Technical UPDATE - Pulling to the right when braking

Until I re trained my mind that “new” parts actually means they have “not yet proven themselves” and “new” no longer equals “good” I had a very hard time.
The supply chain changed the game so there’s new rules to learn.

Get your IR temp gun and go for a ride,
Make some nice easy normal stops that don’t pull and check the brake temps. Should be relatively equal.

Make a few panic stops that cause the pull and check your temps. Equal temps? or pulling side much hotter? That would give you an idea where to focus

 

This is bare bones facts across the board. New parts should come in a box with big Red letters on them that says "Buyer Beware!"

 

I used to work at a dealership where the parts manager would put parts that had been returned as defective, back on the shelf for resale. He firmly believed that it was not possible for a new part not to be any good. Rather, the mechanic that had decided the part was no good had to be in error. Thankfully that was back in the day when most new parts were ok, but we still got bit by the same bad part more than once before we realized what he was doing.

These days new parts need to prove themselves before getting my stamp of approval.

 

Is there a splitter at the master cylinder or some where up front for the front brake line?

 

Especially the remanufactured ones like calipers and master cylinders...

 

Or a collapsed brake line on the left.

 

Is your master cylinder above the brake wheel cylinders. If it is above the wheel cylinders the height of the brake fluid will keep air out of the system. If the master cylinder is below the wheel cylinders then air can enter the wheel cylinders as the fluid drains back to the master cylinder. Of course, air in the system is never good.

Mike

 

Yeah, I’m not completely sold on this one either. It seems more likely that a failed hose would lock up a brake than prevent braking. It’ll be interesting to see if new hoses help.



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In the brake shop I worked in, we would put it on the rollers, an isolate the problem within minutes. Only then was it possible to know where to look for the cause. Some good advice so far, but all are guessing. In the old Ford service manuals it stresses to "diagnose- don't guess".
Problem may be one side 'grabbing' or the opposite side not working. Or a bit of each. There must be a shop that can test brakes.
Here our old cars must be tested every six months for brakes, lights and a whole lot more.
Garpo

 

maybe you hit a fat lady on a Vespa with the right side of the car when you were braking. That might cause it to pull. Check for body damage, on the right side.

 

Bad caliper here, a bad susp part would be in your face upon inspection. You say its a new problem , but have you had an emergency stop before this happened? Like the heat gun idea before throwing parts at it.

 

A simple test of the hoses would be to swap them from side to side. If the problem moves too, bingo.

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Some of you guys are too funny, swapping parts around be it calipers, pads, hoses or wheels is just too much like work! HRP

 

Bingo! Just buy them and swap those out!!!....

 

Plus 2 on the ir temperature gun.

 

Back in the 60's we borrowed a line from Holman-Moody for used parts, "Competition Proven".

 

Wouldn't a stuck or hanging caliper, that dragged, tend to cause a pull all the time when driving that may get worse when the brakes are applied? If it was stuck in the non-apply position, I would think that a brake pull would be more likely on a light application of the brakes and less likely on a hard application of the brakes because the higher pressure on the hard application would have a better chance of unseating what was causing the hang-up.

 

Every failed part was new at one time. Some failed in minutes some in 1000's of miles. Most of the delams I've seen were on nearly new parts that just should have failed QC.

 

It could also be the opposite caliper not getting enough juice , bad casting , clogged line.

 

I will add something new. With a pull on hard braking, don't rule out a bad rear wheel cylinder

 

BUCKLE UP BRENDA!
I WANT TO TRY SOMETHING!

 

HRP.... have you done anything eyet?

As has been stated a caliper sticking or grabbing be it, seized caliper, collapsed flex hose, bad pads etc “should” cause a pull while driving.
Definitely more heat should be on the side hanging up, or seized.

I’m guessing a seized slider pin, loose wheel bearing ( causing the caliper to push back slightly on one side)
Or a sticky caliper or collapsed line that is not causing a caliper to come on fast under hard braking.so the good side applies quick

I would pull the wheels off and look. Most calipers have the pads dragging slightly on the rotor.

You can have “no drag” calipers that use a beveled seal that pulls the piston back further then a straight cut seal, but they are not super common.(Chevy did use them in the 80’s 90’s on s10’s etc.)

Grab a radio, Mrs HRP and a cold beverage of your choice and yank the wheels off.
I’m sure you will have an AHA moment.


Good luck.




Worst case you have a few beverages and get to hit things with hammers, always makes me feel
Better.

 

Interesting, I'll add this. Early this week I had a customer with a '53 Lincoln (4 drum brake) complaining about a pull to the right on hard braking. A complete brake inspection found a seriously stuck LR wheel cylinder. I replaced both rear wheel cylinders and bled and adjusted all brakes. Full disclosure, I did machine front drums (about .004 out of round) and replace front return springs. Road test showed no pull anymore.

 

Probably not your problem because it would pull all the time but I’ll throw it out there.

I had a 62 Chevy with 4 wheel drum that pulled on braking. A little brake was a little pull, a lot of brake was a scary big pull.

There were no visible obvious problems and all usual inspections proved fine. So logically if there’s no problem found then everything works fine,,,, or the problem hasn’t been found yet. Must have to go a little deeper to find the problem.

The problem was found within the wheel cylinders and they were each a different bore size up front. A very obscure and hidden problem that was completely stupid obvious when found.

 

I went out in the garage and turned on the air early this morning, it was already 94 degrees and hotter than a 4 balled tom cat!

After the garage was cooler I started removing the front brake line hoses and had them replaced in record time, I got my daughter to pump the brakes while I bled them.

After lunch it was time to drive the car around the neighborhood and so far so good, I eased out in the main road and got the car up to about 55 MPH and tried a panic stop, no pull what so ever.

I repeated the stop a couple of times and got the same results, I can't say for certain the hoses were the problem but they ended up being the solution.

It could have been a combination of several different things but all I can say is the brakes are working better than ever, I would have drove the car to town and back but it's just too darn hot, I would have drove the car to town and back but it's just too darn hot. HRP

 

Good to know you got it sorted out.

 

Now onto the next damned thing, as I say around here.

 

Okay see above. Your repeating yourself . So it is either drinking too much ,age or the heat..... Glad you found the problem. Your family and your safety is the most important piece.

 

Just teasing .

 

Had a senior moment, it happens. HRP