johninar

sorry, I tried the search engine till I"m ready to throw the keyboard in the river. Can anyone point me to a thread on what options are available for the '03 Z06?

Thanks,

John

Jason

Autozone.
Or you can pay twice as much at the dealer, for exactly the same bearing.

ryan0

http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/produc...roducts_id=136

now T1 legal!

BrianCunningham

Wow, intelligence in the SCCA ruling committee

TedDBere

Cone Crusher:

Get some Timken wheel bearing assemblies at your local Autozone/Napa dealer. They come with new studs, but now would be a good time to put some ARP hardenned studs in to avoid cross threading in the future.

Good luck!

johninar

Hey Scott, I quite crushing cones when I stopped AutoXing.... have not hit a single cone at Hallett.

Thanks for the great responses everyone. I just have a world of trouble with the search engine...

greendot

Get those SKF bearings. You won't need a warranty as you won't be replacing them. Numerous vendors here are selling them.

geerookie

just installed a set and used them at Pocono last weekend. I love them. No more pad knock-back,

ghoffman

We have them for $379.99 with standard studs or $419.99 with longer racing studs. We also have a fastener kit that replaces the Torx heads with grade 12.9 (175,000 PSI) 12 point fasteners for the bearings with Nordocks and a new M14 hex nut with Nordlocs for the lower ball joint stud. This is the way to go no matter what bearings you use. In addition, this kit is now compatable with most brands of spindle ducts (LGM etc).



http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/produc...roducts_id=136

fastener kit
http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/produc...roducts_id=115

"Applications: C5 and C6 Corvettes with passive ABS system (non-ZR1) Features: •Will Fit C5, C6 •Interchangeable from Front to Rear •ZR1 Technology •10 Micron Run-out •Increased Durability Same as the other SKF bearings but with longer studs pre installed. SKF manufactures the hub unit for the ultimate track Corvette, the new ZR1, and is offering the same technology to the C5 and C6 owner. The SKF Corvette Racing Hub unit is designed to provide high stiffness during cornering, thereby, reducing piston knock-back and the need to trail brake. It is also designed for durability and to maintain preload at sustained loading of 1.2+g! All this adds up to faster lap times and better driver feedback. If you have upgraded your Corvette’s performance and/or use it in any form of competition, you need these SKF hubs. You gain increased stiffness for better brake performance under high loads, higher preloads, <10micron run-out and much increased durability. Under race and competitive use, you may go an entire season without replacement. And they look cool with their black oxide casing (shown, but with the standard length studs). So improve your Corvette’s handling, brake performance, and hub durability with these new SKF Performance Hubs.

yakisoba

That pretty much sums up your choices:
Timkin or the new hotness from SKF.

imp zog

I would steer clear (pun unintended) of the Timken hub assemblies, they have a very bad weld on the lug stud plate where it joins with the hub, and you will find if you are going hard enough, that you will fracture this weld quite easily. If you are lucky like I was with the two I broke last summer, it will result in a bad vibration and a lot of noise. When you jack up the car, you will find that the affected wheel will rock when you shake it. If you are not lucky, you will lose a wheel completely, as has happened to a number of people now. (Kirk, are you listening out there? Don't worry, the toe of the boot still loves you at the Glen! ;-)

Unfortunately, when I bought a new set of OEM replacements for those crap hubs, they were identical to the Timken's, right down to the manufacturing ink stamps on the hubs, so I'm not holding out a lot of hope for those either because they look to have been made by the same company. Sounds to me like the SKF's are the way to go for track cars, I'll be ordering them if these OEMs break too.

ghoffman

These are not welded, but are machined forgings. Group buy anyone?

TedDBere

OEMs are Timkens...that's why you should get the Timkens and save the money over OEMs. Haven't heard about a weld issue but sounds like you've got some experience with it. Anybody else? I've never had a problem with the Timkens, FWIW.

imp zog

Thanks for the OEM confirmation, I was pretty sure that they were one-in-the-same when I compared them side by side. For the street I don't think anyone will ever have a similar problem with the Timken's, but at the track I would urge everyone to use caution. I'm running 275/40R17 Hoosier R6's on the front (315/35R17 rear) with -2.5 degrees of camber on the track, and I cracked the front driver's side twice last summer, after having just put the Timken's on. I'm very careful to not clip the turtles, so it's not impact related, more just the sheer load that I'm putting on it. The OEMs that came on the car lasted for 6 seasons, and I only replaced them because people were complaining that they were breaking, so I don't know what is up with these Timken hubs.

If they are indeed one forged piece as opposed to a weld, that's even worse because that means that the metal they are forged from is not strong enough. From the way that they fractured so neatly around the base of the plate, it really did look like a weld.

LS6vett

How many would we need to get this going? I would be in for 2 hubs right off the bat.

I had the flange on one of the OEM units crack nearly all the way around the hub this past weekend at a DE at Roebling Road. I gotta tell ya...THAT is really scarey looking. The OEM unit was replaced about 6 monhts ago. I value my safety so no more OEM units for me!!

imp zog

Yup, that's what happened to mine too, twice, but fortunately it stayed on the car both times last season. When I jacked the car up and proceeded to take the front wheel off, the whole thing rocked in my hands. Very scary, which is why I recommend paying the extra money for the race versions from SKF. Almost double the money, but a lot cheaper than replacing the car or human body parts.

GrantB

It sounds like the OE bearings are of better quality than whatever is being put in now? Maybe Timken changed their manufacturing process? Surely the newer Z06 bearings don't fail like this?

I've never had a problem with my original bearings, but my car is light and the grippiest thing I use in the front is a 275 NT01. However, paying another $2k to have a car that can safely be driven on a track is not what I had in mind when I purchased my Corvette.

Jason

If you're using OEM/Timkin bearings you need to be checking them every time the car is in the air. Any wiggle at all it is time to replace it.

jordan@pfadtracing

We offer the SKF units for $380(ea) with OEM studs or $415(ea) with 2 1/2" ARP Studs installed. We include new GM Torx head mounting bolts as they should never be reused. You can find more info HERE. We have them in stock!

Please feel free to give us a call if you have any questions.

LS6vett

If you wait till it wiggles your already too late....the flange has failed. You need to pull the rotor off and do a carfull visual inspection of both the outer and inner sides of the the flange where it meets the hub. On mine the crack was not obvious when looking at the outboard side but the inboard side clearly indicated a problem. Closer inspection of the outside showed a circular hairline crack going roughly 3/4 of the way around the hub. The wheel did not wiggle when I shook it. What happened was that the small part of the flange that had not cracked yet bent slightly which caused the rotor to wobble in the caliper when you gave it a spin. So much so that a certain spot on the rotor actually rubbed on the caliper bracket. Symptoms were a squeak out of the left front wheel when rotor rubbed the bracket and brake peddle went nearly to the floor due to piston knockback. These symptoms appeared suddenly but I'm positive the crack had gradually been getting worse over time.