It will be going back to the shop but wanted to get your feedback too.

Heres the story: new to me truck, I had the rotors and drums turned, now it pulled hard to right upon braking.
Had new upgraded pads put on front and fluid changed, problem solved.

Fast forward 300 miles.

Now it pulls left, sometimes. sometimes it will straighten out (pull gone) after braking for a distance, say 20 feet.

I would call the feeling now as squirrelly when I brake. Not safe and no fun to drive.

Am I barking up the wrong tree? It stopped straight when I got it. Is this a caliper issue or a front end issue or what?


Thanks

Big Jimmy

 

Check and make sure your REAR wheel seals are not leaking fluid into the drum. Adjust up the rear shoes as evenly as you can---if you're not comfortable with the procedure, have the shop do it. A pull under braking will almost always be caused by the rears being out of adjustment. Other things to look at are the soft hoses that go to the front calipers and the calipers themselves, but don't neglect those rear adjusters.

 

This might sound silly, but look and make sure your rear U-bolts are tight. I had an issue with my truck "wandering" lately under hard acceleration and braking and it turned out the driverside rear ubolt was just a little loose. Dodge put a big block in the rear of these trucks and over time and torque, the u-bolts might stretch. Be careful, though, if you try to tighten the u-bolt and it looks like it wants to twist, it might break. If they break, they are EXPENSIVE buggers to replace (don't ask how I know). The other thing to check with a brake wander is the lash in the steering box. When you hit the brakes, it will pull to whatever side the steering box had slop in it. You can tighten it up with the adjustment on the top of the box. Break the jam nut loose and put about a half of a turn on the allen bolt. If this makes things better, adjust it up a little more. Don't go too much, though, because it will wear the gears in the box out prematurely. Just a couple of ideas.

MIke

 

Thanks, I will check these things out. The steering box sounds like it may be part of the prob.

 

Could this be air in the system?
It seems to brake fine the first few minutes I get it going.
Then it starts to pull.

 

Sounds like a rear leak. Oil soaked shoes stick when they get hot. You may not see a leak unless you pull the drums. I had one that completely locked up due to this.