Braking/Handling Problems

[r3d_fac3d]

Hi, Recently my car spun 360* while i was braking in a striaght line :S it was a cold dampish road at the time and i was goin striaght forward it spun when i put on the foot brake :S ive checked the disk pads and they look fine, at first i thort it was my trye cos they were all diff brands but ive got new alloys and tyres now and there all the same and i tested it agen and wen i brake hard in a stright line it pulls to the left but nothing to the extreme of when it was damp tht nite i spun, can anyone give me suggestions off what this mite be? also b4 i had new wheels and yres my rear wheels slip or drift out when cornering :S

[Barry123]

firstly you need to do a few checks...

such as a spelling and grammer check.


secondly check the following...

your tyre pressures
the trend depth on the tyres
the brand of the tyres - shitty brand equals shitty damp handling performance (usually)



when you perform this test is the road perfectly flat? if it isnt then the car will move usually.

is your car lowered?

ads :)

[pepper953]

check the rear for wear in rear arms ,olso if you get an mot station to check brake balance, you can either rule out brake inbalance or sort it

[r3d_fac3d]

well i have new tyres and wheels on now and there all good, but it still turns to left when braking hard on flat, and yes my car is lowered

[Barry123]

tyre pressures ok man?

lowering will cause the brake bias to think the car is heavier at the rear and so apply more braking force to the rear... the results being that the rear tyres can lock which will cause the saxo to become tail happy/deadly.

get the brake bias adjusted and confirm the brakes are applying equal pressure, the tyre pressures checked and put at the correct amount.

[r3d_fac3d]

the tyre pressure is perfect they came already pumped with Nitrogen and balanced, the car has recently had a mot and the brakes are uprated i think, also does the rear brake on a 2001 vtr came as disks as standard?

[Barry123]

Nitrogen? nice one.

what happens if they need inflating? ;)

still I'd check them to be sure...

what size tyres are you running?

[r3d_fac3d]

lol if they need inflating im fucked lol, id need to get it pumped somewhere special or sumet lol

[r3d_fac3d]

the tyres are 195x45x15

[Barry123]

you'll be fine just inflating them with normal air if you need to top them up dude Nitrogen is a bit OTT for road cars as the tyres never produce much heat under normal driving conditions to affect the tyre pressures sufficiently.

tyre pressures should be 2.2bar front and 2.0bar rear :)

[r3d_fac3d]

lol yer but they came with it free so i aint gonna moan about the nitrogen reli :) lol, i think checking the brakes are the best bet atm, does a 2001 come with rear disk as standard btw?

[stalkah66]

Yes they do come with rear disk as standard. Something that might cause this is warped disks, easy way to check jack up each wheel and turn it round by hand and check for any tight spots.

[The_Notorious_C_A_T]

Have you checked to make sure none of the calipers are seized?

Also as mentioned earlier, deffo check that your brake compensator on the rear is working whenever you lower it. I've found that out the hard way.....

[r3d_fac3d]

Have you checked to make sure none of the calipers are seized?

Also as mentioned earlier, deffo check that your brake compensator on the rear is working whenever you lower it. I've found that out the hard way.....

How do i check if the calipers are seized and the compensator is working?

[r3d_fac3d]

would bleeding my brake fluid and replacing it help in anyway?

[The_Notorious_C_A_T]

To check if the compensator is working I would just ham the brakes on, if the rear locks before the front you would be best to check the compensator.

For a better bit of information:
http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85285&highlight=compensator

[r3d_fac3d]

To check if the compensator is working I would just ham the brakes on, if the rear locks before the front you would be best to check the compensator.

For a better bit of information:
http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85285&highlight=compensator

ham the brakes on? you mean slam? i think when i slam my brakes on it turns to the left and in the wet when it first happened i spun left 360*, i had odd tyres on b4, i got new alloys and tyres on now and it seems a little better but still goes to the left

[The_Notorious_C_A_T]

Yeah slam/ham.

I would be trying it in the dry though!

To check the front, take the wheels off and check if the carrier moves like it should and also the piston. Same with the rear really, but the rears don't come straight out like the fronts, they kind of screw out for want of a better word iirc

[r3d_fac3d]

i have tried it in dry it goes to the left it just a lot more severe in the wet/damp :(

[lucassaxo]

right ill tell you coz all these people are telling differnt stuff- First jack front end up check for play in the bottom arm and spin the wheel if stiff, your brakes are binding, if play in top-to bottom off wheel bottom ball joint is the case put one on and get it tracked up ok. any help???

[r3d_fac3d]

yer thanks dude, i was gonna get the tracking done on my car anyway when i could be bothered lol, ile try that :) thanks

[KamRacing]

cars will naturally pull to the left on any given road due to the camber. make sure you are in a flat car park when testing.

does it drive in a straight line while you are off the brakes? work checking.

the only way I can see the car spinning is if one or both of the rear brakes locked. personally if I didn't have the technical knowledge to check the brakes myself i'd get down an MOT station so they can see if each side of the cars brakes are being applied evenly.

[TIPSY]

mine was sorted by getting the brake bias adjusted, and getting a rear caliper changed as it was seized. so could be either, but since ive had that done it hasnt happened again. still skids but in a straight line.

[r3d_fac3d]

:) nice one, ile get tht looked at then :)

[CS_Sean]

M8 alot of saxo's pull 2 one side wen breakin!! read all the other breaking threads on here...and since i had my car lowered the back seems 2 love flyin out...i now have 2 control a drift wen i go round a round about 2 fast :P lol

[r3d_fac3d]

lol!!!! yer man fuking hell the drift i get is funny lol, scares me a bit cos it unintentional but i love it after when iv survived it lol :) well your supposed to get your brake bias reajusted when its been lowered :S well im planning on getting new drilled and grooved front and rear disks and mintex pads then ile get my brakes bleeded just cos i feel like it reli lol and then get my brakes looked at lol, i wanna feel safe lol and atm in my saxo i DO NOT lol.