JohnCarlson

Hey guys, new to the forums here, I bought Zr1 #992 in November of 2018, and for the past few months have been driving it, id say about 3-4 times a week average. I’ve put 3700k miles on it, and mild sprited driving along with 3 15mins secessions with 1 hour gaps between them, on a small track with light driving (first time on track, was just driving to get used to the car no heavy braking). I’ve noticed a lot of brake fade and I’m hearing a loud squeaking when braking. My front pads maybe have 2mm before they hit metal. I talked to service over the phone and they said I need to replace the rotors and pads at the same time, which is a wonderfully terrible $6,700 repair bill. If GM expects its owners to be paying 7k ever 4K miles then that is baffling. Is this consistent with the CCB’s on any other car? And is there a chance that I can file a warranty claim if I do indeed need to replace the rotors. Thank you all very much and I’m open to any and all help, thank you all.



Update: I also want to note that the majority of the cars miles are on the freeway, mostly because I drive the car sometimes to work and then maybe once in a while go around while my Daily driver is being used by my fiance and not to mention I live some 1000 yards from the freeway, and my work is right off an exit. I'd go as far to say its more of a freeway car than a street or track car! hahah. Regardless, I have an appointment with the dealership this Saturday to discuss a warranty solution if the situation permits it. If they hassle me, I have a friend who works in the escalation department for GM who maybe can help me out. I have no problem paying for brake pads, but rotors at 4k miles?? And not to mention they are trying to tell me I need to replace the rotors if I want to get new pads.

keagan

Wow that’s crazy! Hope someone that can help chimes in.

D'ZR1 Messiah

That seems totally premature for a few spirited runs.

JohnCarlson

yeah exactly, that’s what I thought. I’ve never owned a ccb equipped car but yet this seems illogical.

Racingswh

It sounds way, way too cheap. My brakes spend on the ACR-E was 20K annually before I made the move to iron rotors.

JohnCarlson

wow okay, that’s a lot. I don’t doubt the price, though, this was just for parts and for only front rotors not including pads or installation. And I’d understand annually but I don’t plan on tracking more than 2 twice a year max.

Hib Halverson

That you've gone through the front rotors and pads in 3700 miles which was all street driving except for 3 fifteen minute sessions on a track with no heavy braking is freakin' surreal.

What did the rear pads and rotors look like?

If that's what happened to your front brakes, how many sets of tires did you use up?

ss2z06

With your description of how the car has been driven that doesn’t sound right. I may be wrong but I believe the cars at spring mountain go longer than that and all they see is abuse. Did the pads wear evenly? Did you perform the brake burnishing procedure? Even if the pads are worn it doesn’t mean the rotors need to be. You can weigh them to see if they are still usable.

JohnCarlson

The rear pads id say just from looking are around 10mm and are pretty much fresh. And I still have the stock cup 2 tires that I bought with the car and they still have around 70% life.

JohnCarlson

Exactly, and yes, I did mild and hard braking procedures that the dealership that I bought it from advised I do, and I’d say the pads are evenly worn from an eye point of view. I can’t rely on my eyes that much but it sounds as if the right pad is making a little more noise than the left. And okay that’s awesome, I’ll talk to service and see if the rotors are still salvageable. Thank you for the help!

intensifi

sounds all wrong.

Where in CA?

JohnCarlson

I live in Fallbrook, about an hour and half north of San Diego. I bought the car from a dealership in Upland, Mountain view Chevy. I took it to buttonwillow track in Bakersfield.

