What should I be looking for as I inspect my car after a track day? I know I need to keep and eye on the uprights for cracking but that's about it.
Please share you thoughts and experiences of what this amateur should be looking for/at.
When taking off the wheels tonight I had a very hard time removing one of the rear wheels, I did use a graphite spray the last time I installed it. Notice how that wheel is not shiny where the nut contacts the wheel....
There is a lot to stay on top of in between sessions, end of day, and prep for the next event. A good list can be found in the owners manual which is pages 49-50 for the newest version of the SR3 XX.
Brake pads obviously, fluid levels (and don't neglect water), and body parts particularly the front diffuser and rear wing. The front diffuser skid plates get worn and the button head screws that hold the steel diffuser stays get ground down. You can replace the button head screws frequently, or grind off the head when the Allen key won't turn it. Grab ahold of the front diffuser and make sure it is not moving around. If the holes for the stays enlarge, there will be movement which needs to either be repaired or replaced.
There are really too many things to list. As a starting point, I suggest reading the entire owner's manual front to back a couple of times, and then make a goal to learn one area that you are unfamiliar with each week.
Resist the temptation to over-tighten suspension fittings for components like wishbones and rockers that move. Snug, not tight so that these components can move freely. Get a wrench on every nut that you see, or at least get your fingers on them at a bare minimum.
The manual gives maintenance schedules which are reasonable. Some race shops inspect and grease the tripod bearings before every event. I think that is overkill for SR3 but not SR10. I don't mind checking/greasing every 20 hours (for SR3).
I like to change engine and gear oil before every event, and I will remove and inspect the GDU every 20 hours.
I don't have an answer about the wheel nuts, and I don't know what is best to prevent seizing. There is a thread on this topic here on RSR, but lots of different opinions. Some of the teams use WD-40 sparingly, which is not a lubricant but since the pros use it I think it must be worth a try.
I am curious about your 20hr axle tripod grease R&R comment above. My manual says every 10hr, which I have been doing, but seems excessive as grease still in like new condition.
On a side note, I developed and use the attached Excel spreadsheet for reference and trying to keep up with routine maintenance between events. Notice it has 4 tabs at the bottom. The second tab labeled LIST is my quick reminder of things to look over or address each time. May be helpful starting point for some.
I am curious about your 20hr axle tripod grease R&R comment above. My manual says every 10hr, which I have been doing, but seems excessive as grease still in like new condition.
I have the same experience that the grease looks fine after 10 hours. I was going to stretch it to 40 hours, however techs have suggested more frequent checks because the tripod joints should be inspected for damage, particularly if you are attending an expensive race. If any doubt, you would want to replace the axle before a race. Because of this, the race teams inspect the tripods before every event to avoid a mechanical failure at a race. I guess it comes down to personal choice on the frequency. I have not lost an axle yet, so I decided to double the (recommended) time between axle service.
As for wheel/nut questions, it is physically impossible for the tapered shape of the nut to have an exact machined fit to the wheel, so uneven bearing surfaces will show each time they are tightened. With that being said, the use of dry graphite spray was recommended to me from two different dealership race teams and seems to be working well to prevent galling of similar metals. I was cautioned to not to apply every time R&R wheels though, just periodically thru the year.
Yes, you want lube on mating conical bearing surface to prevent galling. I typically put on vinyl glove, hold the nut in that hand and very light spray graphite over conical mating surface which inherently gets some on threads as well, then attach nut to wheel on the car.
@meatman< there are a lot of opinions on this subject and I don’t know that I know the correct answer, but reading the tread on the subject is a good idea.
With that said, one of the inspections that gets done on the wheel nuts is to measure the width of the contact marks on the wheels and the wheel nuts are replaced when the contact band gets too wide. I don’t know what the maximum recommended contact area is.
Yes, you want lube on mating conical bearing surface to prevent galling. I typically put on vinyl glove, hold the nut in that hand and very light spray graphite over conical mating surface which inherently gets some on threads as well, then attach nut to wheel on the car.
@raider89 ... it's definitely NOT physically impossible to get the mating surfaces on the rims/wheel nuts to be identical in how they come together. In fact its fairly straight forward for any decent machine shop to do.
Maybe you meant it is not desirable to have them match exactly - that's true! In fact if they are exactly the same angle then they will have a tendency to work loose every time you are on the track.
As Charley points out elsewhere in this thread, if you keep an eye on the width of the mating surfaces, you will see over time they tend to get wider, and after a certain point they will likely be less reliable and will tend to work loose.
I measured the angle on brand new nuts, and a set of brand new wheels - the "included angle" is approximately 120 degrees, but there is a 1 degree difference between the rims and the wheel nuts. (I think the wheel was 120 degrees from memory, while the wheel nut was 121?) The difference is designed to ensure that the nuts meet the rims surface towards the outside edge of the nuts diameter (ie - it touched there first). That's why we always see this 'galling' happening on that same outer area of the rims/nuts, while the area near the centre of the nut (down by the root of the nut threads) remains untouched.
This picture shows the bottom of my diffuser. Clearly this is not an ideal design to expose fasteners and fiberglass to frequent contact with the ground. On my formula car, we have plywood floors which are inexpensive to replace.
Something to keep an eye on. My diffuser is set at 46mm clearance. Lower causes more rapid wear.
This picture shows the bottom of my diffuser. Clearly this is not an ideal design to expose fasteners and fiberglass to frequent contact with the ground. On my formula car, we have plywood floors which are inexpensive to replace.
Something to keep an eye on. My diffuser is set at 46mm clearance. Lower causes more rapid wear.
My older car doesn't have any bump stops, I've also not bounced the front or rear at my local track. Perhaps I may at other tracks??
@davidf - G'day David, Is the clearance you refer to 'under the centre wear strip' or measured in the outer edges like you have in the picture? Also, are you measuring to the splitter itself (ie to fibreglass surface), or to the underside of the wear strip inserts?
I have only got one small 'scrape' on the left side in the same location as you shown in your picture. I know that was done when I rode over a curb. Do you think your wear is happening by running over curbs?
My RSX set up is as shown in the attached. All measurements made with 'driver ballast' in the car, and with 20 litres of fuel. I use Avon tyres for sprint competition, so they were installed for this event. The ride height to the Hankooks used more commonly is slightly different, but I adjust for that, so my Hankook set-up is identical to this.
Drawing is from above the car looking down, with the splitter at the bottom of the page. Green part is the chassis itself (measurement to underside of aluminium floor)
Nice drawing! I have a wood block that is 46mm thick which I use this to measure height from ground in the places you noted. I measure to the lowest spots. It is not perfect because the ground is not perfect, but good enough to know it is not too low and not far off in any of the four corners of the splitter.
My wear probably comes from hitting gators over and over again at VIR, but also other tracks.
