I just spent shitloads of money replacing things. I bought Bing’s TC rods, a Nismo subframe brace, and when I had them installed, I got the rad support stiffened up with sheetmetal so everything in the front end was solid for mounting the brace. I also bought FLCA’s from a silvia with low mileage, but mine seemed good…so I didn’t replace that
It greatly improved turn-in and the car is smoother over bumps and all that, very noticeable difference, but the main reason I got these parts was because I suspected that it would fix my unstable braking.
Let me explain, under normal braking, its fine, but after a certain amount of force is taken by the front suspension from moderate-to stronger braking, something seems to “compress” or “move” in the front suspension system and the steering wheel gets pulled to the right (clockwise), and it seems as car wants to go left. My tie rods are okay, my balljoints seemed fine.
The only suspect I have is a leaking tie rod boot on the driver’s side of the steering rack. Draggone did all the work, he’s pretty sure I have a bad steering rack and that is the cause, judging from the ATF filled boot on the driver’s side. There is a wrong bolt holding the driver’s side of the steering rack to the crossmember (where the bushing clamps), it allows about 1cm of potential movement for the steering rack, because only half of the bolt is threaded. I will get this bolt changed asap. I’m thinking that the 1cm of play could cause the steering rack to move under enough braking force and cause the symptoms I described.
We were going to put several washers in the non-threaded area, but the washer’s were too small in diameter to fit over the bolt.
Summary: When braking hard the wheel turns right, and if I try hold it steady in the center it turns a bit clockwise while it seems as the car is about to turn into the left lane. This is pretty dangerous…I want it fixed ASAP, but I am completely out of money now.
Nope, this happened with my old brakes as well. I recently upgraded to J30 calipers and braided SS lines for the front. They work very well.
I forgot to mention that when I turn hard, I feel some sort of play as well, it will want to wander to another lane once that “compression” occurs. I’m trying to figure out what is moving, the control arm’s angle, the tie rod’s play, the balljoint on the FLCA…the steering rack from the crossmember…who knows. lol
Edit: Upon further thinking, it could also be axial play in the wheel bearings, which would explain the pull to one side under braking. It could also be bad inner tie rods…hmmmm I doubt I can apply this much force when the car is jacked up to see if there’s play.
Replaced the incorrect bolt on the steering rack>crossmember, the rack is on tightly now. The play and alignment shift during heavy braking is still happening.
yea, same thing happens to me sometimes, i have r32/z32 brakes…i just thought its my alignment (caster?)…or the uneven road (bump steer?)…or one wheel brakes harder than the other and makes my steering turn left or right. ive also got poly bushings on my rack and im pretty sure my calipers are fine.
I understand pulling to one side when braking, but an alignment shift, and feeling something “give”, and then return to normal does not seem to be related to unbalanced braking. It also has play when turning hard.
Did you check the ball joints. When they become severly warn they can cause the car to change course while cornering. It happened to me a couple years ago, they were very, very warn out. It’s kinda hard to explain what was happening, but i’ll try. The car would settle into a long curve and then all of a sudden the steering would become ‘light’, and the car would change path slightly, so i would have to turn in more. Felt the same as when you say “the steering wheel gets pulled to the right (clockwise), and it seems as car wants to go left”.
It’s worth a check, they aren’t that expensive to replace either. I also replaced the outer tie rods too, they could have been making the problem worse, but the ball joints were in much worse condition. It’s never a bad thing to replace suspension components, especially since you track your car.
Ball Joints, Inner/Outer Tie Rods, Bushings, and struts, check all those. It may also be the top mounts on the struts. Just give the car a visual then do your typical front end check. Left/right play and up and down play.
There is no play whatsoever. When the TC rods were loose, I could move the strut, along with the control arm, towards the front of the car and back (also a clunk was audible), but when the TC rods were tightened up again, no play at all, in any direction, with the force I’m able to apply, of course.
