What Causes Brake Hop?

There are many odd things that can happen with a brake system and hopping is one of them. So, what causes brake hop and what can you do to fix it?

What is brake hop? It occurs when you slow down dramatically and the rear wheels start to hop. They literally start bouncing up and down. This causes a loss of stability and is very dangerous. Wheel hop rarely occurs on anything short of a race car when it comes to vehicles, but is common with motorcycles and human powered bikes. Regardless of what you are on, the cause is basically the same thing.

The first thing to understand is the name is misleading. Brake hop occurs while the machine is under braking, but it is not a problem with the brakes. Instead, the error is found in the suspension. The exact problem is different depending on if you are in a car or on a two wheel machine. Still, it can generally be said the dampening system is out of whack.

A suspension serves a number of purposes. The first is to obviously smooth out the ride. A secondary purpose is to keep the wheels on the road. This is known as a dampening system. It is the reverse negative of the normal spring action. While the spring is thought of as cushioning the ride by compressing, it must also work in line with the torque system and other components to expand when the rear end of the car lifts into the air under heavy braking. This expansion is what keeps the tire on the ground.

When the rear suspension of a car is not aligned correctly, brake hop can happen with some frequency. Adding an anti-lift kit to the back of a car can get rid of the problem. So can lowering the tire pressure if the hop just barely happens. Still, this is a very rare problem on a commuter car and you should check to see if a TSB or recall has been issued regarding the problem A TSB is a technical service bulletin.

What causes brake hop? The cause is a suspension that is out of whack in one way or another.

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