I have a big problem with my car.
I have a 98 base sedan. My car keeps spinning out around turns. this has been going on now for a year. I thought maybe i'm just driving my car too fast, but i dont think my car should spin out that easily. The last time i got my oil changed the mechanic said i needed a new rear strut or something around that. he gave me a quote of 450 dollars, i dont have money for that, so i asked him if it was broken or just wearing out he said wearing, so i asked him, if it brakes when i'm on the highway am i going to crash the car and he said no, so that was good enough for me. BUT I almost crashed my car several times already on curvy backroads.What happens is i go to tap the brakes to go around a corner and the back brakes lock up and i end up in the other lane backwards. fun but scary as hell. this only happens when the roads are wet. this also happened on a gravel dusted road. BTW this only happens during left hand turns.
so what is the problem? Is the mechanic doggin me, or are the 2 related? Is my car just a crappy ride in wet conditions? any help would be great,
thanks
It honestly sounds like your tires are bald in the rear. Were your rear tires ever in the front of your vehicle and then rotated to the rear? Also, are your tires the stock tires?
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
wow.. please just stop driving that death trap and take it to a mechanic and fix your suspension!!!!!!!
have you even checked your tires? if their directional tires, are they even going in the right direction? i know i had a problem like that w/ my old rims. i had my whole car painted and the shop i went to decided to rotate the tires, well it wasn a bad idea expect they were directional tires and you can swap sides w/ them. needless to say all 4 tires were backwards and i didnt even notice til i drove in the rain and i couldnt go over 45mph w/o feeling like i was gonna loose control
I doubt its your suspension. I drove my car for a couple years with all 4 shocks broken and never had any problems. Definatey check those tires and only brake in a straight line(not around the corners...).
Check the tires and check the rear brakes.
Is your ABS light on? Does the ABS activate when this happens?
Ok. Where to start.
The base sedan has 14" rims, which handle like crap compared to even 15". 16" and 17" are about the best.
What tires do you have on there? Cheap no-name $30-special tires? What's the taction rating? "C"? Tread life? "500+"?
Are the tires bald? Are they directional?
These are directional for instance:
These are non-directional:
Looking down on the tires from the top, they should point forward.
You might have sticky drum brakes, hosing them down with brake clean could fix the problem.
Remember you have no sway bars, your struts are shot (if they're still stock, which they probably are), no strut braces, mounts wear out easily on j-bodies, they have the stance of an SUV, and are really not mean to be driven like a maniac.
That said, with the proper modifications our cars will handle feeking awsome. But if you don't have the $450 for new stuts (which is @!#$ expensive by the way); you don't have the $1000 or more to do a good suspension.
First thing is that when you charge into a corner the majority of the weight of the car is at the front. when you let off the gas to apply the brake, even more weight is transfered to the front. therefore, making the rear of the car very light. so if you have poor tires and bad rear suspension then your likely to have one tire off the ground making everything even worse. brake before the turn and drive through the corner. don't brake in the corner. also get the sh!t fixed.
sean M wrote:I have a big problem with my car.
sean M wrote:this only happens when the roads are wet.
the roads are wet, you should'nt be going that fast
sean M wrote:this also happened on a gravel dusted road.
it's gravel, you should'nt be going that fast
sean M wrote:BTW this only happens during left hand turns.
that's just weird
you should brake before you enter the turn.
from what you've described, your not ready to trail brake, or try and lift. GO FIND AN AUTOCROSS AND LEARN, some suspension that's good for twisties would be good too.
at 450, you could get yourself some adjustable AGX's off e-bay and install them yourself.
when you "tap" the brakes your transferring the weight of the car to the front, when you turn at the same time, or just after the natural tendency is going to be for your car to oversteer, because there's not enough weight on those back tires to provide enough grip.
overall your obviously driving faster than you can handle, back off the accelerator before you or someone else gets hurt, find some autocrosses and learn car control.
and secondly don't do crap like that on gravel roads, or wet roads, unless it's in a controlled environment
-Chris
Here are a couple of things to check:
1.) Left front strut is shot
2.) Left rear strut is shot
3.) Rear drums could be contaminated.
If your struts are shot, there would be excessive weight transfer which would unload the other tires and cause piss poor handling.
jackass- if he's doing it while only turning left, it shifts weight to the right side of the vehicle, so it should be the right side he's checking
Zach wrote:jackass- if he's doing it while only turning left, it shifts weight to the right side of the vehicle, so it should be the right side he's checking
Duh.
