GQ springs too hard?

[Ross S.]

I've got a 96 patrol LWB with brand new Cooper ATR's on the front. I was driving on wet road the other day and had to stop reasonably quickly for a red light. When I hit the brakes it locked up immediately. After releasing and reapplying, it locked up again, 3 times I did this. I was only doing about 65 to begin with. I had no load on whatsoever.

The only thing I can of is that my springs are too hard. I have standard height heavy duty springs all round. I thought that maybe the heavy duty springs are not allowing the weight to come forward under braking to load up the front wheels to give me traction. Sounds possible to me.

As I say the road was wet but it had been raining considerably most of the day and anything that may have been on the road should have been washed off and it's not a set of lights that cars are usually stopped at as far back as I was when I started braking so their shouldn't have been oil everywhere.

The only other time this has happened to me is when my camper trailer's brakes failed and I was being pushed by a tonne of trailer. I thought the reason was obvious then and I was on my old worn out tyres when that happened.

Is it possible the springs are causing the problem or is it a GQ trait?

[lay80n]

IT is possible that your springs are too hard and this had an effect on your braking capabilities, but there are too many other varriables to make a deffinate statement.

Layto....

[oldbugger]

I have Cooper STs on the front of my GQ and they are absolutely diabolical in the wet on sealed roads...especially the hotmix bitumen......I also have gone from very firm front springs to very supple with OME shocks....its the tyres....great off road but as I said diabolical onroad in the wet.