Wheel weights on 5th gen Camaro Calipers

[qwikz28]

What the heck is this for? I don't buy into the whole resonance thing, i think its insane. Check it out!

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19161&page=1

[BigAls87Z28]

Wow...thats really upsetting.

[KirkEvil]

Haha, engineers trying to fix their last minute mistakes

[cdacda13]

Gentlemen As far as the brake weights go I heard from a fellow in the GM plant, the brakes were squeeling and by weighting the calipers the squeel went away Brembo has, since then sent a new batch of calipers to correct this problem Hope this helps
I hope that GM really didn't ship out a known to be defective product.

[enRo]

I hope that GM really didn't ship out a known to be defective product.

Times are tough :nod: I like the comment of "Done to add extra weight in order to give the Stang and Challenger a fighting chance" :lol:

[Ian]

I hope that GM really didn't ship out a known to be defective product.

its not defective, the 4oz. of wheel weights fixed the problem!

[HeadlessNorseman]

Im not so sure how adding stiky weights cuts down on vibration. Normally as far as instruments go, adding weight increases vibration. And the fact that there is glue inbetween the weight and the lead...wouldnt redue any kind of vibration. Oh well!

[NastyEllEssWon]

i dont think its for vibrations. i think its like they said, to weigh down the brakes so they dont squeal as much

[Ian]

Im not so sure how adding stiky weights cuts down on vibration. Normally as far as instruments go, adding weight increases vibration. And the fact that there is glue inbetween the weight and the lead...wouldnt redue any kind of vibration. Oh well!

adding weight to a stringed instrument allows less of the vibration to be absorbed by the body of the instrument...at least I think thats how it works...

[Blackbirdws6]

If you are getting a vibration (resonance) in the system, changing its weight can change the frequency at which is will vibrate. Seems like they may have been getting close to a harmonic freq. (think of that bridge that went all wavy and fell apart) and this solved the problem.

Just hope the weights don't fall off and they recall these calipers for the owners that have this on their cars.

[Blackbirdws6]

Im not so sure how adding stiky weights cuts down on vibration. Normally as far as instruments go, adding weight increases vibration. And the fact that there is glue inbetween the weight and the lead...wouldnt redue any kind of vibration. Oh well!

Really depends where it's added. However think of this. Take a metal ruler, put it on a table with a good deal hanging off this table and flick the end. It will flex back and forth at a certain height and speed. Put a weight on the end and do it again. The deflection may be greater but the frequency should be slower.

[Tsar]

Ahh, one of many reasons not to buy a first year production car...

[qwikz28]

Ahh, one of many reasons not to buy a first year production car...

i agree with this statement. and I can only imagine those weights flying off during a track day. Not good

[BonzoHansen]

i dont think its for vibrations. i think its like they said, to weigh down the brakes so they dont squeal as much

"squeal" is often vibration/movement


maybe this is not real? A goof? a test car?

[Tsar]

"squeal" is often vibration/movement


maybe this is not real? A goof? a test car?
There were quite a few members in that thread who reported the same problem, including cars at the dealerships... Sad really.

[sweetbmxrider]

quality

[Jensend]

Even when taped with aluminized tape, adhesive weights have a tendency to come off when subjected to the heat generated during hard braking. This is just due to the heat transferred to the rim softening the glue. Imagine how much more heat is naturally in the body of a caliper. Can only hope that this is an assembly line gag.

Considering the cost of the new Camaro, I can't imagine anyone who'd knowingly accept delivery of a car that actually needed those weights to have the calipers function "normally". If this is true, it doesn't say much for either Brembo or GM. Would like to think it's a hoax.

[sweetbmxrider]

i was kinda thinking the same with the heat transfer....

[HeadlessNorseman]

Even if its not a hoax i was just thinking that whoever came up with it is probably a better engineer than any of us...unless we have any mechanical engineers here. Im leaning towards a hoax either by a worker or just on the internet.