Brain fart strikes again.
These ROCK!!!
lol
sorry to be off topic
have you tried slowing down
L33tJbody (Brandon Gathye) wrote:
These ROCK!!!
lol
sorry to be off topic
have you tried slowing down
Bridgestone Potenza RE750s. That's what I've got going on when I finish my car.
check tire pressure
less pressure in rear causes oversteer
I ain't callin u a gold digga,but you ain't messin wit a broke cracka
IamRascal wrote:sean M wrote:I have a big problem with my car.
sean M wrote:this only happens when the roads are wet.
the roads are wet, you should'nt be going that fast
sean M wrote:this also happened on a gravel dusted road.
it's gravel, you should'nt be going that fast
sean M wrote:BTW this only happens during left hand turns.
that's just weird
you should brake before you enter the turn.
from what you've described, your not ready to trail brake, or try and lift. GO FIND AN AUTOCROSS AND LEARN, some suspension that's good for twisties would be good too.
at 450, you could get yourself some adjustable AGX's off e-bay and install them yourself.
when you "tap" the brakes your transferring the weight of the car to the front, when you turn at the same time, or just after the natural tendency is going to be for your car to oversteer, because there's not enough weight on those back tires to provide enough grip.
overall your obviously driving faster than you can handle, back off the accelerator before you or someone else gets hurt, find some autocrosses and learn car control.
and secondly don't do crap like that on gravel roads, or wet roads, unless it's in a controlled environment
agreed with everything said there.....
wet roads and spining out, you have to be going to fast....
gravel roads? obviously most street tires no matter the style are not made for gripping gravel.
back brakes locking up, then someone adjusted em wrong, OR something is sticking...
from everything you posted, it merely sounds like your driving like you think you have a go kart, but you dont...
You better check all of the above stated b4 you go out driving how you are (which you shouldn't do anyways). If you don't have the money or the know how sell your car buy bike and work then buy a better car!
sounds to me like someone did ur rear brakes wrong.. that and you are DEF Driving TOO FAST.. i just did my back brakes the person before me did them wrong i think its some what of a common problem.. they tend to lock up alot or mine use to alot.. especiall around corners.. slowly
i'm just glad you live in st. louis and not michigan, get your head checked while you're at it.
Check your wheel cylinders for the back brakes. It is possible for them to be leaking and there be fluid on the shoes causing the brake to lock. (Yes it is possible. I work extended warranty for cars. Get that at least once a week)
Also I have a condition on my left rear brake where it whill lock up when I apply the pedal. I have found out that the shoes are glazed over and the drum is just barely warped.
Two things for ya to check out.
ahh thanks for the info.
I think its a combination of the struts, its that right, and the rear brakes. because to my knowled the brakes should be instaled right if the factory instaled them right. yeah i know, the back hasnt been replaced yet. so they are probably just worn to @!#$ by now.
but I'm not driving too fast in the rain, just slower than when the roads are dry, not necicarily under the speed limit, but slow enough that this shouldnt happen. My sis has a 2003 cavalier that does just as fine in the rain when i drive it at the same speeds.
ohh, the gravel part, i meant like after it rains hard, the gravel from the side of the road washes over the pavement, and after it dries it becomes "gravel dusted pavement." just what i call it...
but the tire pressure is definitly fine i check it every week. and I have twice as much tread on the rear tires than the front.
its not oversteer, its just 180* spin outs.
is there any physical signs to look for, other than the spinning out, to see if the rear strut is for sure broken? is there a ride height difference or something?
I just looked at the quote the shop gave me and it reads "rear strut" so its just one, and i guess its the right then.
I think i will just drive slower in the rain.
already ahead of getting a new car. I have been saving for 2 years to get a cobalt 2.4 ss.
I wanna pay in full, or close to it.
thanks for the help guys.
Quote:
but I'm not driving too fast in the rain, just slower than when the roads are dry, not necicarily under the speed limit, but slow enough that this shouldnt happen.
so you ARE driving above the speed limits in the rain....yea its really part your driving.
water in between the tires and the road cause a loss of traction...
its your struts, possibly the tension on the rear brakes is too much, but especally your driving....
remember this, al unser jr once said ...
"a good driver can adjust to any road conditions and not really have a problem.
a great driver can make the worst car look like it drives like a champ
a bad driver can make a million dollar car look like it drives with no tires just wheels"
dude, you are spinning out in a car with understeer and doing it in the rain.... thats not good.
'99 2200 LS CX1 Sport
