That could have been ugly

[arob]

1995 325is

Wife and I are sharing the car during the Audi Club DE at VIR this past weekend. She's out in her 2nd session on Saturday and pulls in because "the car is making a really bad noise".

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/rtalastas/2012%20Nov%20VIR/E26BC090-CCDE-40C4-BA24-92F02F987794-1515-00000350D20015C1.jpg

Luckily, no damage anywhere else. Advance Auto near Sleep Inn had rotors in stock, so I ran out during lunch to pick them up. Slapped them on, and had an uneventful rest of the weekend.

[roundel]

WOW:shock:

I hope you gave her a huge hug and kiss and thanked her for coming in to see what was up! That fail is like none I have seen before.

[Trak Ratt]

Worst rotor failure I've ever seen!!! Any pre event tech?


Really glad your wife (and car) are ok

[ducatithunder]

wooooah, dodged that bullet. luckily everyone was ok.

[arob]

I almost shit my pants when I saw that. Oh, I owe her big time.

here was no pre-event tech, but I did check when I swapped the track pads / wheels on. Slight fractures, but nothing that would lead to that. :shock:

[HoodPin]

Glad the outcome was good & safe.

Shared cars take a beating. We did it for a while. Things wear twice as fast, and parts get 1/2 the cool down time.

[BlackTalon]

That failure mode is probably the most common one when your pad/ rotor combo leads to the fine network of radial cracks I see in the picture. When I ran Pagid Oranges with Zimmerman rotors I mainly replaced rotors due to rotor wear (i.e., getting too thin), and there were rarely any cracks. A set of front rotors would last me about 15 or so track days.

When I switched to Hawk HT-10s, rotor wear slowed a lot. Now a front pair will last me about 30 track days. But while the less-abrasive compound means longer rotor life, the rotors now develop that fine network of radial cracks. They really are not an issue, at least not until they become one :-) You have to closely inspect the rotor surfaces prior to a track weekend, and during the weekend, to watch for hairline cracks that start to open. Once one opens a little, you really need to change out the rotors.

This is something we look at very closely during the Tech Inspections, and at Grid Tech.

[smdubovsky]

Slight fractures, but nothing that would lead to that. :shock:

Show them the pic of the other rotor. It is also cracked through the vane, just hadn't started to split down into the hat yet.

IMO, those cracks were bad and I would have replaced them before the event. As a new-to-bmw guy you have to learn that they typ have undersized shit brakes compared to porsches. I could only get 2-3 weekends out of rotors on the SpecE30 due to cracking. Once they hit 1/2"-3/4" they rapidly degrade to what you've got.

VIR was hard on cars;) Rob's rotor, banana car ate a rear wheel bearing, Goldie has bad rod knock in his miata, and Jim(fairfax944) lost a fuel pump in his 951. But a fun event.

[Rick K]

Yowsa! Glad K is ok, scary one right there.

[BobNovas]

wow. That's a pad eater, Rob.

[arob]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Extra rotors will definitely be put on the "spares" list for next season.

[BMAN]

:shock::shock::shock:

Glad it was discovered without incident. So how do explain that your wife is harder on brakes then you :p

[HateDCRoads]

Smart woman Rob. Glad you guys are OK.

[CanAm]

Scary - glad it was caught in time!

We have similar fine radial cracks in the PFC floating rotors in the front of the Cayman (with PF08 pads). The rotors are solid, but have dimples. The cracks developed early and don't seem to be growing fast since then, but not a comforting sight and I'm watching them closely. The rotors are at least lasting a lot longer than the stock rotors.

If anyone wants to delve further into the technical side of this sort of thing, the book "Understanding How Components Fail" by Donald Wulpi is really good, and written clearly enough that non-engineers should be able to understand it. Deals with all sorts of metal components, but car parts are included among the examples.

[BlackTalon]

If anyone wants to delve further into the technical side of this sort of thing, the book "Understanding How Components Fail" by Donald Wulpi is really good, and written clearly enough that non-engineers should be able to understand it. Deals with all sorts of metal components, but car parts are included among the examples.Good to know. I'll keep this handy, as I'm sure Irfan will be asking for technical reasons soon...


:lol:

[Trak Ratt]

^ along w/the precentage of failures :lol:

[arob]

:shock::shock::shock:

Glad it was discovered without incident. So how do explain that your wife is harder on brakes then you :p

She just brakes more than I do. ;)

[Der ABT]

That is freaking lucky it didnt throw metal on the lap back sheesh not sure ive ever seen a rotor like that on a car that didnt loose a wheel.

Still cant believe no one else caught this in the pic.
THOSE POOR POOR EMPTY COOZIEs.....wth man after a near miss like that there shuold be a mountain of cans next to those.

[joep]

Still cant believe no one else caught this in the pic.
THOSE POOR POOR EMPTY COOZIEs.....wth man after a near miss like that there shuold be a mountain of cans next to those.

The coozies were unnecessary, or did you miss the flask just behind them?

[Der ABT]

Liquor then beer, so they shoudl still have beer in them.

[Vicegrip]

^ along w/the precentage of failures :lol:
Rotors are a wear item. Failure rate is 100%. The trick is to replace before failure.

[John Clay]

I doubt really a wear item on the 912.

[Vicegrip]

I doubt really a wear item on a 944.Good point. :lol:

Fixed.

[arob]

THOSE POOR POOR EMPTY COOZIEs.....wth man after a near miss like that there shuold be a mountain of cans next to those.

The coozies were unnecessary, or did you miss the flask just behind them?

The rotor incident happened Saturday just before lunch.

This was taken Sunday morning.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/rtalastas/2012%20Nov%20VIR/6A6632A0-1E29-4A07-9128-D5B813697737-1515-00000332D1A2F056.jpg

[HateDCRoads]

The rotor incident happened Saturday just before lunch.

This was taken Sunday morning.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/rtalastas/2012%20Nov%20VIR/6A6632A0-1E29-4A07-9128-D5B813697737-1515-00000332D1A2F056.jpg

Good taste Rob

[onboost]

I almost shit my pants when I saw that. :shock:

I almost did the same think when I saw Trak Ratt's Avatar! David, can ya get me her phone #?


Oh sorry, off topic!

[BlackTalon]

Geeze Rob, only one bottle, and a small one at that?!? Who were you at the track with last weekend, the Kia Club?!? :lol:

[Trak Ratt]

Geeze Rob, only one bottle, and a small one at that?!? Who were you at the track with last weekend, the Kia Club?!? :lol:
X2, put he's young(ish) so maybe we can learn him the meaning of conspicuous consumption!

[Fairfax 944]

The rotor incident happened Saturday just before lunch.

This was taken Sunday morning.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/rtalastas/2012%20Nov%20VIR/6A6632A0-1E29-4A07-9128-D5B813697737-1515-00000332D1A2F056.jpg

It's hard to believe but 750ml of Bombay Sapphire Gin = 12 ton Harbor Freight Press. [Thank you, Brian]