Vibration

[Winterracing]

I just wanted some peoples opinions on a vibration that i had last night.  I went out for 2nd practice and found to have a vibration in the steering wheel and also on the brake pedal.  After searching we found that the plate that holds the steering rack had cracked at the bend.  We quickly had someone weld it so we could make the feature race.  Since we were low on power it was a very cold weld.  I still felt the vibration in the feature.  Today i had someone ground down and reweld that area and after talking to him about it he said there were some air pockets in it due to it being cold.  My main question is, could this plate flexing up and down from being weak cause a vibration in the wheel and in the brake pedal?  I checked the rotors and they aren't warped or anything.  The brake pads do need to be changed, could this cause a vibration? 

Just looking for some ideas of what others think,
Thanks,
Dan
www.winterracing.net

[VMS Motorsports]

It shouldnt cause a vobration in the brake pedal, but could throw up a vibration through the chassis that could be felt in the brake pedal if bad enough

[Winterracing]

It shouldnt cause a vobration in the brake pedal, but could throw up a vibration through the chassis that could be felt in the brake pedal if bad enough

I wasn't sure if it would or not.  But I wonder if having the brake pedal below the steering shaft that maybe it was just vibrating down.

Dan
www.winterracing.net

[Winterracing]

... would have to be a pretty wicked vibration to crack the steering plate.... dang wicked !

Then again, I have seen some cheezy steering plates come from USLC too, over the years

~ G ~

Well its an older chassis (2 bar) and we were at a very rough track last weekend so i'm assuming that cracked that plate and when i went out for first practice it just finished it off and thats when in 2nd practice i felt it vibrating?

Dan
www.winterracing.net

[Winterracing]

Wonder if you had a caliper hanging up. Seen that before where an older caliper with worn pads will have a hardened piston oring and will slightly lock on the track but release before you return to the pits to diagnose...

~ G ~

It could be I know its a lightly breaking track but the calipers right now have about 18 races on them and they haven't been rebuilt yet.  And when i looked at the rotor there was a rough spot on the top of it on the right side (the side that is worn more) I guess i'll try replacing the pads and calipers and see how it goes.

Dan
www.winterracing.net

[Winterracing]

Would be nice if you had some to try off of someone else's car before you bought them, in case you find something else wrong in the process, like a bad master cylinder not releasing one line or a creased brake line not allowing fluid return. Most of the time though those issues leave heat marks on the rotor

~ G ~

Well it works out that i have a set of rebuilt calipers sitting in the trailer right now so its not a big deal for me to try. I replaced the master at the start of the season but its not a bad idea for me to check out the lines to make sure nothing is crimped, or i might be just over thinking this and when the plate broke the chassis was flexing which made the steering box move which gave me the vibration

Dan
www.winterracing.net

[Winterracing]

LOL, could have changed the toe when the plate cracked and was rewelded too... would have to have changed the toe ALOT to get a chatter

Great more issues with my toe  i figured it would have been out but we didn't have time to check it at the track and just looking at it didn't look out all that bad, but thats deffinantly something else i'll check.

Dan
www.winterracing.net 

[Winterracing]

Just another thought, could wheel bearings cause this?  How would be a good way to check that there still good?

Dan
www.winterracing.net

[IraceLegends77]

stupid question? The wheels are tight.........Right. Sometimes it is the little things that bit you in the @$$. But yes it could be a wheel bearing.

Scott

[Winterracing]

stupid question? The wheels are tight.........Right. Sometimes it is the little things that bit you in the @$$. But yes it could be a wheel bearing.

Scott

yup the wheels are tight and torqued i pulled the bearings out of it and they had play in them there just out of a cellica right?

Dan
www.winterracing.net

[VMS Motorsports]

Yes, they are, or I have them for $14.00/set (inner and outer) with free shipping:
http://www.vmsmotorsports.com/apps/webstore/products/show/1772878

[Winterracing]

we fixed the problem, went out in first practice and the thing was vibrating bad and come to find out the drive shaft coupler that attaches to the motor was loose we tightened that up and the problems gone

Dan
www.winterracing.net