heres the problem. when i apply the brakes coming up to an intersection or anywhere for that matter that requiers a little more than the avg slowing down. the car wants to pull to one side or the other. does not seem to be as sure footed as one would think. mostly happens coming up to intersections when the light has changed to red or yellow and quick to stop. i have no wobble or vibration while brakeing.
here is what i know about my brake system and suspension

2000 cpe 37k miles.
ceramic pads 2 yrs / less than 10000 miles on them
drilled slotted rotors showing no sign of warp/scarring
new abs/pump unit five months ago ( the big thing by the radiator )
new non runflat tires last october all pressures set at 28 psi cold, warm right up to 30-32 hot
new C6 Z06 shocks- seemed to have raised the car a bit
C5 Z06 sways- cant think this would affect this at all
had an alignment done last summer- getting ready to do another

seems as though this problem has gotten more defined lately. i added the Z06 sways and the C6 Z06 shocks just a month ago. ride firmed up and now i seem to notice this pull a bunch. it has no rime nor reason in pulling left or right. just kinda wants to wonder around like wild sometimes... whats going on here????????

 

one of your brake calipers are bent New calipers will run 170-190 each. and those ceramic pads need to be replaced. 10,000 miles on a set of brake pads is way too much.

while your at it, do a brake fluid flush.

 

If it's random right/left, as you say, check your front tire pressures. If they're even, it's your alignment.

 

tire pressures are all set at 28 psi cold, they warm right up to 30-32 quickly. the fluid was completely flushed when the abs/pump/unit was replaced. how would i know if the calipers are bent?? and how/where the heck would i have done that?? 10k is too long to run brake pads?

the alignment issue is kinda what i am thinking but.. why would it pull both ways at random?? it is like the opposite of torque steer in an older turbo front wheel drive car. doing it on hard brakeing rather than pulling all over while excelerating

 

My guess is that your shocks/sways may have changed your ride height slightly, and therefore your camber. Also, runflats need close to zero camber so they don't wear the inner inch or so of the tire. If you imagine yourself standing behind the passenger tire, GM would like the tire to tilt significantly towards the engine, since it gives quicker, easier handling. The tire no longer sits flat on the ground. It's something like this \ and a lot of the weight is only on a small portion of the tire. Any road irregularity or worn suspension parts will cause a pull to one side or the other. Since you put runflats back on, my guess is that the car is a cruiser, not a racer. Get it aligned with as close to zero camber as you can. You'll get even tire wear and good highway handling. I'm not trying to start an alignment flame war.

 

I understand what you are saying about the ride height. i dont think the sways did anything, but i know the shocks did. it went up and stayed up 1/8 inch even after 3 weeks now. i replaced the runflats with NON runflats last october and it helped this same problem untill lately it seems to be worse on the hard brakes. more noticeable after the shock install. knowing that they are NON runflats do you still think the same way as far as the close to zero camber?? and will this adversely affect the handling that i have put all this stuff on to better??

 

If your goal is crisper handling, you have to sacrifice tires to get it. Toe in/out and camber settings trade tire wear for better handling. Zero camber will give you heavier and less agile steering.

It took me a while to find, but here's my source for alignment specs: http://www.vbandp.com/instructions/h...ruct/align.htm - just pick your use and go for it. I'm using the 97-02 Daily Driver specs and I wouldn't change a thing.

 

You haven't mentioned which brand/model of tire you have installed. The Goodyear F1 SuperCar tires on my car tend to "tramline" when there are ruts/ridges in the road. For example, in my area, the last part of the braking zone (near the white line at a light or stop sigm) on some asphalt streets has a depression worn or "dug" into it. If one of my tires gets in one of those ruts, the car will try to "follow" the rut ... and will "pull" to center the tires in the ruts.

Maybe that's what you're experiencing ???

HTH

 

I do not know how you drive, but 10k on your ceramic brakes is not much to me. If you have a stickey caliper it would cause that wheels pad to wear alot more quickly, compare side to side. Seems when ever I have handling problems it is almost always a tire issue. I remember recently when I would hit the brakes rather hard (60 mph) in the wifes Camry, the steering wheel would shake and the front of the veh would hunt a little. The first thing I thought was brakes, but no, they were new. Tires were fairly wore but no real nasty cupping or such, so I put on 4 new. Problem gone, drove like new.

 

You may have excessive toe out which will make the car a little darty especially under braking. Also check your front lower control arm bushings.
Bill

 

Check your toe.

 

its in the shop right now the balance of the GMPP warranty work includes the new front spring that it was suposed to get a couple weeks ago. the driver side bushing was ripped, and you cant get the adjsuster bolts/bushings so.... new spring. so now i can get the height set exactly to stk and get the alignment that it must need. i will have the lower bushings checked out also before the alignment is done.

i sure hope they actually get it done today. i hate rental cars they always act like getting a current model yr car is a great thing i didnt drop a freaking impala off to get worked on guys. i actually enjoy my car. and i have the next two days off i want MY car to drive around in

 

turned out to be the alignement!!! the thing stops very nicely now.
mechanic thinks the bad bushing changeing the ride height about 1/4 inch lower on the driver side had something to do with the front end alignement problem larger. and i got a whole new seat track on the driver side and one on the way for the passenger side. wasnt rockin seat. they broke!! in pieces.