[NJSPEEDER]

If anything I would say it is a much nicer solution than the dampers they put on 3rd gen rear calipers or the huge isolators that a lot of cars use.

[Tsar]

Even if its not a hoax i was just thinking that whoever came up with it is probably a better engineer than any of us...unless we have any mechanical engineers here. Im leaning towards a hoax either by a worker or just on the internet.
I sure hope those were not the same guys who designed the opti and put it under the water pump... or designed those pesky 4th gen window motors!

[LTb1ow]

And hey now! Some of us are MechEs!

As for the opti, well, we all have bad days...

[Tsar]

Here's an official answer:
Spokesman John Fitzpatrick said the weights were added as a damper to reduce noise and only early build cars would need them.

http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2009/04/camaro-brake-weights-nothing-new-bmw-does-it-too.html



On a totally different note. BMWs solution looked much more pleasing to the eye than stick on weights.

[Frosty]

Beats me, I guess it's better than pushing back the release of them until Brembo fixes the problem? I guess....though with GM in the spotlight for various reasons that's not the message I'd want to sent taxpayers and potential customers...

[Tsar]

Beats me, I guess it's better than pushing back the release of them until Brembo fixes the problem? I guess....though with GM in the spotlight for various reasons that's not the message I'd want to sent taxpayers and potential customers...
Oh no doubt that GM did it so the car is not delayed again. But they did not put the weights on the caliper to balance the wheel, as previously suggested. :rofl:

[BonzoHansen]

Let me translate:

"Spokesman John Fitzpatrick said the weights were added as a damper to reduce noise and only early build cars would need them. "

really means

"Spokesman John Fitzpatrick said the weights were added as a damper to reduce the noise we didnt catch early enough on and now Brembo can't get us new calipers fast enough to meet production needs, so we will roll out the early cars with this band-aid while later cars will get a revised caliper, and maybe we will warranty the early ones someday, if we are still here or even care"

[BonzoHansen]

IIRC tape-a-weights are in .25 oz segments, and these look bigger, so I'll guess maybe .5 oz each, so by my count just by what I see on the yellow car is over 5oz, probably much more. And they do not appear to be wheel weights. And I'd hope the adhesive is better to withstand the heat. If they can glue quarter panels on I'm sure they can get decent glue for this. Not sure they did, just saying...

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j54/lildevii136/2010%20Camaro/SN851642.jpg

The attached pic from the C5 forum has a pile of weight, maybe 7 or more oz. That's sizable. If a wheel took that much I'd suggest throwing it out.

And I can certainly understand the concept of the added mass dampening some kind of caliper movement that in turn cause pad noise. I can also see how this would not be caught until lots of test cars were rolling and pads started to wear. Hell, it could be brembos fault, we don't know. I understand GM not wanting to tell people they have to wait 4 months more for the SS cars, but I still think they could have handled it better.

[qwikz28]

Here's an official answer:


http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2009/04/camaro-brake-weights-nothing-new-bmw-does-it-too.html



On a totally different note. BMWs solution looked much more pleasing to the eye than stick on weights.

Just to be annoying, how do you feel about the disintegrating brake pistons caps on the 1-series then?

[Tsar]

Just to be annoying, how do you feel about the disintegrating brake pistons caps on the 1-series then?
I don't have a 1-series so: 1. I did not know about it. 2. Don't really care now :shrug:

[qwikz28]

I don't have a 1-series so: 1. I did not know about it. 2. Don't really care now :shrug:

You don't have a 5th gen either but you seem to be rather opinionated about that ;-)

[edpontiac91]

Saw a brand new SS Camaro at the Cops N Rodder show today and sure enough, the dealer rep said that the Brembo calipers indeed do come with stick on wheel weights and when you looked at the display car, there they were!

[sweetbmxrider]

they look to be .5 oz sections. they look exactly like factory tape weights. they have great adhesion though from my experience.