i know i've mentioned this before but the cause was mostly because of the wrong size front tyres .

this morning on the wya to work i had a bit of a poo in pants moment when i have to brake heavily to stop myself rear ending a citylink van, it really made me notice how unbalenced the car is under heavy braking.

it feels like the back is lifting off of the floor and begins to sway.

can this be overcome to adjusting the rear bias valve? or by doing anything?

i can see it becoming a real problem in the near future...

Thanks,
Ry

Might be seized?

If the back is feeling like it's trying to swap ends with the front that's a sign that the rear brakes aren't biting enough.

Could also be that the front dampers are dipping too much...

it doesnt feel like the car it sinking at the front, it really feels like a pivot, i'll look into having the valve changed as i have head of them seizing.

if that doesnt work should i assume i need to look into getting more rear bias?

If you feel that the front brakes are doing their job and the front doesn't "wallow" about etc, concentrate on the rear.

When you say pivot..do you mean that it feels like the rear of the car steps to one side ?. (Ages ago I adjusted the brakes on an ex's Mini. All felt OK until the bonnet flew open, I jammed on the anchors and ended up sideways at 50mph into oncoming traffic..)

If so, that could be a sticking caliper/slider. Jack up the rear, chock the front and spin the rear wheels. They should both turn an equal amount of times before they stop.

You can alter the braking effort to the rear by altering the angle of the bracket on the compensator, although the spring is a lot more difficult to refit afterwards.

not pivot sideways, pivot atthe front wheels, like its trying to do a front flip

however it could be caused by the road surface, with 215 tyres she gets dragged around alot so a bit unsure

bulldog5046 said:

not pivot sideways, pivot atthe front wheels, like its trying to do a front flip

however it could be caused by the road surface, with 215 tyres she gets dragged around alot so a bit unsure

Click to expand...

Think I know what you mean now . I've got 205/40/17 on mine and on certain road surfaces it feels like it's all over the place.

It could be the front wishbone bushes, my brother has an Alfa 155, he's replaced the spurious wishbones ( crap bushes ) with genuine items and he says the bushes are a lot chunkier.

Check the tyres as well, the N/S/F tread on mine when jacked up and spun, went up and down.

dont wonder about it, get yourself to an MOT station and see what the brake balance is front to rear, and compare left to right in both cases.

have you modifed your brakes at all?

jug said:

dont wonder about it, get yourself to an MOT station and see what the brake balance is front to rear, and compare left to right in both cases.

have you modifed your brakes at all?

Click to expand...

recent MOT didnt include mention of brake effort however it does say rear brake effort only just met the required amount, so maybe it's just the valve?

brakes are comepletely standard at the moment, i guess i should leave it until after modified....

Thanks,
Ry