Track Day Tech Inspections - Have they been thorough enough?
 

To set the scene, I participate in DE trackdays. Mostly in the North Texas area.

The group I run with requires a Tech Inspection of your car 30 days prior to an event you plan to run.

Here is the text from the organizations website on the Drivers Responsiblities and Liabilities:

All cars to be used on track must be tech inspected per The Drivers Edge Tech Sheet. Note: the driver is solely responsible for getting the tech inspection done properly and the car is maintained properly up to TDE standards with in the 30 days prior to the event date. Any car found not properly inspected and or is not deemed unsafe, will not be allowed on track.

I affirm this automobile has been inspected by a certified mechanic/shop with in the past 6 months or 5000 miles whichever less.

Now maybe I am expecting too much from a mechanic performing this kind of race centric tech inspection, but they should have caught these things I will outline below.

I am diligent about this car inspection process. I like a competent mechanic to perform this function. For this I use a shop that specializes in high performance vehicles. A logical thing to do in my view. I would normally do this myself since I perform most of the normal maintenance on my car. I figured an unbiased tech review of my car would uncover any issues I have overlooked. This time the tech inspection was done very poorly by the Certified Mechanic.

Things they missed were:

1. The battery hold down clamp was missing one of the J hook screws leaving the battery loose to move around.
2. The Clutch fluid level was Low.
3. The Brake Fluid Level was Low.
4. The Brake pads were just at the minimum level and needed changing.

The problems resulting from this poorly executed Tech Inspection caused me to cut off my first trackday run session at the close of the warm-up lap. The loose battery caused all kinds of electrical gremlins upon heading out on track. I then spent the next two hours fixing all of the problems the Tech missed and should have caught when he did the inspection. I always carry spare Brake pads and fluids to the track for just this occasion. The brakes, the fluids and the Battery are all items on the DE Tech Inspection form. I acknowledge that as the driver it is my responsibility to also check these items behind the Tech inspector. The minimum they could have alerted me to the easily remedied issues I uncovered at the Track.

I have other places to get my car a good Tech Inspection. The trust is gone with regards to the place I have been using. BTW this is not the first issue I have heard about at this shop. This one for me though is the final straw. I think I'll reach out to Texas Chassis Works for this next time.

The address of the shop I used for the poorly executed Tech Inspection is:
1975 Archer Way
Lewisville, TX 75077

Have any of you out there had a similar experience to this one I have described? Just curious. I admit that at the end of the day it is still the drivers responsibility to ensure his/her car is safe to drive in all respects. I just would have liked a heads up on the easy to remedy things I found.

You don’t look at this stuff yourself? Can’t put the blame on anyone else.

WOW, I do my own inspections. I trust no one with my brakes. One loss of brakes in the triple digits will make you crap yourself.

If you can't do it yourself you need to find a shop that does track prep.

Yeah, some shops just really suck. I just recently posted my experience at the dealership with my 14' nismo. Poor alignment, they broke my positive battery terminal cover, marred up my new ceramic coating.

Most "high performance shops" are just installing bolt on stuff for street cars.


Especially when it comes to the track, gotta go through these things yourself. When i go to HPDE's, i go through the inspection checklist a couple weeks before hand myself. High temp brake fluid goes in, rotors and pads checked, grab the torque wrench and check all lug bolts. Anything that moves inside needs to be removed (crap in the cup holder, glove, under the seat, behind the seats, etc....)

Call up Vorshlag to see if they still do track day tech inspection. That’s the type of shop you need to take to.

Fifth Gear looks nice, but racing need isn’t their bread and butter business.

Edit: Vorshlag’s current address is probably a little far from you, nvm

:iagree:

You should be doing all of this yourself. Best way to learn about your car. 2 weeks before trackday. I'll go through the whole car. If I find anything. I'll fix/adjust it. If I have to order parts. I have time to get them. The day before. I'll go through the car again.

I'm familiar with these guys from a few years ago as I used to use them to service my Z32-TT; but they changed their business model from mainly Porsche and sports / performance service to more mainstream auto service. in fact, I used to see them out at Cresson; but it's been years since I've seen them there.

I now use AWD Tuning for my 370Z service, including occasional tech inspect where Rick won't let me sign-off on my own. These guys are top-notch.

Texas Track works should give you a thorough one but that's FTW vs more local to you

You just have to rely on yourself. I'm sure most guys who track their cars have some horror story of a mechanic who failed them in a big way.
I'm not a mechanic, but had to become more self sufficient in making the
car track ready.
You have to remember most mechanics, even if they are "performance" mechanics would rather do a brake job on a car that should take two hours
based on the book, but do it in an hour and make twice the money than
spend two hours really focusing and thoroughly going through your car
and get paid for two hours.

AWD’s name keep coming up. Maybe I’ll visit them one day.

Well I think it's an unnecessary burden to make HPDE people go to a shop to do this simple inspection.
"Qualified Inspector or Certified Shop Tech must initial each item"
https://thedriversedge.net/wp-conten...-Insp-2021.pdf

I'd ask them to provide a list of the "Contact information of each qualified persons and shop" if they want to be so anal. And if they can't/won't do it yourself and say your qualified because that have no idea who is or isn't.

Finally if they do push the point..
"All cars to be used on track must be tech inspected per The Drivers Edge Tech Sheet. Note: the driver is solely responsible for getting the tech inspection done properly and the car is maintained properly up to TDE standards with in the 30 days prior to the event date. "
If you can't do it yourself because "you're not qualified" then how can you be "solely responsible" for something beyond your abilities and not informed who has said "abilities".


Here's the group I run with Tech page. https://nasane.com/tech-approved-centers/
Everyone gets tech inspected by the organization before going on track the day of the event. It's a safety issue for you and everyone else on the track, but they give you essentially a cheat sheet of what they are looking for "the tech sheet" so you or a shop you want can check everything on the list before hand.
"I agree to remain solely responsible for any and all liabilities and damages involving my vehicle that result from either mechanical failures or negligence before, during, or after NASA NE driving events." Their disclaimer is very different from that org's.

AWD Tuning is closer to me so most likely I'll hit them up too. I have been to Texas Chassis Works, they are good for this kind of inspection as well, just a bit farther away.

My point in all this is, even if you do all of your own car maintenance you are so close to it and it is good to have a second set of eyes to review the work done. My current go-to failed me in this respect. When you do find an issue, you fix it. Any Z owner should know how to maintain their ride. I am also not too proud to admit that I am far from perfect when it comes to maintenance. I do always have spares handy for these types of easy fixes.

You are quite right!
 

You are quite right, They do not know who is or isn't qualified to sign off on the tech inspections.

Every time I check in at one of their events, with TDE, they take the sheet and file it almost immediately. They might look at it for 5 seconds to see if there is writing on the sheet. That's it. They hand me my information envelope and I am off and running. The Newbies to the group might get more scrutiny but I would not bet on it. It'll take a big incident at one of their events to change the way of ensuring cars are Track Ready.

The truth is that the Org running the event is just covering they azz with paper.