[bsavino]

just got a call from the dealer regarding the AB01 recall, here is the result:

getting all 4 corners hubs/hubcarriers replaced.

the dealer states that they saw abnormal wear that warranted replacement.

fyi the car has 5800 miles since Nov 2011 and have 8 track weekends on it.

each time i would personally inspect grease and torque the CLs to the higher 440 ft/lbs as suggested. I never saw any wear or abnormal anything....

don't really know what they found, but getting 4 new hubs....parts just need to come from Germany

dealer is Ray Catena in Edison, NJ

 

[PistolPete]

Thanks for the info. Maybe someone can lend you a Cayman for your track days next week...:hilarious:

 

[bsavino]

Re: Recall campaign AB01

ironicly mine is the 3rd gt3/turbo that they said needed to get all four corners replaced.....

 

[Nick_USA]

Here you go info here:

Recall AB01 TSB

 

[KS-CS]

. . . each time i would personally inspect grease and torque the CLs to the higher 440 ft/lbs as suggested. I never saw any wear or abnormal anything....

don't really know what they found, but getting 4 new hubs....parts just need to come from Germany . . .

We had a participant with a relatively new 997.2 GT3 at a private track day back in April - one of his rear wheels came off on the track just going around a turn, when the centerlock hub failed (broke). When he got home, and his shop inspected the other hubs, there appeared to be a possible stress fracture in another hub as well.

A few weeks later, Porsche issued the recall . . .

 

[PolarPorsche]

I have over 2000 track miles on my 2011 GT3 and I have 3 sets of wheels that I change out very often. I have never had any issues with the Centre Locks, following the proper procedure is very important. I got my recall letter last week and asked the dealer to order in the replacement CL nuts to save some time, as soon as the replacement nuts come in (2 sets) I will have the recall done. I don't see any apparent damage but would like to get the dealer to complete the recall so I can get on with tracking the car. I will be going to Miller Motorsports Park, Road Atlanta and Virginia International Raceway this fall and would like to know all is safe.


Some of the GT3 owners don't get it, I have watched one GT3 CL owner use impact gun to remove and replace CL nuts, no torque wrench and no lube on the CL nuts. I mentioned to the owner that it was important to torque the CL nuts and that the wheels need to be off the ground went you torque. I was told that it didn't matter and the impact gun was strong enough the ensure proper torque. My suggestion was not well received so I decided that further discussion on the matter was not going to change his mind so I dropped it.

 

[bsavino]

how the hell did he use an impact gun on that porsche adapter...its not even impact grade...surprised didn't break...im very careful w each change and never saw wear....oh well I'm getting new parts all around

 

[PistolPete]

Unfortunately it seems that we've had our first documented failure of a center lock hub on the track. Details are still pending but the results were ugly. Fortunately no one was hurt!

Centerlock failure - Rennlist Discussion Forums

 

[ChrisF]

How about 3 more since then:

Buttonwillow in May '12 (no pix)

Nurburgring (also May. video was on youtube then yanked)
http://www.6speedonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ring-crash-gt3-rs.jpg[/IMW]

***Corrected*** Watkins Glen (8/4/12)
[IMG]http://www.planet-9.com/members/chrisf-10149-albums-centerlocks-picture7147-08-04-12-gt3-cl-failure.jpg

When exactly are owners going to work together to fix this?

 

[K-Man S]

Now what was someone saying about Porsche engineering the other day??? How odd that an attempt to translate something from the track (where as far as I know the center locking hubs have worked fine) to the street has gone so catastrophically bad? sub par components from a supplier or engineering flaw?

 

[sx797]

Another GT3 lost their front CL wheel at a DE at Watkins Glen a few weeks ago.

This explains a few things!

 

[chuckR]

While the CL wheels look cool, five hold-on thingies beats one. Redundancy is a wunnerful thing.

Are the track and street CLs different and at the price of the street car, why would that be so?

 

[PistolPete]

The 911 Cup Car centerlocks are a completely different design than the street centerlocks.

Take a look at my video around the 1:51 mark of the Flying Lizards #45 being working on during the ALMS race. Later on you can see the wheel being installed.

As to why the street designs are different, I read a detailed post in Rennlist from an expert that I unfortunately can't find now.

Basically it had something to do with DOT regulations and the need to keep moisture out of the system, that's all I can remember.

 

[chuckR]

Pete - thanks for the explanation. Confirmation that you are either all in or don't bother. The CLs look cool, but the failure rate - as actually used by people in the street cars - must be orders of magnitude higher than 5 bolt designs. Can't afford one of these toys anyway and certainly can't afford - or persuade - the Flying Lizards to prep whatever car I drive every time I want to drive it.

 

[alan93rsa]

Are there any instances where a CL failed on a strictly street driven car?

 

[PistolPete]

Are there any instances where a CL failed on a strictly street driven car?

Not that I've heard of. The issue comes up with frequent wheel changes that are a part of life with the serious trackers. Whether it's due to wear on the components or procedures not followed exactly in the heat of a DE is up for debate.

I was with bsavino at the track yesterday when it started to drizzle. The swap from slicks to street tires and then back again when the sun came up was not for the faint of heart or weak of back!