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Hey all. Here's one for you. A couple of weeks ago I was going home from work and I approached a bend that I've been round more times than I've had hot dinners. It's a 90 degree job so it can't be taken at high speed unless you are a bit crazy. Roads were a bit damp so I was going about 25-30mph and... wheeeeeeeeeeee, back end snapped out. Wasn't too sever, just caught me (and all the cars behind me) by surprise. Now any time I go round a roundabout in the wet I really have to go slllllooooooowwwwwlllly or else the rear end starts to twitch a little. I'm getting a little concerned. The front tyres are nearly brand new, the rears not so new but have loads of tread on them. My tracking is out a bit and I'll be getting it done soon after payday but what could be causing this? Suspension bushes? Suspension in general? My crap driving? Any suggestions appreciated.

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Check your tyre pressures... sounds daft, but makes one hell of a difference to how your car handles! ;)

 

Also check that your rear calipers are releasing fully and aren't grabbing at all as well as getting under the car and checking that the rear axle bushes don't look all cracked and flakey (they're dead if they do!)

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Same thing's happeneing to me mate.

Most probable culprit is the rear bushes on their way out, but another forum member had his changed, and it never stopped.

Stevemac then suggested it could also be worn top mounts which make it go all arse-happy.

Hope someone finally nails the cause of this one down. I could do with knowing where best to spend my $$ :?

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did'nt at some point, some model of c's have adjustable camber on the rear too or am imagining it.......

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my car is like that got new top mounts and the rear brakes ant grabbing

but i have some nice vibra technics rear bushes to put in some time so hoping this will stop it

 

alan

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You could try swapping your tyres front to back to see if the problem changes to bad understeer, at the least it would rule the tyres out.

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You say it caught other cars out, so most likely cause would be a diesel spill.

 

Ah, sorry. When I said it caught everyone behind me out I meant they all got a surprise when my ass went all over the road in front of them.

 

Tyre pressures will get cheked on the way to work, 33psi front & 30 on the rear sound about right? (15 inch Steelies).

 

How do I check the rear brakes for grabbing and how do I sort it if that's the problem?

 

Another thing is the bushes and topmounts. THey sound like a bit of a nightmare to sort out (expensive I mean).

 

It done it again on the way home from work and it's actually starting to REALLY worry me.

 

Thanks for your replies, keep up the suggestions and helpful info

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I thought the manufacturer specs were deemed to be way too high by other people on here? The pressures will get checked on my way to work in the morning anyway, cheers mate.

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i dont know! not read much about pressures on here really!

 

can anyone advise??

 

what should i lower my pressure to, before i go for a spin tomorrow!!!

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use manufacturers specs if you're running standard width/diameter tyres...

 

Rear brakes grabbing can easily be seen if you jack up the rear of the car...

Have a look at the handbrake mechanism when the brake is off, the cam that moves when the handbrake is applied should move ALL the way back to the end stop/rest on the caliper when the handbrake is released. If it doesn't (on either caliper) it needs replacing... (yes, I know you can clean 'em up and get another few months out of 'em, but they will turn around and bite you in the ass.... this is how I wrote my first Corrado off... :| )

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Went to a garage on my way to work and checked the tyre pressures. Now I know it's the garage pressure guage but.....

 

Fronts were 30, not too bad so upped them to 33ish.

Rears were just above 20 so upped them to 30.

 

I'll see how it went when I get home from work. 20psi on the rear.... bugger me. Is that not a tad on the low side??????

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Louie Lungbubble, depends if both are grabbing and how much... it only takes a small amount of braking force on one wheel to unbalance the car enough to feel it...

 

biggrim, yeah, 20psi will mean that the arse end gets all sloppy and moves around quite a bit more than it should... I take it you don't check the pressures very often?!? :|

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Sorry Biggrin, but what do you drive? The VR is savage in thoes situations as I have been caught out on a number of occasions. (Burrrrp!)

Prob seems to be the front end when you go into the cornor at speed and lift off. The other day, (road must have been gressey) I went into cornor at a tad under 80 (way too fast) but you can do this cornor in a normal car at 60ish. Lifted off and had to apply megga loads of opp lock.

In my old VR in a similar incident going down hill into a number of S's I was afraid to hit the breaks, cos if I did, I would have been stuffed. Had to ride the moment :D from that moment I always keep the boot loaded :)

seems to give a little better balance but in an ideal world, I would drop the storm be 40-50mm as she looks abit like an audi A4 Allroad. :lol:

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Henny

 

Not checked them for a while tbh. It's something I rarely do and always mean to do regularly but forget or say "I'll do it tomorrow". Going to do it regularly cause if I don't, tomorrow may never come :(

 

Storm Classic

 

Tis a 92 G60 I drive mate. Lowered a bit on lowering springs and uprated shocks (I think. Done by a previous owner). Mabye I should get my spare back in the boot (read: bby another steelie from the dealer) and that might help. I'll see how the old girl does on the way home tonight. Cheers guys

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