Brakes skidding

[Paul DJ]

Hello I wonder if any of you good people can help me. Ive got a vauxhall Agila 2009 and sometimes when I brake the car skids forward a good few yards. I ve just got a new MOT and the mechanic said my brakes are good, but Im not so sure. It used to skid forward on a wet road but now on average once a day it does the same on a dry road. Ive got brand new tyres and pads. Many thanks

[trails]

You are the Rock and I claim my five pounds.

Edited by trails on Wednesday 14th August 18:43

[Ham_and_Jam]

Is there a PH league table of strange posts that this qualifies for?

[languagetimothy]

What do you mean “skids forward “? Do the brakes lock the wheel or is the ABS sort of working but not braking very well?

[Decky_Q]

It could be an alignment issue, with the two wheels working against each others grip, or could be worn wishbone bushes allowing too much movement under braking which again points the wheels in different directions and can cause low grip.

That's where I would start.

[stevieturbo]

you have to wonder if a lot of these posts are AI spambots.

[E-bmw]

Paul DJ said:

Hello I wonder if any of you good people can help me. Ive got a vauxhall Agila 2009 and sometimes when I brake the car skids forward a good few yards. I ve just got a new MOT and the mechanic said my brakes are good, but Im not so sure. It used to skid forward on a wet road but now on average once a day it does the same on a dry road. Ive got brand new tyres and pads. Many thanks

I am guessing the tyres are chinese cr@p.

[Paul DJ]

When I brake, normally its fine but other times the car just carrys on about 6 feet or so. Its like my wheels have locked. If it was the wheels or bearings etc, why doesnt it do it all the time?

[trails]

stevieturbo said:

you have to wonder if a lot of these posts are AI spambots.

Cannot be genuine...but still likely to run for pages.

[Abbott]

Paul DJ said:

When I brake, normally its fine but other times the car just carrys on about 6 feet or so. Its like my wheels have locked. If it was the wheels or bearings etc, why doesnt it do it all the time?

What make of tyres do you have fitted

[Monkeylegend]

Paul DJ said:

When I brake, normally its fine but other times the car just carrys on about 6 feet or so. Its like my wheels have locked. If it was the wheels or bearings etc, why doesnt it do it all the time?

Does your car have ABS?

Please tell me you at least know what ABS is.

[Pica-Pica]

Many, if not most, cars have a threshold below which ABS does not work. It is usually about 4 mph. If you brake hard to bring the car to a stop, and the surface is greasy or covered in wet leaves, the car’s wheels will lock and the tyres slide. The correct braking technique should be to ease off the brake pedal in the last few metres. The brake pedal is not a switch, it can and should be modulated. Eg., brake lightly at first to settle the car into deceleration, and to aid the comfort of passengers, then brake harder, and finally ease off as you come to the stopping point, but no so much as to allow the car to keep rolling. It is something that needs to be practised.

The assumption is that the brake system is in good condition.

[InitialDave]

Are the wheels locking up, or is the car not actually applying the brakes completely? Do you feel juddering through the pedal?

I have, a long time ago, had an ABS fault on a car where it would falsely detect a locked wheel and so disengage that caliper, resulting in a significant reduction in braking. It didn't flag up a warning light, because from the point of view of the car's system, it was working correctly.

But that's a very rare issue to have, normally any discrepancy in an ABS system would mean it's disabled and the warning light would be on the dash.

[Paul DJ]

Thanks for replying. yes I do think its a fault on the abs, but no warning light on dash. Yes now you mention it, there is a juddering through the pedal. It is the same if I brake very sharply or slowly brake

[GreenV8S]

This feels remarkably like the thread by that other idiot who thinks the brakes work differently on the side they 'normally instinctively go to brake on'.

[Abbott]

Paul DJ said:

Thanks for replying. yes I do think its a fault on the abs, but no warning light on dash. Yes now you mention it, there is a juddering through the pedal. It is the same if I brake very sharply or slowly brake

Warped discs

[PistonAFC]

Abbott said:

Warped discs

can't be warped unless wafer thin or he managed to heat them to 400 degrees C whilst braking.

[vetrof]

Defective ABS Reluctor Ring

[E-bmw]

Defective driver.

[Bluevanman]

Get the mechanic to take it for a test drive.
The juddering under braking is the ABS working, that's what ABS does.