Brakes! Not happy with em'

[vy-346]

That bad shudder in the pedal when braking hard will be the ABS activating.... go into some gravel and try it.. doesn't take much and it sends a big shudder through the pedal and you can also hear it.

 

[hkmonaro68]

Yep! Thanks for that. But should the pedal travel be so long?

If you feel like the pedal is too long, definately have it checked out. My pedal on the vz wagon starts to have feel at 1/4 travel.

 

[Marzz]

Yer Ronaldw, thats what I used to do with my POS Nissan Vectra, Bronco, Kingswood, XF Wagon, GTR-XU1, HT 350 Monaro, (think thats all of them!!). So maybe it's something I have to get used to in the VZ!

With regard to the shudder QuIcKsV6, it feels/seems to be coming from the passenger side more than anywhere else....

And YES highlander_69r, it doesn't inspire much confidence....

I think I may take your advice hkmonaro68 and get the local dealer to check it out, I'm just not happy with it.

Our old Magna and the wifes Mazda 3 (both with ABS) have nowhere near the travel the VZ has... Best I get it looked at I think.

Thanks for all the input people and I'll post back when I have more info from the dealer.

 

[squire_j]

I haven't done alot of dirt/gravel driving, but not long after I picked up my VZ ute i found a straight bit of fairly new bitument and bottomed out the brake pedal at about 70km/h and the ABS didn't even seem to kick in. She just stopped, no questions asked.

I'll let you (or my insurance company) know once i find a bit of dirt or gravel to play with.

 

[Ronaldw]

When I first got a car with ABS which was a VS I was told to find a spot away from traffic accelerate to about 60kph and press the brake pedal as hard down as possible, the car should stop without veering to either side.
With travel in my VS it used to go down quite a bit that it worried me to so I took it to the dealer and they said it was ok, some go down further than others. However I would get it checked out if it worries you as you don't want any problems when they are needed in an emergency.

 

[markovr]

My oct 2004 built vz (stock pads and discs) has next to no travel before you feel the brakes start to bite....better than my vr with vt brakes and slotted discs and vt master/booster .The vz's actual braking at light application isnt that great but as you progressively push harder the pads seem to bite to the stage that they actually stop quite well.
The vr with qfm pads bite better at light application (although the pedal is a little lower but not much)and continue to bite as you stand on them harder but neither of them are anywhere near half travel when you stand on them.

 

[Troy711]

i heard somewhere that you should 'practise' an emergencey stop atleast once a year so you know what it feels like when the time comes that you have to do it for real

 

[Willz]

On a bit of a side track here but i found a good deal of improvement in braking after i had a nolthane style (hard rubber) radius rod bush kit installed in my old vx. it was installed by pedders, but its all the same shite different packet kinda stuff. it also came with a shim that could be installed 2 ways which i was told could allow you two different settings (sport and normal). my old radius rod bushes were split after about 60k worth of driving and the fluid filling in them had all leaked out (guy was rather impressed how well id killed them :yeah: )

in the end i had dba slotted + pbr perfomance pads fitted as well but that arguably only decreased fade, gave it more bite.

have ur brakes bled and making sure the brake fluid is all topped up makes a difference to pedal feel to.

i have to admit after getting the new car (vz) ive been a bit disappointed with the brakes and really do miss my old S pac :cry:

im actually saving up now to get my radius rod bushes changed (new car only has 20k on it now) but i feel it gave a good improvement before

 

[Marzz]

Ok, going to the dealer tomorrow to find out if all is well.
But, I've noticed something else!!!
Haven't tried this with the engine off yet. I can push the pedal all the way to the floor while the car is running, is this normal????

 

[Marzz]

OK, the local dealer screwed me around saying they'd double booked (how the f#$% can you do that when it's computerised??)and that they were short staffed so couldn't look at my car. I don't think I'll be going back there..........:realangry

Called a couple of other dealers, but was told I had to book the car in.....

Called a mechanic friend of mine and he said to come on over and he'll test drive it as he was very busy too. He took it for a drive, came back, put it straight on the hoist, took all four wheels off, pulled the pads out (they're stuffed after only 34K), checked the disc's (two are warped, that explains the shake), checked the moisture level in the brake fluid (nifty little gadget), that was ok.

So, the scenario for now is, next week get all the disc's machined and all the pads replaced. He seems to think that the rear pads had been replaced with some real el-cheapo jobs because the pad material on one was breaking away and they both look like they've been over heated. Flush the old brake fluid, bleed the whole system and see how the pedal responds. If this doesn't solve the problem, he's pretty sure the master cylinder will be stuffed and I should demand that the dealer fix it under warranty.

I know I should get the dealer to do all the work under warranty, but I just don't have faith in my dealer (or any for that matter) and they don't value my time. With my friendly mechanic, at least I get shown all the parts removed and all the new parts installed. Yes, it will cost me a few hundred $$$, but I cart my family around in this thing and the last thing I need is a brake failure.

Anyway, will report back when the disc's, pad's and brake fluid have been fixed....

Marz.