Zmanco Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Just my luck, I found these parts when I pulled back into the garage just now and I have a track day tomorrow at 7 am. Actually, I noticed the ball bearings before I pulled out to leave and figured they were from my creaper which has lost bearings before. Turns out the creaper isn't missing any, and when I pulled back into the garage I ran over one of the races. I drove about 10 miles on the errand and didn't notice anything wrong. I've been under the car and can't find anything loose or amiss. I thought it might be from the top of the front struts, but after loosening it enough to pull it down a little, the diameter of the race looks to be larger. These are a little over 1.5" across. Also, how would these fall off without whatever went through the center hole preventing it from falling off the car? Anyway, I'm not real happy about the idea of tracking the car without knowing where this came from and will probably miss the day if I can't figure it out. Any and all suggestion are welcome and encouraged! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I don't think I've seen anything like that on a Z car, but some possibilities might be after market camber plates or T/C rod kits. I think you need to look at the creeper, rolling stool, floor jack, cherrypicker, etc. Unless you find it came off the car, I'd go to the track day and just let the first session be a cautious shakedown run. jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 That's a muffler bearing. Check to see if your muffler is binding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tech9 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Those have to be from your creeper. I doubt non sealed bearings would be on any suspension parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrel Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 It looks like a valve body for the blinker fluid. If it doesn't look familiar to johnc, it might be a subtle reminder that your wife thinks you have been playing with cars too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 That's a muffler bearing. Check to see if your muffler is binding. I was going to ask that no one say "muffler bearings" since I'd already checked them I'll keep looking in the garage at tools... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Well, it's not from the floor jack nor any other tools I've used in the last few days, at least that I can find. I put everything back together and on a local drive cannot find anything abnormal. FWIW, in this picture you can see on the bottom piece where the metal fatigued and that must be how this piece broke free. My wife was suggesting things like window crank mechanism, and while I don't think that's it, I think she's going in the right direction thinking about things that don't carry a lot of load. That bottom piece is very light metal and couldn't carry much load at all. I suppose I'll follow jt1's advice and go to the track and use the first session for a shake down. And yes, Darrel, she thinks I spend too much time on the Z, but there's nothing new in that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrel Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Have you jacked up the car and checked for any loose parts yet? Like was mentioned earlier about a custom T&C set up. Other than that there's isn't anything that looks like that on a stock 240z that I am aware of and I had my suspension completely torn down for new bushings, springs, regrease front strut bearings etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Did a caster fall off the Jack? The races and the bearings look just like my 2.5 ton floor jack bearings and races. Oops NM, looks like you checked the jack. Kids weren't messing around in the garage at all? Wife maybe? Definitely doesn't look like from the Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Thanks for the suggestions. I did jack it up (both ends) and crawled around underneath. So far I can't see anything abnormal. Logic says that it's not from the car, but if you saw the color of the metal and the dirt/grease embedded, you'd think it was indeed from the car. And no one else spends time in that side of the garage except the Z and me. And I wish I had custom camber and/or TC parts, but I don't. Like I said, I'm going to drive it and hopefully it's not anything critical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxsleeper Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 It is a roller from your garage door. Check the joints and rollers along the tracks and I think you will find one missing. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMWHYR0HEN Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 It is a roller from your garage door. Check the joints and rollers along the tracks and I think you will find one missing. Paul took the words straight out of my mouth. That's definatly not a part from the Z. Have fun out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 It is a roller from your garage door. Check the joints and rollers along the tracks and I think you will find one missing. Paul Paul and Myron, how did you guys think of that? Has it happened to you? You nailed it! Many thanks, no need to hold back tomorrow Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrel Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Well then, that is a well used garage door!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxsleeper Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Paul and Myron, how did you guys think of that? Has it happened to you? You nailed it! Many thanks, no need to hold back tomorrow Daniel NO, hasn't happened to me but I have installed several garage doors over the years. Now, How did your track day go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Track day was great! I've finally found a good combination of tire pressures and illumina strut settings that settled the car over bumps yet left it pretty neutral without excessive understeer. Brakes did well too. I have a major heat issue with the engine temps running 220+ though. I need to read up some more on the ducting ideas of others as I'm pretty sure it's an airflow issue (running a 4 core MSA rad that I bought new). I still have the AC condensor and suspect that's part of the problem. I'll start another thread when I'm ready to ask some intelligent (hopefully) questions. I'm ripping some video off the camcorder as I type. If there's anything of interest I'll post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k172/dbailin/2008-07 State Patrol Track Day/?action=view¤t=2laps.flv Here's 2 laps. This track isn't all the interesting as it's used by the State Patrol to train officers. But it's got a few off camber and undulating turns that are more technical than it first appears. And any track is better than no track... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 wish i could of made it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 I'm glad you found out where the stuff came from and made it to the track. Track looks pretty cool to me, and looks like you were getting around pretty good. Any other cars in your group? jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Sorry we missed you Ryan, would have been good to have another S30 car there. jt1, it was a Z club event and we had quite a few Z32s, most were tts. There were a bunch of other cars as well including a few newer 911s, a Cayman, a Caterham 7, a full race prepped early 911 (2.7 liter I believe, and very fast!) an LS1 miata and LS2 C5 corvette. The last two were really drag cars (both had automatics with stall speeds >3000 rpm), but gave it a good shot. I'm sure I forgot a few cars. I was quite happy with things (except for the engine temps). The car and I were very much in sync and the little changes I've made have netted the affects I wanted. I think I'm mostly at the point where most improvements are going to come from small changes/adjustments and not from major bolt-ons. All in all a very satisfying day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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