JohnCarlson

Hey guys! New to the forums here, my last thread got deleted, not sure if i did something wrong or not. But im still looking for some advice!
Long story short, I purchased a 2019 ZR1 in Nov 2018, I currently have 3768 miles, and im hearing a lot of brake squeaking. I drive the car 3-4 times a week on advantage, mostly on the freeway. I've tracked the car once in 3 15 min sessions, with 1 hour gaps between them. And that was my first time ever tracking a car so you could say I wasn't going hard (I had mustangs passing me ). I contacted the dealership asking what a quote would be for new pads, they then told me that if I have to replace the pads, I must also replace the rotors which comes to a $6,700 price tag.... after owning the car for 4 months. Just from an eyes perception, the front pads are very low, i'd say around 3-4 mm. Both sides are evenly worn. I'm still even on my first set of Cup 2 tires! I'm hoping that if I do have to replace the rotors, which is crazy, it'd be covered under warranty. Honestly, just looking for some advice on what I should say to the dealership to not get scammed by something that shouldn't be occurring in such a new car. My last car was a Lexus RCF so the ZR1 is a step up in my world, and is my first corvette. Id hate for this to be the first experience with the car at the service center. Thank you guys so very much and have a great day - John.

Rinaldo Catria

I just hope Tadge is reading this site. What you have described is not normal wear IMO.

jvp

We don't need someone from GM to be "reading this site" and, OP, we're not sending this question to Tadge. Sorry. Simply put: you've worn the pad backings off the pads when you went to the track due to heat. And now your pads are squealing, which can happen. This can be fixed with either brake grease, or new pads; obviously one is a lot more expensive than the other.

You don't need new rotors. You probably don't need new pads, either; at least not due to wear, specifically.

Finally, there are lots of threads about this all over CF. Use. The. Search.

hcvone

As said I would be surprised if you needed pads, the carbon ceramic brake squeaking has happened to some owners with their cars brand new, my one Porsche until you get the brakes hot they squeal. I would have them looked at for sure. Did you do the brake burnish?

JohnCarlson

Thank you for the help! I greatly appreciate it, and I apologize I’m new to the forums and still learning how to navigate and what not. And I didn’t know the type of answers Tadge looks at and posting it over there didn’t seem to hurt. Thank you again.

thebishman

Did you follow the ‘Burnishing’ procedure as described in the manual? It is very important in getting the maximal performance and life out of the pads, especially on track. Plus on my Z07 it markedly reduced any squealing noted at low speed stops. If you want to reduce squealing keep the wheels clean and do some ‘hard’ high speed stops every now and then.

I strongly doubt you’ve eaten thru’ the pads with just three sessions on track and with such low mileage on the car, and your rotors should be fine. However have the wheels removed and the pads inspected for wear. If you are down to only about 1/3rd of the original depth left, replace them as you’ll end up saving the rotors from potential damage in the near future.

Bish

Katech_Zach

That seems really fast for pad wear for the mileage and only 3 15min sessions. Maybe something else is going on. In which case if it's not normal wear/tear or damage then it should be covered under warranty.

What do the rotors weigh vs. what is laser etched on them? If the rotors are not underweight, not damaged due to pads wearing too low, and not chipped on the edges, they do not need to be replaced. Why did the dealer say they need to be replaced?

Racingswh

While other's are surprised I am not. In my experience the pads used for the CC brake rotors are horrible on the track from a wear rate standpoint. You are driving one of the fastest cars in the world. The pads don't care that you are driving gently. I am guessing you still see some decent velocity on the straights? Taking it easy often times equates to overslowing the car for the corners which requires asking the pads to do more than they normally would to haul the car down from serious straightaway speeds.

In my case I could not make it through a three day event without a spare set of pads with me when I was using the CC brakes. I would use a set of fronts and rears at every event and in the first season I attended eight 3 day events. After that season the rotors needed to be replaced as well. One day I looked in the mirror and realized I was crazy for spending that kind of coin on brake pads and rotors. Kept the same calipers, went to the Girodisc iron rotors and Raybestos ST43's and have never looked back.

The rotors needing to be replaced on your car already is surprising? Maybe a small rock or something got caught in between the pad and the rotor and a rotor sustained damage which happened to one of mine or if someone damaged the rotors taking wheels on and off? Anyway if it were mine I would say no to the rotor replacement and yes to getting new pads. Then if you're going to track it I would seriously consider a different system and put the current braking system on the shelf and back on the car if you ever decide to sell it.

I have re-read your post and I apologize as I misunderstood and thought the $6,700 was for all 4 corners, not just for the fronts. For pads and rotors that's what I would expect. Originally I thought that price was for ALL 4 corners which seemed way too cheap to me.