pulling brakes

jvandyke

True Classic
My brakes pull to one side (left) on initial breaking. Just tore 'em down this afternoon and checked pads (look like plenty of meat left) re-greased blocks, bleed. Same, pulls a tad then straight. Sticky caliper? Hoses going bad?
 
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No play in your balljoints tie rods etc? That could also influence the condition.
Did you scrape the sliding surfaces of the carrier and caliper clean as well as the sliding block?
Those would be things to verify.
Could be one hose collapsing slightly, but I think that usually causes sticking brakes. Perhaps the right side hose is swollen, so that one is actually applying less pressure on the right piston?
 
PULLING

ooh yea....check the hoses first. you take them off and you have to bleed the brakes anyway.
I had the same problem, and hitting the brakes would send me into oncoming traffic.
and also..... make sure that the caliper slides are well lubed. you should be able to rock the caliper a little bit if all is good.
mikemo
 
sprayed brake cleaner and wiped down all surfaces, regressed, will jack up front and tug on wheels to check tie rod, steers nice, no slop, I'm betting hoses. Will order some up.
 
Could be sticky a caliper

If it is a caliper, it's most likely the right front one that isn't engaging as quickly as the left. It could be the RF piston seals going bad or the piston/bore clearance gummed up with old fluid.

Or, if it's the left one grabbing, it may be due to contamination of the LF pads & rotor.

You checked the pads, how did the fronts compare, left with right? Was the right side set equally worn when compared with the left? The one with more wear is doing more work.

I've had my vintage cars do this with the brakes. In one instance, it took a second rebuild of the calipers and regular use (shucks!) to keep them clear and working.
 
BFHs I have in abundance, my preferred tool for many many things:)
This one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-joint-separator-99849.html
would seem problematic to get on, there's a stud on the underside of the joint so where would that bottom jaw go?

Don't new ones come with boots? The old boot is shot anyway. So is the other side, should probably do both sides I s'pose.
If they'd made the rear end of the top jaw square (so you could pound on it, or that angle intentional for pounding?) you could separate the two halves and use the top as the pound style, and have two styles in one.

Maybe the lower jaw will fit on the end of the stud? Wait, that's stupid, if you put on the bottom of the stud it's not pushing it off, it just pushing it against itself....duh.
 
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Maybe the lower jaw will fit on the end of the stud? .

Upper jaw fits between the two pieces joined by the ball joint, same place that you would insert the mouth of the pickle fork, lower arm bears on the ball joint stud. Tightening causes the two jaws to move towards one another, forcing the joint stud out of its taper.

Mine works really well, although it's not the Harbor Freight version, it came from IAP. Is the Harbor Freight one as good? Probably.... This is a pretty foolproof little device.
 
Since you already have a BFH

Using the BFH to rap on the bulb where the taper of the ball joint mounts usually pops the joint loose.

You do have to put some effort into the rap, however.

Just an idea to consider.
 
Upper jaw fits between the two pieces joined by the ball joint, same place that you would insert the mouth of the pickle fork, lower arm bears on the ball joint stud. Tightening causes the two jaws to move towards one another, forcing the joint stud out of its taper.

Mine works really well, although it's not the Harbor Freight version, it came from IAP. Is the Harbor Freight one as good? Probably.... This is a pretty foolproof little device.
yep, that makes sense, I just picked up the fork style, local shop had an end in stock! (getting rare but still happens occasionally).
Is the joint supposed to move by hand? It doesn't. Just a bit worried about shelf rot. It's been sitting there for decades I'm sure. There's a little evidence of corrosion but looking past the boot looks okay and there's a nylon (?) liner so I guess it's good to use. Is it wise to oil it a tad before install or is that a no-no?
With any luck I can get it on tonight yet. I love it when I don't have to wait for parts.

I used the two hammer smack method to get the rears free, works great. Don't know about the front steering end. I'll give it a good smack first although I don't care about damaging the old part with the fork anyway. These go bad when the internal liner fails?
 
I just pulled apart my entire front suspension this winter and used the very same tool to pop the tie-rods and control arms from the hub. Always a little scary as you tighten the nut and wait for the loud "bang" -- hoping nothing flys apart and hits you. But very effective :)

...and I'm often concerned that the little fork is going to snap while I bear down on the shaft to dislodge the ball joint but haven't broken one yet. I've used the same HF tool on my daughter's saturn and (if I recall correctly) on my other daughter's PT cruiser before using on all four of the ball-joints on my X.

BFHs I have in abundance, my preferred tool for many many things:)
This one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-joint-separator-99849.html
would seem problematic to get on, there's a stud on the underside of the joint so where would that bottom jaw go?

Don't new ones come with boots? The old boot is shot anyway. So is the other side, should probably do both sides I s'pose.
If they'd made the rear end of the top jaw square (so you could pound on it, or that angle intentional for pounding?) you could separate the two halves and use the top as the pound style, and have two styles in one.

Maybe the lower jaw will fit on the end of the stud? Wait, that's stupid, if you put on the bottom of the stud it's not pushing it off, it just pushing it against itself....duh.
 
"Caliper slides are well lubed..." I've never done this??? Always made sure they were clean when I replaced my pads but always re-assembled dry. What lube would you recommend?


ooh yea....check the hoses first. you take them off and you have to bleed the brakes anyway.
I had the same problem, and hitting the brakes would send me into oncoming traffic.
and also..... make sure that the caliper slides are well lubed. you should be able to rock the caliper a little bit if all is good.
mikemo
 
fork worked fine, new tie rod installed, major slop gone but still a little in there, counted turns to get the old off and put same turns back with new but steering wheel is off a tad, test drive was fine, tracked straight felt good but obviously I need to re-align. And.. it still pulls to the left, although just a tad, cruising at 40mph stab the brakes, does a brief head feint to the left and brakes straight, weird, either there's slop in the rack yet somewhere, or the hoses are bad too, two conditions at once? Don't know, heading out to fix a kid's bike and hopefully go over the front end again. It sure seems drastically reduced but hard to tell. Whatever, will keep tinkering.
 
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And.. it still pulls to the left, although just a tad, cruising at 40mph stab the brakes, does a brief head feint to the right and brakes straight...

Get the alignment spot on and see if that goes away. When the alignment isn't quite right, the geometry changes a bit differently on each side as the weight transfers forward and the suspension compresses.
 
I recommend using.......!

......What lube would you recommend?.....

..Never-seez (US product) for lubricating the brake pad sliders!
It's an aluminium-based paste-type lubricant that 'sticks' brilliantly to metal surfaces.
IMHO, the absolute best stuff for the job you are doing!

cheers, Ian - NZ
 
that's what I use too, anti seize,
torqued up the tie rod, last bit of slop is gone, redid alignment, seems good, flutter gone, brakes still pull a little, will revisit after new hoses installed so the tie rod joint may have been a red herring but it needed fixing and may have worsened the issue
 
I use a silicone based slider lubricant. I bought it at NAPA years ago. Works well, doesn't make a mess and doesn't dry out.

I'll have to check the tube for the name, but it is brake application specific.
 
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