Brembo rotor failure on Cobra R

[JoeJ]

Hey Guys,

Just to let everyone know, I had another failure of the front passenger side rotor at Hallett last weekend. The rotor cracked all around the hat. It did not come completely apart as I noticed some vibration in the brakes and came in early on the next to last session on Saturday.

This is the second failure at Hallett on the same wheel. I had installed new pads and rotors which I received from Brembo and only ran two days at Texas World Speedway and then three days at Hallett. I took the car in to the Ford Dealer this morning and changed out the wheel hubs and rotors on both front wheels. We did not find any problem with the hubs and the pistons in the calipers were fine. I have shipped off the hubs and failed rotor to Ford for analysis.

I am beginning to think that the 18 x 9" wheels, 275/35-18 race rubber, a 3600 lb car, and sharp turns at Hallett is causing a deflection and bending moment on the rotor and fixed caliper. The undercut area on the rotor is extremely thin and that is where the failure is occurring.

It might be time to consider a two piece rotor for tight road courses. I will let you know if Ford comes up with something definitive.

Pictures of the failures are on my web site as follows:

http://communities.msn.com/SVTCobraR/bremborotorfailure.msnw

Regards,

 

[Cobra-R]

Joe,

Do you know of anyone that makes a high quality two piece rotor? I would be game if we put together a group purchase for it. This is just not something that we need to risk on the track no matter what the reason is for the failure.

Brian

 

[JoeJ]

Brembo Rotors

Brian,

Brembo makes a good two piece racing rotor with a floating caliper. They are really expensive. I was quoted approx $750 for each side. I also believe that Wilwood makes a good one. I am not familiar with either. I will try and find out what the other open track guys recommend.

Kevin, do you have any recommendations?

Later,

 

[tommylightning]

Brian do you think these would work?

Cobra R Brakes

 

[kevin]

tommy - are those authentic brake cooling duct oieces for the front of a 00r? if so i couuld use 'em

kevin.#22,#41,#80

 

[tommylightning]

Sean tells me they are the same parts.

 

[kevin]

is that sean hyland? how much, how long to get 'em?

kevin.#22,#41,#80

 

[Dean95CobraR]

Sean is selling them for $395 a pop. His site says that he has them in stock. Take a look here.
http://www.seanhylandmotorsport.com/

 

[kevin]

i'm getting a set. mine are showing wear and cracking in the piece that attaches to the back of the brake.

kevin.#22,#41,#80

 

[tommylightning]

Originally posted by tommylightning
Brian do you think these would work?

Cobra R Brakes

 

[scjmach1]

Alan Chavis is working on a group purchase for the Cobra R brake duct kits from Sean Hyland. He can get them for $355 per set if he can get at least 10 people to go in on it. His e-mail address is [email protected] and I have ordered mine from him. I met him at Hallett last week.
I checked my brakes after reading about the rotor failures but mine look fine. I have Power Slot rotors on my 98 Cobra. They look just like the original rotor design from my car. Not like the 99 and newer cars. I did notice the rotor had rubbed the inside of the top caliper mounting bracket due to the rotor flexing.

 

[kevin]

for those wanting to order the sean kit for $355 (plus shipping) got to the following address:

http://catalog.ftpx.com/viewproduct.cfm?item_id=499544


i've already oredered mine as well.

kevin.#22,#41,#80

 

[Dean95CobraR]

I was planning on ordering a kit till I read that it won't work on the '94-'95 spindles. Bummer!

 

[kevin]

bummer is right. don't you have brake cooling ducts on the 95 already? if so shouldn't someone have replacements?

kevin.#22,#41,#80

 

[Cobra-R]

Kevin,
I can't get that link to work. I get a error 404 message.

Brian

 

[Dean95CobraR]

No, there is not. In fact, they mounted the oil cooler right infront of the drivers side fog light opening so I would have to find a different place to put it so I could run hoses.

 

[tommylightning]

Brian,
I will get them for you. I will call Sean tommorrow and we will get them sent to you. I will check on the price. I would think that me being an SHM dealer I could get them for less than retail. Don't worry about these links since I was the one who brought them to the site. You can get them from the horses mouth.

 

[kevin]

brian - if tommy can get them cheaper than the 355, go for it. otherwise use the email address given by scj ([email protected]) and ask alan about the kit order.

dean - i would definetly figure a way to move the cooler to add brake ducts somehow. cool brakes is a biggie.

kevin.#22,#41,#80

 

[JoeJ]

Crash at Virginia International Raceway

Take a look at the following pictures which was taken at the Virginia International Raceway when a Cobra went off the track. Sure hope it was not due to a Brembo brake failure.

http://www.grand-am.com/grandamcup/news_virginia_crash.html

At least the guy was not hurt. That is the important thing.

Later,

 

[Cobra-R]

That is Damn scary, Joe!! I sure hope you are not right.

Brian