Need emergency advise!!!

[firemanmike]

So today I bring the Cobra in for a 4 wheel alignment. i drive it up onto the rack and drive it off the rack. On the way home I smell what I think is brakes burning, but I'm in traffic and figure it's someone else. When I get home I still smell it so I investigate. I smell it strong from my drivers side rear wheel well. Nothing fron the passenger side. Then I touch the drivers side rear rim and it's boiling hot!!! I know it's not right but just to confirm I feel the passenger side rear rim for heat, and it's fine, not hot at all. I call the alignment place and the guy tells me I drove home with the e brake on, to which I promptly tell him NO, then he says maybe the caliper is hung up. I though that if the guy pinched a brake line (the e brake that is, which I think is cable actuated) that this could have caused the caliper to not release, even though without a doubt I released the e-brake before driving. I jack her up and find that the rear passenger wheel "rocks" with all the lug nuts tight!!! Is there something they could have done to cause this??? The mechanic touched all four rims setting it up for the alignment and definitely would've burned his hands on the rim had I drove in with this problem. I drove the car twice this week, for better then 100 miles with no problems and no brake smell. I just cannot believe that this is a coincidence, that the car was fine when driven off the rack and something broke on my 5 mile trip home. BYW, it was 5 PM when I drove home. No room for any getting on it. I don't think I ever broke 40 MPH on the way home. I need advise quick...there's tow coming and before I start blaming them or being told they did nothing to cause this I need to be educated on what the possible causes are. I am going out to jack up the other side to check it out as well. Did I hurt my DSS L5's? Please help brothers!!!

 

[Volcom8190]

sounds like a stuck caliper or maybe they left a bolt loose after aligning it.

AAA is your best friend, if you have it have the car towed to the alignment shop and make them fix it. your car did not do that until they touched it, so chances are (about 90%) that its something they did.

 

[firemanmike]

So i checked the passenger rear wheel. It does not rock at all. Could this be a bad wheel bearing??? Any thoughts would be appreciated!!!

 

[metaman]

DSS level 5's are the problem. Those things wipe out hub bearings like it is going out of style. That is why they have a bad reputation. If the wheel has play when the lugs are tight then the hub bearings are done. The heat is the metal on metal of the bearings being bad.

 

[firemanmike]

sounds like a stuck caliper or maybe they left a bolt loose after aligning it.

AAA is your best friend, if you have it have the car towed to the alignment shop and make them fix it. your car did not do that until they touched it, so chances are (about 90%) that its something they did.

The caliper is not stuck. When I jacked up the car the wheel turns freely. I also checked the e brake when I got the car off the jack. It works fine, takes a good bit of throttle to move the car with the e-brake on. If I had driven 5 miles with the brake stuck or the e brake on, it wouldn't hold the car from moving.

 

[firemanmike]

DSS level 5's are the problem. Those things wipe out hub bearings like it is going out of style. That is why they have a bad reputation. If the wheel has play when the lugs are tight then the hub bearings are done. The heat is the metal on metal of the bearings being bad.

While this may be true, I find it hard to believe. I've had my Level 5's in for well over 25,000 miles and have had not one problem. If they ate bearings the way you say I'd think I'd have had a problem long ago...but who knows.

 

[firemanmike]

Nobody has any thoughts on this???

 

[turbosaleen347]

The brake sticking can come and go...I would stay with that :shrug:

 

[firemanmike]

The brake sticking can come and go...I would stay with that :shrug:

IT'S NOT THE CALIPER!!! The rim, with the lug nuts tights, rocks in and out, moving the axle behind it. It's got to be a bearing or something else. The question is what could an alignment shop to do cause this???

 

[firemanmike]

Bueller, Bueller....

 

[01cobravortech]

LOL@ the guy telling you that you were driving with the e-brake on.

 

[firemanmike]

Had a great F'N day, had a toothache yesterday and the dentist had to perform an emergency root canal and then went to the shop to drop off the Cobra for the alignment. Today I was in terrible pian and had to go back to the dentist, who had to reopen the temporary filling and do some more work. I had the car towed in this morning before going to the dentist. On the way home I stopped at the shop to check on the car and the concenus, before pulling the rear apart, is it needs a new wheel bearing. Just a great two days with this shit. I cannot believe that they didn't do something to cause this, but I guess I'm going to have to eat this...now I can't remember if the wheel bearing is stock or if it came with the Level 5's. I do remember that the bearing had to be pressed onto the half shaaft but can't remember if they used the stock bearing. Need to find out which and what they're worth so I don't get screwed over on the part cost...Just a great day to be me!!! If anyone knows about the bearing (stock or need to special order from DDS) please let me know.

