Didn't do it befor I put in the Moroso drag luanch springs. Under easy braking its fine. When I hit the brakes hard, the left front jumps up and down, feels like the tires loosing contact w/ the road. Any suggestions? I've never experienced anything like this.

 

sounds like a rotor problem, i'd check run out on rotors and look for any mistake you might of made doing the mods.

 

a tire that is worn unevenly or a slight bend in a rim can cause the same effect as well.

 

Could cutting the front springs be the cause of this? If that's the case, then why is only one side doing it? I know they're even high. The rotor was ok.

 

no you would have had to really screw something up to cause a spring to do that.

check your tires, rims, brakes and front steering pieces.

i'd start with your wheels and tires first as most shops will check the balance for free and you should know if your tire is worn unevenly. also, some tires have defects where the metal bands inside can come apart causing the tire to do this......it's just alot easier to check this route.

secondly check the brakes. make sure your hoses are good, the caliper isn't sticking and your rotor isn't warped.

if all of this is great then look to your steering components.

 

Thanks for the help. The part that has me confused is that it only does it under heavy braking. Around town its fine. I can gradually put pressure on the brakes and then all of a sudden it feels like the left front is trying to punch a hole through the asphault.

I'll check out the tires as soon as I can.

There was a good amount of rust on the rotors (the car sat for 6 months waiting for the motor). Do you think this could cause it?

 

I doubt it would be the rims or tires seeing as how it does it only during braking. I would look at the rotor as the main cause.

 

You might also want to check your idler arm to see if its worn out.When I had a similar problem ,my wheels would wobble under hard braking and replacing the idler fixed it.

 

I'm not talking about a woble. I'm talking about something that throws your hands off the damn wheel. Its violent.

I normally thought that when your rotor was warped that you would be able to feel it even if you were braking lightly?

 

Brake hop?

 

Make sure the bearings are seated properly. A lot of times, they can loosen up after some running.

Other than putting the car up on jacks and shaking the crap out of stuff to see what's loose, I don't know what else to tell you.

 

Freebird.....I had the same problem. It was a cracked frame behind the steering box. The frame also separated from the k member. Under heavy braking, the car would bounce up and down, and there was no way in hell you could hold on to the steering wheel, it was so violent. The driver's framerail was so loose I could move it with my hand. Under braking, the rail would move in and out causing the wheels to go all over the place. It was so bad, I had a friend stop in the the middle of a busy intersection and come running after my car........he said my wheel was wobbling so bad he thought the wheel came off.

I ended up welding everything, then adding a wonderbar. Fixed the problem.

 

hmmmmm now there's something I hadn't thought of. I'll put it up on jack stands and check it out. Thanks for everyone's help, I'll let you know what I find. I guess the 551rwtq in a t-top car w/ no suspension mods didn't help.