm ready to start putting it back together.
I'll be using Endless 650 fluid this time since it is rumored to have a firmer pedal than SRF and the high wet boiling point of SRF is less useful to me now.
I could run 60 pads at Brainerd and be fine but I want to use Brainerd as a test case for my next Road America trip.

 

[DGatzby]

Let’s get this info into the correct place. Looks like my first post to the thread in February was about the front sway bar and it’s pieces. Simple little upgrade, huh? I will say the larger 1.75” front bar seems very effective at reducing body lean. That much; okay.

Now some installation and maintenance items....

First, the bushing assembly supplied by BMR and pictured previously due to the need to purchase different fasteners is the subject of the first post. A given, their supplied bolts are too short IMO.

Second - maintenance. It has been about three months and about 1000 miles since install. We can say it had nearly ONE total day of road racing. The car developed severe sounding pops coming from the area of the sway bar mount. The bushings DO NOT come from BMR with any heat protection pieces similar to what FCA provides for the OEM bar. Therefore the bushings sit very near the Cats, which we all know get very HOT! At Road America during the first afternoon of sessions, I began to hear noises. Loud pops generally consistent with more aggressive turns. The pops got worse, and worse and more numerous and more easy to make happen. As many of you know this was a problem I had to chase during the sessions in WI and when we returned home. Finally found it yesterday. I needed to pull off the bar, clean the bushings of all grease and a small amount of debris. Then grease again with clear silicone type grease, then tighten each of the four bolts to 44 ft-lb as per BMR. With this BMR bar anyway, looks like prior to any major event, I will be pulling the bar and changing the grease.

Another set of aftermarket non-capability discovered Saturday. Use of Razors Edge or SX adjustable front sway bar links with this bar. The bar has such a thick tongue for mounting, it will require you to purchase different LONGER bolts to fasten the adjustable links to the BMR large bar. SX and Speedlogix links have M14 cap bolts with 12.9 class rating, and an oval lock nut. You need at least one inch longer. Good luck procuring those items at your local hardware store. Makes for a PIA morning, if you think you can bolt them up in under an hour but are missing the correct two bottom bolts.

 

[sad]

@DGatzby mine had the exact popping sound you’re describing. Ended up being engine cradle. To 135 ft/lb, all quiet again.

 

[DGatzby]

@DGatzby mine had the exact popping sound you’re describing. Ended up being engine cradle. To 135 ft/lb, all quiet again.

On the Vette or the HC? I did look close at the rear two cradle bolts up front, they were TIGHT, so I went for the KISS item first and did the sway bar. I got lucky.

 

[sad]

On the Vette or the HC? I did look close at the rear two cradle bolts up front, they were TIGHT, so I went for the KISS item first and did the sway bar. I got lucky.

Was on the Hellcat. And kept noticing it in turn 9. The “Bitch”. Uphill, right-hander, and off camber.

 

[DGatzby]

Was on the Hellcat. And kept noticing it in turn 9. The “Bitch”. Uphill, right-hander, and off camber.

Yes, no doubt the most easy to really crank a turn/maybe even a drift!

 

[TrackDay]

As a comparison the Hotchkiss front bar is not adjustable but it puts the bushings in the factory cup and has been maintenance free for over a year.

 

[DGatzby]

As a comparison the Hotchkiss front bar is not adjustable but it puts the bushings in the factory cup and has been maintenance free for over a year.

As you know, I have now posted up about three or four things I don’t like about the BMR product. In retrospect, I would get the Hotchkiss.
1. Had to purchase different bolts to mount it.
2. Had to purchase different bolts to mount the adjustable Razors Edge links. That sucked yesterday. Had to find M14 12.8 rating about 75-80mm long. Had to settle for 10.9’s for now. Frattalones’ Ace Hardware! Another Italian success story.
3. It has no heat protection.
4. It needs removed and greased for maintenance several times per year.

Actually, I can’t feel any difference between the OEM links on the softest hole and the solid helm joint link in the “more stiff” hole. That adjustable crap may be a gimmick. I agree, I was damn impressed the OEM links survive just fine.

 

[fubar569]

I don't recall seeing what brand your rear end links were that interfered with the AAD arms and what solution you came up with?

It's for science. Or me. Since I want the AAD but need shorter links for radials on 17's.

 

[DGatzby]

Folks, we are back on alignments. I am calling out for help and input to even the drag strip people. I have all of the adjustable AAD arms in place. Yesterday, we finished up adding the AAD adj. toe arms in the rear in place of the former BMR arms I had. Truth be told, I am about convinced that the flat rear alignment that you strip runners use may be also appropriate for at least my unit with the very wide substantial rear rubber I run. Increasing negative camber does not seem to matter to a 13” -14” wide tire in a rear end with very good aftermarket bushings throughout.

So we have it on an alignment rack. They tell me just the slop in the bolt on the spindle causes substantial changes in toe! I can tell everyone, a wide tire with too much toe-in is a plan for the rear end moving all over under acceleration. How is everyone else making their final FLAT toe adjustments? Looking at the instruments, or just lining it up with some string, putting in AAD’s recommended ZERO tab and running, or otherwise??

 

[fubar569]

I wish I could help out with the toe adjustments but I'm just getting set straight on camber.

We got all AAD minus the toe rods at the moment and with parker's recommendation for #6 tabs I am at -0.4 left and 0.0 right. I will probably step up to #7's to see the change it makes before going to a #8 or seeing if Parker can spin off a custom 7.5 tab.

Toe is set to -0.05 each L&R and 0.0 thrust angle as a result. This appears to have at least severely minimized the rear end "oscillation" or wobble I had under HARD acceleration. Before measurements were -0.13 and -0.43!!!!

I have not touched the factory settings in the front whatsoever. The toe rods are next.