Why does my car swerve when I brake?

headbussaboi · 04-19-2005, 06:36 PM

OK, I was driving on the highway and everything seemed normal like it does everyday. Then when I was exiting the highway, my steering wheel felt a little weird jerk (kinda like if one of your tires pop and then the steering wheel starts to swerve). Since then, everytime I brake to a certain limit, my steering wheel would slowly swerve to the passenger side and the car's steering turns towards that side too. Even if I raised my car up, I wouldn't be able to tell what I'm looking for, so what's wrong here?

By the way, I have KYB GR-2's and Dropzone coilovers all around with R-1 camber kits. I have not taken the car for an alignment yet, and it's been about 2,000 miles since the new suspension was put on.

93accordexcoupe · 04-19-2005, 06:40 PM

thats in need of a good front end alignment

styrofoamnail · 04-19-2005, 06:41 PM

Always always always align after any sort of suspension/axle install it will keep your wallet and tires happy in the long run. As for the weird swerving I wouldnt exactly know, but the alignment shop should be able to point the problem out to you. then you could go from there.

93accordexcoupe · 04-19-2005, 06:47 PM

oh i didnt read that he said brakes, i skimmed through it and saw that on the highway it swerves, makes sense that the brakes arent acting together and one grabs harder than another tho

headbussaboi · 04-19-2005, 06:53 PM

Tomarrow is my day off work. I might as well get my lazy ass off the couch and take my car to the alignment shop just to staighten things out a bit. The only reason I haven't had my alignment done was because I didn't have time to put washers in the rear yet.

headbussaboi · 04-19-2005, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fizzbob7

you may have a stuck caliper that isn't clamping as hard therfore the one that IS working right is slowing that wheel down more and forcing you to that side.......conversely, you may have one that is not retracting all the way and binding down further......just check out the calipers and if they seem fine, it's probably a brake line that's not letting the fluid flow correctly.......a way to check all of this is to see how tight it is when you spin it by hand, then if it loosens up when you open the bleeder valve, it's the caliper, if it doesn't change, loosen the brake line and then if it's more free, it's the line

Does that mean I will need to bleed my brakes afterwards? If it does, then I might as well put in new brakes and rotors for the front and rear. The brake pads are still thick but the rotors seem warped.

headbussaboi · 04-19-2005, 07:03 PM

Thanks for the quick response guys!

headbussaboi · 04-20-2005, 06:17 PM

Anyways, I checked today and one of my bolts for the front camber on the passenger side was broken. I replaced both fronts with a new set and now the suspension is back to normal. How did the bolt break?... it wasn't really tight when I first put it on. Once again; operator error and the price to pay was a new set of front camber kit.

04-19-2005, 06:36 PM	#1
headbussaboi CB7tuner Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 360	Why does my car swerve when I brake? OK, I was driving on the highway and everything seemed normal like it does everyday. Then when I was exiting the highway, my steering wheel felt a little weird jerk (kinda like if one of your tires pop and then the steering wheel starts to swerve). Since then, everytime I brake to a certain limit, my steering wheel would slowly swerve to the passenger side and the car's steering turns towards that side too. Even if I raised my car up, I wouldn't be able to tell what I'm looking for, so what's wrong here? By the way, I have KYB GR-2's and Dropzone coilovers all around with R-1 camber kits. I have not taken the car for an alignment yet, and it's been about 2,000 miles since the new suspension was put on.

04-19-2005, 06:40 PM	#2
93accordexcoupe Contributing Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: New Milford, CT Weapon: H22a,M2b4 i/h/e Posts: 6,003	thats in need of a good front end alignment __________________

04-19-2005, 06:47 PM	#4
93accordexcoupe Contributing Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: New Milford, CT Weapon: H22a,M2b4 i/h/e Posts: 6,003	oh i didnt read that he said brakes, i skimmed through it and saw that on the highway it swerves, makes sense that the brakes arent acting together and one grabs harder than another tho __________________

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04-19-2005, 06:41 PM	#3
styrofoamnail Newcomer Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 6	Always always always align after any sort of suspension/axle install it will keep your wallet and tires happy in the long run. As for the weird swerving I wouldnt exactly know, but the alignment shop should be able to point the problem out to you. then you could go from there.

04-19-2005, 06:53 PM	#5
headbussaboi CB7tuner Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 360	Tomarrow is my day off work. I might as well get my lazy ass off the couch and take my car to the alignment shop just to staighten things out a bit. The only reason I haven't had my alignment done was because I didn't have time to put washers in the rear yet.

04-19-2005, 07:03 PM	#7
headbussaboi CB7tuner Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 360	Thanks for the quick response guys!

04-20-2005, 06:17 PM	#8
headbussaboi CB7tuner Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 360	Anyways, I checked today and one of my bolts for the front camber on the passenger side was broken. I replaced both fronts with a new set and now the suspension is back to normal. How did the bolt break?... it wasn't really tight when I first put it on. Once again; operator error and the price to pay was a new set of front camber kit.