 

[metaman]

If it makes you feel any better, I have stock half shafts and had to replace my hub bearings at around 80k miles. The bearings they use are the stock bearings. The difference on the way the DSS hubs and the way the stock hubs go together is the press fitting aspect of it.

The stock hubs simply slide into place inside of the bearing in the spindle. Where as the DSS hubs have to be pressed into these bearings. Many, many people have reported ever since the DSS half shafts came out that due to this press fitting that the wheel bearings go out very quickly as compared to with the stock set up.

DSS effectively changed this situation for the better when they changed the design of the hubs they where using when they came out with the Pro Level half shafts.

 

[firemanmike]

So I come to find that I needed a new hub as well as a wheel bearing...and DDS DOESN'T SUPPORT THERE OLDER LEVEL 5'S!!!:nonono::nonono::nonono: Since my buddies shop has her up on a lift and I need to move the repair along, I had to send the half shaft back to DDS to have them do some machining so they could get the new generation hub onto the half shaft.:dw::dw::dw: The old one used a spacer, the new one doesn't. I was really pissed about having to "upgrade", which meant shipping my half shaft overnight UPS to them and theh overnighting it back, so I'm mot screwing my friend out of a lift. All I can say is the guys at DDS were great...they got the part in this morning, did the "upgrade' so the newly designed hub will fit onto the old Level 5 half shaft and shipped it back out, overnight. They really were great as far as the service isl concerned, but not stocking hubs for the previous generation half shafts realy sucked. $250 for the upgrade and new hub, plus all the overnight shiping charges. :fm::fm::fm: Just doesn't seem right they do not stock parts to support their half shafts :bash::bash::bash:...I just hope it goes back together okay and I can get her back on the road.

 

[snakebite72]

i think its time for a solid rear axle...

 

[desert_gypsy]

i think its time for a solid rear axle...

:kaboom:

http://fulltiltboogieracing.com/Videos/CobraIRSknucklerebuild.wmv

Thanks to Bruce @ Full Tilt Boogie Racing for sharing his wealth of knowledge.

 

[ac427cobra]

So I come to find that I needed a new hub as well as a wheel bearing...and DDS DOESN'T SUPPORT THERE OLDER LEVEL 5'S!!!:nonono::nonono::nonono: Since my buddies shop has her up on a lift and I need to move the repair along, I had to send the half shaft back to DDS to have them do some machining so they could get the new generation hub onto the half shaft.:dw::dw::dw: The old one used a spacer, the new one doesn't. I was really pissed about having to "upgrade", which meant shipping my half shaft overnight UPS to them and theh overnighting it back, so I'm mot screwing my friend out of a lift. All I can say is the guys at DDS were great...they got the part in this morning, did the "upgrade' so the newly designed hub will fit onto the old Level 5 half shaft and shipped it back out, overnight. They really were great as far as the service isl concerned, but not stocking hubs for the previous generation half shafts realy sucked. $250 for the upgrade and new hub, plus all the overnight shiping charges. :fm::fm::fm: Just doesn't seem right they do not stock parts to support their half shafts :bash::bash::bash:...I just hope it goes back together okay and I can get her back on the road.

Like I've been telling people for years, L-5 halfshafts are a waste of money and they will cause FAR more problems than they are 'supposed' to eliminate!

FWIW

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[CobraMac]

Just a random question. Why did you decide to go with Level 5's when you aren't even making over 500whp? I'm not trashing you...just legitimately wondering.

 

[firemanmike]

??? With the Nitrous, before my 4lb lower I was at 538 RWHP and 577 LBS of torque. What posts are you reading??? Besides, with slicks, without the gas, I broke two half shafts and haven't broke any since.

 

[firemanmike]

Like I've been telling people for years, L-5 halfshafts are a waste of money and they will cause FAR more problems than they are 'supposed' to eliminate!

FWIW

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

I've not had a single issue with the Level 5's for 25k. This issue may or may not have had something to do with them. At the rate I put miles on her (35K in 8 years; now that I've got the Vette as well, it gets driven less often) it'll take another 10 years at least before I go another 25K in her. If I can dump the clutch with my slicks on and not have to worry about snapping a half shaft for another 10 years, it well worth it to me. And thats if the DDS unit had something to do with the issue I had. I was not happy that DDS didn't have a replacment hub for the half shafts though; if you make what they claim is a pretty indestructable part (at my measly power level according to some oke:oke:oke they ought have continued to provide the hubs that fit it. That was my major beef with DDS. I must say however that the customer service was stellar; they got the shaft in the AM, machined it to fit the new hub, pressed it on and shipped it back the same day. Now that the half shaft was machined to fit their upgraded hub, I'm wondering if it happens again if there's going to be another "upgrade" requiring me to ship them back the half shaft again for further machining!!! Hopefully I won't find out, I still have the original Level 5 half shaft on the passenger side.