I'm not sure why the GM thread was closed. The second page didn't seem hostile or rude.

In any case, Popeye, you said the Camaro brake repair was a safety issue. I would like to know why you think it was a safety issue.

No yelling, no fighting, just asking.

 

Hey, if Popeye said it's a safety issue, that should be enough.

 

rockville, I think it really all comes down to how the lead weight (iirc) is adhered to the brake caliper. If there is any realistic chance that it can become separated, that would make it a safety issue in my opinion. I can only imagine that since the brakes have the potential to get very hot, that making anything stick to it is going to be a challenge.

 

I can somewhat see the risk of detachment argument. Popeye didn't make that claim so I can't be certain that was his point.

To that I would point out the following.
1. The adhesive may be well up to the job. Certainly GM has access to some very good adhesives. It is very likely that the adhesive chosen will easily last the life of the car.

2. So what happens if it doesn't? Well lets assume the weight detaches. The most likely case is it falls inside of the rim and then is ejected just as rocks that get inside the rim are ejected. Seriously, cars have driven down gravel roads for years and I can say from personal experience rocks can end up in and around the hub. It's a non-issue. But what happens if the weights end up on the disc? Well again, the odds of this happening are very remote. If it does happen odds are good that it will be flung back off the disc. If it does stick, an event I suspect is extremely hard to recreate without actually jamming the weight into the disc cooling fins, then the soft lead weight likely gets sheared off the first time it hits the brake rotor. It's not like we are dealing with a hardened metal here.

As I've said every time this topic has come up, I can't see how this negatively impacts the car's safety. To what I think was Popeye's point, it was not a solution to a safety problem, only a NHV problem. The solution looks ugly and I can see why someone would be unhappy that their pretty red calipers have wheel weights on them. However, I can't see any negative safety implication for their use. Finally, this was a short term solution only. GM's stated long term solution is integrating the extra mass into the caliper itself. This is a solution used by several German makes to solve the same problem.

 

I think agree with most of that only I was thinking of it being a safety concern in terms of it being a hot piece of metal getting flung into someone else's car/ face/ etc.

I think this is very unlikley, I'm just saying.

 

For the record, I think this is nothing to get your panties all in a wad over. Aside from looking cheap and being a bandaid fix that should have never had to happen, I don't see what all of the fuss is about.

 

Rockville gets upset if anyone says anything negative about domestic autos.

Dude, this is a site about Japanese cars, specifically the S2000 (in case you didn't notice). If you don't like it when someone here says something negative about American cars, stay out of the daidokoro (that's Japanese for kitchen).

There are plenty of sites w/ message boards for domestic cars.

And IBTL.

 

warren, you have forgotten this is CAR TALK, where you talk about....CARS, no matter what the make or model.

 

Warren,

I'm sorry, I was just trying to understand his reasoning. Perhaps you could add some insight? Do you think it's a safety issue? Popeye said it was a safety concern and I wanted to know why.

There is a thread discussing the newest Porsche. I suggest you tell the people in that thread, including me, that it needs to be shut down because it isn't about a Japanese car... unless you count the people who would rather have an EVO than the new Porsche.

Thanks for your interest.

 

Yes, I understand that but the problem is as soon as someone has something to say about American cars that isn't the least bit positive, Rockville jumps in their shit. If HE is offended that someone is saying something negative about them, then HE needs to go to a domestic ONLY site where he can praise domestic cars and trash Asian and European cars all he wants.