What are some common pain points on cars that see track duty?

[The Chairman]

What you are saying makes sense. The slop I noticed must have been the slop in the bearing.

I know that I installed a new nut and the slop in the wheel went away and the car worked fine for 10,000+ miles including track miles and over a year of driving afterwards prior to me selling it. I'm not sure why that is. Something was loose that allowed the wheel to move and when the new nut was installed and torqued it fixed the problem. I had no bearing noises either before or after.

The slop you noticed could have been the half shaft rattling a bit inside the hub. If the nut was lose, the half shaft was likely lose as well. Might sound or feel like a clunk in the drive-line.

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[Hack]

The slop you noticed could have been the half shaft rattling a bit inside the hub. If the nut was lose, the half shaft was likely lose as well. Might sound or feel like a clunk in the drive-line.

I didn't hear noises, but the car was all over the road. You could tell something was loose in the suspension. I assumed it was front, but after checking all four wheels with the car in the air, it was the passenger rear. The nut was loose, so I installed new nuts on both rear axle shafts, which fixed the problem. No other changes.

Edit: and I took it to the dealer first, but their repair guy couldn't find the problem. He probably didn't think that nut could be the cause. I didn't know any better, so I checked it. Plus I knew I reused the nuts that Ford said not to re-use. So that was another reason to check the nut.

 

[bnightstar]

If tracking, most tracks have more right handers than left because clockwise direction. This puts more load into the left rear wheel bearing compared to right for same miles run.

But my local track is anticlockwise and still is left wheel bearing.

 

[ICU812]

But my local track is anticlockwise and still is left wheel bearing.

I wonder if the axle/half shaft nut torque is off spec, or on the low or high side of spec, from factory on that side.
Or how far off the alignment is off, with a driver in the seat over what the alignment look like with no weight in the seat. It might still read in the green, but might end up at the outer limits of spec.
Are the tires wearing the same on both sides?

 

[GTP]

I recently did the RLCA bearing mod, and since I removed the knuckles I decided to replace the axle nuts. Only $5/pair and they come with some sort of special threadlock. The parts guy claimed that the white threadlock is actually a rust preventative, but who knows what's true.

Torque is 100# followed by another 45 degrees. I could only get another 20-30 degrees with my 2' breaker bar. And I broke one bar in removing the right side nut.

Afterwards I marked axle end and nut with a paint pen.

 

[GTP]

Regarding loose hub bearings...

I was in the alignment shop yesterday, and the tech yanked on the rear wheels in both up/down and left/right directions. He noticed movement left/right on the driver side. I told him that our cars are known for weak hub bearings.

We went underneath the car to investigate further. Another tech moved the wheel while we watched for suspension movement. He showed me that the toe link spherical bearing had a little slop in it.

Still hard to believe on a car with only 6k miles, and 5 track days. But I saw the toe link bearing movement with my own eyes.

 

[GTP]

Starter solenoid usually fails due to the the header on the right-side creating high heats temps from track driving. I encourage a DEI Heatshield as a preventive in hopes it extends the life of the starter.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E283QC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also allows you to cut to fitment as well too

Good tip - I'm seeing hot start issues already. Shield ordered.

Get the smallest one, DEI 010384, it fits perfectly. No trimming needed.

 

[bnightstar]

I wonder if the axle/half shaft nut torque is off spec, or on the low or high side of spec, from factory on that side.
Or how far off the alignment is off, with a driver in the seat over what the alignment look like with no weight in the seat. It might still read in the green, but might end up at the outer limits of spec.
Are the tires wearing the same on both sides?

My alignment is -0.25 toe out front +0.25 toe in rear. Other than that is like normal camber -1.4 or so at the back and -2.2 or so at the front. Overall tires are wearing out perfectly minus the actual wear on front right because of anti-clockwise track.

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