Brakes Pull To The Left

[hawkfan]

I've been chasing a braking issue where the car pulls to the left. I've replaced BOTH hoses with stainless steel and BOTH calipers and the problem is still there. Both pads are ceramic and about 3-4 months old. The only thing I haven't done is rebuild the rear drums yet. Am I missing any other culprits? The steering wheel actually turns when I take my hands off of it while braking.

 

[TexasT]

Bad suspension components? Ball joints, bushings, tie rod ends , center link?
If any are loose it can effect braking.

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[SFI Cutlass]

Try new rotors. one rotor could have been resurfaced more than the other. I would try swapping them from one side to the other and see if the problem is still there. Also check for play on all of your steering like tie rods or the idler arm that can also cause it. Last check your a arm bushing for any play.


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[turbo nasty]

Bet you have a axle seal leaking in the rear...pull drums and have a look...yes gear oil will make the brakes pull

 

[hawkfan]

Thanks everyone. I just rebuilt the entire front end(bushings, ball joints, tubular upper A arms, center link, tie rods, idler arm, pretty much everything except for the pitman arm) and had it aligned. I forgot to add BOTH rotors are new as well.

The 2 things that stick out in my mind concerning the suspension is:
1. The tech that did the alignment left the driver side upper A arm a little loose
2. I have done NOTHING to the rear brakes yet because I figured only the front brakes could make it 'pull' (WRONG)

I already have all the parts to rebuild the rear drums, so I'll jump on that and get a closer look a the axles for leaks as well. The rear brakes need a rebuild since they can't even hold zero boost right now.

 

[dartguy340]

Rear brakes hanging up would not make the car turn when you let go of the wheel while braking.

 

[turbo nasty]

Rear brakes hanging up would not make the car turn when you let go of the wheel while braking.

Think again....one side in the rear will pull. Gear oil leaks on drum...brake grab hard on the side due to the oil and you'll be countering the swerve...trust me...I have first hand experience with it in my GN and many other platforms.

 

[dartguy340]

Think again....one side in the rear will pull. Gear oil leaks on drum...brake grab hard on the side due to the oil and you'll be countering the swerve...trust me...I have first hand experience with it in my GN and many other platforms.

I've had rear brakes with gear oil on them and usually what would happen, is the rear on the left or right side, would lock up because the car is so much lighter in the back. It never caused the steering wheel to pull to one side.

 

[charlief1]

Think again....one side in the rear will pull. Gear oil leaks on drum...brake grab hard on the side due to the oil and you'll be countering the swerve...trust me...I have first hand experience with it in my GN and many other platforms.

The rear will pull to some degree but since the brakes are biased 60-65% front it's very unusual. The largest portion of the braking is done in the front.

What makes me wonder is you said you rebuilt the entire front end. Did you tighten everything up when the chassis was loaded or with the wheels off the ground? If you did it while it was off the ground the bushings may be in a bind causing the car to change directions under braking. What I'd do is to roll the car on a pair of ramps and loosen the lowers up and re-tighten them and then do the uppers. This will relieve the stress on the bushings and might solve the problem.

 

[TexasT]

If you just had it aligned check those shims and such for tightness where the upper a arm bolts on. I bet somebody left it loose and some fell out.

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[SFI Cutlass]

Also if you haven't yet you should bleed the entire brake system because you could have some air in one of the front brake lines. it can cause one brake caliper to not clamp down as hard.


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[hawkfan]

The rear will pull to some degree but since the brakes are biased 60-65% front it's very unusual. The largest portion of the braking is done in the front.

What makes me wonder is you said you rebuilt the entire front end. Did you tighten everything up when the chassis was loaded or with the wheels off the ground? If you did it while it was off the ground the bushings may be in a bind causing the car to change directions under braking. What I'd do is to roll the car on a pair of ramps and loosen the lowers up and re-tighten them and then do the uppers. This will relieve the stress on the bushings and might solve the problem.

I made sure to load the suspension before torquing everything to spec. I used ramps for the fron suspension and I put a jack under the differential while I torqued the rear upper arms.

 

[hawkfan]

Update on this perplexing problem. I took it to a shop today and the alignment was fine. The rear brakes weren't biased left or right and had no diff or brake fluid on them. They bled the brakes again as well. They couldn't determine what's causing the car to pull to left when braking. The only 'unusual' things they noticed were my 1/2" taller upper ball joints and the inside lips of both front wheels (16x8 GTAs) rubbing against the upper control arms (I guess on sharp turns?). They didn't charge me anything which was cool. I'm gonna take charlief1's advice and 'loosen and re-torque' everything again and see what happens.

Is there ANY way the proportioning valve can cause a problem like this?

 

[charlief1]

The prop valve only separates the front from the rear, not left to right. Just in case check the hard lines for kinks. If it has kinks in it that would reduce the flow just enough to cause a pull. I've seen this happen before.

 

[oliver12]

Replace front rotors.

 

[turboc87gn]

My car was doing the same thing and i had a loose brake hose at the caliper....

 

[hawkfan]

Replace front rotors.

That was the first thing I did. No change. I replaced both brake hoses with SS at the same time.

 

[oliver12]

Make sure the caliper slide pins are greased with sil-glyde or something like that and are moving freely.

 

[charlief1]

The pins themselves don't get lubed. The part that you lube if you want is the sleeve the pin goes through. There's a rubber O ring in the caliper that the sleeve goes through and when the sleeve gets dirty it can bind.

 

[oliver12]

Ya what he said !