Traction and brake problems

[Ramphex]

So lately I've been having a couple of problems... brake pedal is often STIFF and once I give my foot some more power to press it, ABS kicks in and car stops hard.... Never did that before and it's kind of annoying now... second problem is, in second gear after like 2800-3000RPM I lose traction and tires just start spinning and the car starts sliding to the side, that's on a clean road (no rocks/snow/ice) with 1 month old winter tires with a lot of tread still... so any ideas?

 

[1WhiteSSTC]

i'll start with the tires, ever driven with winter tires before on your cobalt? They don't give very good traction at all on dry roads, maybe your used to going into 2nd and dropping the hammer? With winter tires they'll break loose very easy.

The brakes......have you checked all your rotors/pads? Clear surface? Have you bled your brakes anytime recently?

 

[Ramphex]

Haven't bled the brakes but rotors and pads are like 2 months old and still have plenty of metal on both, rotors aren't warped or anything

 

[1WhiteSSTC]

Haven't bled the brakes but rotors and pads are like 2 months old and still have plenty of metal on both, rotors aren't warped or anything

I would bleed the brakes and see how it feels after.

Are you satisfied with my explanation for the winter tires or do you think I'm wrong?

 

[ff_drift_lol]

your drums are too tight.

 

[1WhiteSSTC]

your drums are too tight.

that was my other thought, a problem with the rear drums but I don't know much about drum brakes so I didn't want to mention it.

 

[ff_drift_lol]

happens all the time. the first few times i did drums i didn't adjust them right and this exact same thing happened.

 

[1WhiteSSTC]

happens all the time. the first few times i did drums i didn't adjust them right and this exact same thing happened.

shitty deal

 

[Ramphex]

I never adjusted them or anything, what could've happened to them?

 

[ff_drift_lol]

your wheel cylinders could be leaking contaminating the shoes and causing cracks, maybe a piece of the shoe lining broke free and is stuck. i've seen that happen ONCE. it's unlikely though. all I can say is do a visual inspection. have you ever removed drums before?

 

[Ramphex]

I haven't removed them on this car, my old car yeah but when I went for inspection they said my drums were still great so I never bothered replacing anything with them

 

[1WhiteSSTC]

I haven't removed them on this car, my old car yeah but when I went for inspection they said my drums were still great so I never bothered replacing anything with them

rear caliper/rotor upgrade would be ftw

 

[Ramphex]

Going to need new wheels, rear axle and brake setup for that, priceyy

 

[ff_drift_lol]

could have something to do with the e brake too...dragging brakes or something

 

[jmarie]

enough air in your tires? my car did this when i didnt have enough air.. freaked me the **** out but it was a little more drastic...

 

[Tom]

Your brake booster may be malfunctioning
or
Worn pads
or
1 or more caliper or wheel cylinder pistons have seized or sticking

or if you have recently replaced the pads,and they have not set in yet...

 

[ff_drift_lol]

drums are pretty straight forward. i still think it's adjusted wrong.

 

[Mintyman01]

Op break problems

I heard most cars adjust the drums when driving in reverse or in park. I've heard of this problem with cobalts when the hand brake isn't used regularly because chevy cobalt adjust the drums when it's parked and the hand brake is applied. Just something I heard from a chevy tech. May or may not be the reason though.

 

[Cobalt Tom]

Going to need new wheels, rear axle and brake setup for that, priceyy

no, there is a kit out there for a rear conversion on our car for not that much money (like sub 600$ if i rem right)