Locking brakes
Discussion
I went for a little spin this afternoon, and was hooning fairly rapidly along a tiny little lane in a wood when a car came the other way. I performed a pretty quick emergency stop, no pumping or brake feathering. The car slid left slightly, finishing at a 20-25 degree angle. The surface was slightly muddy concrete, and i had the misfortune of only seeing the car as i hit a bump. I stopped with plenty of room though...question is, in an emergency stop situation do all non abs cars pull to one side or the other? Ive never driven any other cars without it. Just checking i dont have any brake problems. I'd be surprised, given how rapidly it stopped. I think the wench in the Daewoo Bean Car was a little surprised too....
Whether the car appears to pull to one side can be determined by the road surface condition under each front wheel. You said the road surface was slightly muddy and if there was slightly more mud, or a bit of gravel, of a slightly more bumpy surface under one wheel compared to the other, then the car will pull away from that side.
Minis do tend to do that anyway as they have such a short wheelbase. With wider wheels or offset (spacered out) wheels this effect will be even more pronounced.
Of course, it could be defective brakes, incorrect suspension geometry or even just different tyre pressures.
Test this by finding a very smooth,level, wide and deserted road with good tarmac. Get up to about 30 mph, depress the clutch and then press the brake pedal with quickly increasing pressure until the wheels lock. It should pull straight at first and then the skid marks should start from the same position for each front wheel.
Just make sure no-one else is on the road at the time.
Minis do tend to do that anyway as they have such a short wheelbase. With wider wheels or offset (spacered out) wheels this effect will be even more pronounced.
Of course, it could be defective brakes, incorrect suspension geometry or even just different tyre pressures.
Test this by finding a very smooth,level, wide and deserted road with good tarmac. Get up to about 30 mph, depress the clutch and then press the brake pedal with quickly increasing pressure until the wheels lock. It should pull straight at first and then the skid marks should start from the same position for each front wheel.
Just make sure no-one else is on the road at the time.
I had an interesting brake problem with a Mini Pick-Up I owned a while ago (RougeLeo has it now). It was pulling left under braking.
AS it was drum braked I replaced all the front wheel cylinders and fitted new brake shoes, but that made no change.
I then changed the flexible hoses and that cured the prob. Obviously one of the hoses was breaking up inside and acting as a restrictor on one side.
Then I had the same thing with a Fiesta 1.6Si quite recently. After changing the discs and the calipers made no difference, I changed the hoses. Cured it.
Next time I shall start off with a hose change and work the other way, it's got to be cheaper.
AS it was drum braked I replaced all the front wheel cylinders and fitted new brake shoes, but that made no change.
I then changed the flexible hoses and that cured the prob. Obviously one of the hoses was breaking up inside and acting as a restrictor on one side.
Then I had the same thing with a Fiesta 1.6Si quite recently. After changing the discs and the calipers made no difference, I changed the hoses. Cured it.
Next time I shall start off with a hose change and work the other way, it's got to be cheaper.
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