IMO The biggest problem with the DZ rest is the teflon sleeves that the drop arm glides on. There are 2 sleeves and if one of these sleeves gets a wrinkle in it, it can cause the drop arm to hang up and not drop down properly. Mine dropped down with a whipping motion, the inside of the drop arm dropping first, the outside/end of the drop arm dropped slower. When the 2nd FOB hit the outside of the drop arm, it bent so bad that the drop arm couldn't drop into the housing
Now I know most people are not shooting FOB's but if you do, and your DZ rest isn't set up to drop fast enough, the FOB (and I've heard vanes will also) hits the drop arm, it puts a little crease in the teflon sleeves at least, at worst, it bends everything up. This is why I had to junk my DZ and get a new rest installed 1 week before season starts.
The drop arm on the DZ rest is made of soft brass. It bends easy and the holes in the drop arm that conect the drop arm to the rest will deform easily . When these holes get deformed, out of round, the drop arm can contact the rest housing. Now the FOB did a number on my rest, destroyed it with 1 shot. Shooting vanes and having the rest set up properly, the rest should last a lot longer but keep an eye on the teflon sleeves and drop arm. Don't let any dirt or debri get into the housing near the teflon sleeves either. If you do, take it apart and clean it out. The teflon is the lubrication and if it's dirty or wrinkled the arm won't drop evenly or smoothly. If you are seeing any wiggle in the drop arm, make sure it can't touch the housing. If the drop arm can touch the housing, call DZ and get a rebuild kit. When you get the rebuild kit, compare the new parts to the old. They sent me parts that were too long, the sleeves had to be cut and the bolts and springs they sent were also too long, I had to use the original bolts and springs. Installing the sleeves when they are too long will destroy the sleeves as soon as the bolts get tightened. If I was hunting with a DZ I would certainly want to have a rebuild kit handy. If you have any issues with it, you can see 1 teflon sleeve with out taking it appart. Look at that sleeve and if you see any flaws in the sleeve, just be ware that the problem may get worse the more you shoot, it's time to get a rebuild kit or at least new teflon sleeves.
Keep in mind that I destroyed my DZ with an FOB. Since doing so, I've talked with other DZ shooters and have been told that you still can ruin a DZ with vanes if the vanes are catching the drop arm before it drops all the way down into the housing. With vanes the damage may not be as evident right away. All it takes is a little dent or crease in the teflon sleeves that will gradually get worse with every shot and lead to failure. One hard shot from an FOB and there's no doubt, the next shot will fail. If the rest is set up properly in the first place, you shouldn't have any issues the rest should perform as designed. Trial and error is not recomended at all. Have someone who knows what they are doing set it up, keep an eye on those teflon sleeves and replace them at first sign of wear or damage.
Please don't take this as I'm trashing Drop Zone. If someone would have told me about this earlier, I'd still be using the DZ. It is a bit noisy but so are all the other drop aways I've had. My current DMI rest is a little more quiet but not enough to warrent changing for that reason alone. The design and the teflon sleeves was enough for me to want to change, but it was there customer service that was the final straw. They took 9 days to send me the wrong parts, then told me to send the rest in because they sent the only parts they had, being 1/4" too long of bolts, springs and sleeves, they'd have to "retrofit" the new parts, 3-5 weeks! I got the DMI rest in 36 hours,had it installed, then DZ desides to send me a new rest.....it got here yesterday, 2 days before season, 3 1/2 weeks after my first complaint, about 5 emails and 10 phone calls later. In their defense, DZ was recently bought out by Bear Archery and are still working out the bumps in the merger, customer service should get better as they get settled and get to know the new products they've aquired and maybe figure out what parts go to what? I just didn't have the time to wait.
I really need to shoot today, make sure I'm sighted in and the DMI rest is broken in, replace practice BH's with new sharp ones, and tune 'em. I was shooting great last night and then something happened. Seems I had too much wax on my buss cables, the rest lanyard knot was sliding up the cable causing the rest to drop too soon. Took it to the bow shop just in time, they retied the knots, I shot 4 arrows in the dark, raised my sight back up and shot 4 bullseyes at 20 yards. It was so dark I couldn't follow my arrows or see where they hit, but I got all 4. I need to get on the roof and shoot, but the wind is just a howling today already 25-30 mph and supposed to get worse. and tomorrow morning we have a frost warning allready! 2nd ealiest frost ever. I won't hunt til I've done more shooting, looks like I'm going to have to miss my opening morning because of my rest fiasco. I don't mind practicing in the wind but setting up my sight is a different matter. Need 1 hour with no wind, weather man isn't helping. Plan B, it just hit me. My mentors favorite stand is low in a valley, thick woods, about as protected from wind as anywhere, 15 high, easy to climb,easy to get to, perfect place to sight in today. He'll never know. lmao I could leave my 3d deer there, see if he shoots it opening morning? Last year I stole all his yardage markers and put up pink flamingos in there place. lol
Good luck, I got to go.