Phil R Posted March 9, 2003 Share Posted March 9, 2003 Hi, my live axle Vauhall 1.8 is pulling to the right under braking. I only noticed it after fitting Yoko 21's but I have since tried going back to my CR322's again (two sets of wheels you see) and the symptom's still there just not as strong. I've had a wiggle of the front wheels and they don't appear to have any play. I've checked the front brake calipers and all pistons are working fine. I've also had the back brakes cleaned out and adjusted so they're OK. My next plan is to bleed the brakes but is there anything else you think might be causing this problem? The car's only done 2800 miles so I would't expect the front suspension bushes to be that bad. All ideas gratefully received!! Thanks, /Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS CLARK Posted March 9, 2003 Share Posted March 9, 2003 If all the tyre pressures are correct etc I can only think this is a brake caliper/piston sticking fault. Either the rhs is grabbing or the lhs is sticking/seized giving inefficient retardation. If this is being used on 'std' roads you are effectively climbing the road camber a bit! Clamshell Club Founder Member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil R Posted March 9, 2003 Author Share Posted March 9, 2003 Hi Chris, Thanks for your suggestion. Yeah all tyre pressures are good. The pistons are definitely not stuck as I replaced the pads with some worn out ones which were no more than a third the thickness of the good ones. Then I pumped the brakes until I got some feel to the pedal and went and checked that all the pistons had clamped the pads aginst the disk. They had, so I pushed the pistons back into the calipers and put the good pads back in. I'm wondering if there might be some air in the left caliper that needs bleeding. I'm thinking that maybe the pistons are working but not with sufficient force/efficiency. I dunno /Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robster Posted March 9, 2003 Share Posted March 9, 2003 Phil You may have different damper setting left to right (or rear ones set differently). This would cause one corner of the car to dive under braking more than the other. Set them all fully back to 0 then click 5 on from there each and try. Good luck. Robster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted March 9, 2003 Share Posted March 9, 2003 Check brake pads are inserted so the friction material is against the disc, not the other way round. I did this once......, gave exactly the same symptom..... Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM website See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBerlin Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 With both front wheels off the ground gently apply the brakes while an assistant checks to see if they start to appy at the same time-this will rule out caliper/air in the lines trouble. Aloose ball joint will allow the wheel to shift under braking also. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil R Posted March 10, 2003 Author Share Posted March 10, 2003 Robster, I didn't think my dampers were adjustable. They're the standard Bilstein's supplied with the live axle classic. I will have a look this evening though. Arnie, I remembered you posting this before so I did check that the pads were in with the friction surface against the disc. Tom, what's the best way to check for play in the ball joint? Thanks for the ideas, /Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 What about a geometry check? Different castor or camber on each side might cause similar symptoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 More than likely to be sticking calipers. are you sure that the pistons on each are coming out for the same distance? There may be a lazy piston which will come out but not as quickly as the other. take out the pads on one side at a time and put something a lot thinner in its place, i had exactly these symptoms last year and was sure that the pistons were working ok. they werent and a good cleaning session with new seals was called for. It may be air but uless there is a leak or you have had the things appart this is unlikely. To check the ball joint you will have to apply some leverage and check for play. Run Baby Run Edited by - John E on 10 Mar 2003 07:37:11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Some other less likely things; grease on a disc? Master cylinder fault ? Corner weights being miles out causing imbalance ? (unlikley) The usual Caterham fault of too much rearward brake bias, causing some sort of instability ? Are your calipers tight ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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