ssdeuce

The weather is warming up and I've been thinking of some things to do for PM. I have done 4-6 track days for a few years now and the car has been great. (I know my luck is running out.) I have a 2004 Z06 all stock except for headers and cat-back. It has about 85K on the odomoter. I keep the fluids changed but what are some good things to swap out just for good PM? I'm thinking hubs, driveshaft couplers, caliper rebuild. Any and all advice is appreciated

John Shiels

couplers, suspension bushings, shocks for sure, rebuild calipers is cheap. All depends on how hard you have been punishing it and what type of tires you run. Hubs will usually give you warning just check them all the time for cracks. Add some brake ducting if you run race pads and get the rotors real hot.

VTME13

I would probably do a caliper rebuild w/ SS pistons and SS lines.

John beat me to the brake ducts: That's also a good PM/Upgrade item.

John Shiels

You could go nuts rebuilding everything and then something else will break anyway. Yes SS pistons from DRM are good if you get them hot. Basics are good why dump a ton of money on what if's unless your racing then it is part of the cost of the game. Spend 30 bucks and get your engine oil analyzed that is good preventive maintenance.

johninar

valve springs?

John Shiels

Good one probably about 350 installed

jlutherva

I have an Excel spread sheet that I use as a post/pre HPDE checklist. If your interested, PM me w/ your e-mail address and I'll forward it to you.

Also, another vote for Quantum Cooling Kit. If your driving a 2006-2008 Z, you may want to invest in a 2009 dry sump tank w/ Aviaid baffling, the DRM Bilstein shock offer, and Titanium insulators between the caliper piston and the brake pads ($100 so less than SS pistons).

Jim

TedDBere

Dielectric silicone grease on all the rubber.

jlutherva

What is this and what's it for, heat shielding?

Jim

Bill Dearborn

I would look check the wheel bearings and tie rod ends, flush the power steering fluid and add a larger PS cooler in place of the stock cooling fins. GeeRookie showed me how he did the larger cooler on his C5 and he says it definitely helped. I had 43K with 5K of those being track miles on my 03Z when I sold it. The major maintenance issues I had were PS pump, PS rack, wheel bearings, tie rod ends and brake rotors. Over 6 years the PS stuff was replaced several times. I had a Wilwood BBK on the front so I didn't have any real caliper maitenance issues other than replacing pads. Getting more engine oil cooling will help the engine. Engine wise all I did was change oil once per year and wash it. Never pulled the spark plugs.

With the miles you have I would also check the control arm bushings to make sure they haven't been pushed back. Ball Joints should be checked as well although a lot of people replace them on a periodic basis since you can't check inside the ball area and they sometimes fail there.

Bill

95jersey

What you mean you kept your car relatively stock all those years while doing HPDE, how DARE you...LOL!!!

There is no need for maintenace when can you replace OEM stuff with better faster aftermarket crap...you mean you haven't fallen into the same crack habbit the rest of us have?

I had 3 vette's and practically change 40% of each car by just modding it year after year. The bug has me infected for over a decade. The only thing the same is the pistons, cranshaft, trans and rear (ha).

Seriously, don't got spending a lot of money if you don't have to just for maintenance sake. For example, you wouldn't replace a rotor until it was completely useless and cracked all the way through...we'll don't replace hubs, driveshafts, or even brakes unless they actually fail. Don't get me wrong, keep and eye on them, and look for tell tale signs of immenent failure, but generally I wait till it breaks first (you'd be suprised how much abuse these cars take). Something will eventually break, save your money for when it actually happens.

I have never kept a set of calipers long enough to rebuild them, my last 2 Vette's I bought a BBK for them, but new OEM brakes are cheap to replace as a whole.

My 01 Z06 had 70 track days (many of those days running advanced group and time trials) when I sold it. It is now on it's 3rd or 4th owner and it is still running hard at the track. Those LS6's are just AMAZING...almost bullet proof. I just hope my LS7 is 1/2 as reliable as the LS6 has proven to be.

John Shiels

When your valve springs fail you may be buying a motor.

95jersey

That is why he needs to put a cam in that thing (it comes with the valve springs)...

sothpaw2

How long do the tie rods and ball joints last and how do we check them? I still have to insulate mine. 1 Tie rod end(RF) did get loose last year--replaced.

Bill Dearborn

Mine lasted several years each. In 6 seasons I replaced the front wheel bearings once and the rear wheel bearings twice. Same goes for the tie rods. Fronts once and rears twice. I checked the bearings by putting my hands in the 12 and 6 positions on the tire/wheel and rocking them to see if there was any movement in the hub. Check the rear tie rods the same way but with the hands in the 9 and 3 positions. I had the GMPP zero deductible plan so just took the car to the dealer and told them to replace the items although they caught a couple of them when they were doing the annual NY State inspection. They checked them, agreed with me and replaced them for no cost. I more than paid for the GMPP just in the cost of the 6 wheel bearings.

Bill

Gordy M

While you are doing all of those items you might want to mark your balancer/crank and monitor that from time to time. With all those miles it is easy for the balancer to start to walk on you.

ssdeuce

Good ideas guys thanks for your input. I'm looking at adding an oil cooler right now and rebuild the brake calipers I just don't want to have a weekend ruined by a part failure if I can prevent it. Hope everyone has a great 2011 season.

John Shiels

that all depends on the heat of you rotors. I wasted a set of tie rod ends (OEM) in two days they had some decent play in them because they were not covered when I first started. I guess the plastic in the OEM gets hot and crushes easy leaving you with play.