braking woes

[lotustonybassplayer]

I have an issue where the car pulls/dives to the left under heavy braking. under gentle braking it seems fairly normal. The car has a standard set up. I replaced the front calipers and discs/pads new braided hoses. No difference, replaced the proportioning valves with the dapinky set up as i had an imbalance always showed up on the mot, No difference. I have replaced the rear calipers I sourced from rock auto No difference. I Have now replaced the master cylinder with the "upgraded" from johanvanboven's thread, No difference. I have been up to my local friendly mot place and put the car on the rollers I have 275 on the front on both calipers and 90 on both calipers at the rear so no imbalances. The car drives in a straight line with hands off the wheel ( when i deemed it safe to do so ! ) all new tyres with correct pressures. the suspension seems fine. Ideas comments ? just to add the tester noticed my handbrake cables appear to be different sizes the inner cable on the offside is a smaller diameter and this is the side that is marginal at test time !

[Rambo]

Having done all that work and had it thoroughly checked out, my own thoughts would turn to suspension/shock absorbers/springs........

But, then again, you say it seems fine. Have you had everything checked ? What's it like on a bounce test ?

[Brit-Car-Nut]

When you step on the brakes, the entire weight of the car is trying to go forward and the caliper is trying to prevent that.

I would suggest that you look into the inner TCA .TCA Strut bushes or the upper and lower ball joint since if any of them is bad, the TCA or hub carrier will move back and actually try to steer the car to the left.

The shocks will cause a weird "bouncing" sensation when stopping but rarely will they cause it to self-steer.

Upper arm bushes are also suspect, but they wouldn't cause as much brake steer as the lower ones.

[Rambo]

Yes, check those TCA's very carefully, as John suggests

When I was out about 5 years ago in my collapso red I deliberately tried an emergency stop. The car pulled violently to the left and came to a stop. When I started up again the steering pulled to the left all the time accompanied by knocking. Further inspection revealed that the N/S TCA had deformed under the very heavy braking shunting the wheel back about an inch towards the back of the wheel arch, rendering the car undriveable

[Giniw]

Wow Oo
Was it in a very bad condition? Any photo?

[Simon_P]

I had this on the Green car. When I rebuilt the suspension I discovered that the n/s damper was providing no damping and the lower raft bushes were becoming unbonded. After the rebuild it didn't pull to the left.

I have noticed that it is common for the n/s front to lock first and have put it down to weigh distribution.
Extrapolating that theory (and it is a theory) the lack of damping would allow greater /faster weight transfer which would provide a greater breaking force on the nsf and hence pull.

Second theory is shot raft lower bushes allowing too much toe out which will steer you into the ditch.

The n/s suspension wears out faster as it goes over more drains, potholes and manhole covers.

[lotustonybassplayer]

thanks for the pointers, will try some further investigation work on the the suspension. currently building a shed/work area on the back of my garage so i can have more room to work on the car