xtoyz17

If I hop in the truck first thing in the morning the truck stops straight. After the fluids warm up and I've been driving for a bit longer the truck pulls harder and harder to the right.

Driver side line is new, driver side caliper is new, slider pins are new and lubed, pads are new, rotors are new, drums and shoes are new, I have 1-ton wheel cylinders, and adjusting the drums doesn't help.

What am I missing? I know it could be something in the suspension, but why would it get worse after warming up? The truck doesn't do it as bed if I have some weight in the bed, but I think that's because the nose doesn't dive as hard since the rear load sensing valve is letting more fluid get to the back.

What's that mean? I hate these brakes sometimes...


Thanks guys,
Shawn

dozer12216

Always replace calipers as a set.
Is there a noticable difference in torque to rotate each front tire (hot) with vehicle in air? Tire pressure equal? Special offset Wheels? Larger tires? suspension wear or misalignment? Offset of wheels different? Rotate front tires. Right side brake line? Bent suspension component?
Does it pull with standard tires and wheels?

xtoyz17

It's something that started gradually over time, not directly linked to something right after I did it.

Each front wheel rotates pretty freely. No real way to measure the resistance, but I'd say they're the same. Tire pressure is equal at all four corners cold. Wheels are factory, factory spacer is in place, tires are 285/75/16's, best I can tell everything is AOK in the front end. Doesn't drive poorly other than that stupid pull. I have goodyear rotate my tires every 6k miles (free rotation), and it's never changed. I didn't replace anything in the front right corner other than rotors and pads. I honestly can't remember what it did on stock tires. They were bald when I bought the truck and the first thing I did when I got it home was buy tires for the truck. Drove and stopped straight all the way home besides warped rotors making the truck shimmy.

Why should calipers be replaced in sets? It's all autozone lifetime warranty stuff so I'm thinking maybe I'll put a new passenger side caliper on this weekend, get the pads and rotors replaced under warranty because they "squeak and shake", and see what the truck does then.

Thanks for the help so far!
Shawn

nickg

go for a drive use the brakes sparingly, then stop get out and touch each wheel/drum (use caution) they should all have the same heat comming off, or one that is hot! and the rest are cool,the hotter wheel will be the problem, callapsed flexable lines, or siezed calipers can cause this problem

if the problen is in the rear, I find the best/only way to adjust them is pull the axel, adjust the wheel till it locks up and will not turn THEN back it off till you have a slight drag, if you only adjust it till you hear/feel a slight drag you can actually be right out to lunch when adjusting them, and it can still end up being a long way from actually adjusted

my 2cents

dozer12216

Always replace calipers as a set.
Experience! When one goes bad the other is probablly close. Resistance of piston changes. New calipers equals same piston resistance. Every time I have done one caliper, had to do other in less than a year.
Note! Never push old brake fluid back through ABS an into Master Cyliner.

xtoyz17

I think what I may do is adjust the rears so they're completely loose and not engaging. Doing this should eliminate them from the equation.

Any harm in doing this? They should stay loose as long as I don't back up. Correct?

I think I'll pick up another caliper when I get out of work tonight.

Thanks,
Shawn

Busboy

Agreed about changing as a pair but have you tried bleeding them. Perhaps theres a little air in there that heats up and expands causing more of a pull. The air could have gotten in when you pushed back the pucks to change pads.

nickg

Nope if you loosen the rear brakes you will compound your problem, there is no way to loosen them off so that they are even, and if you did more than likely when braking the fronts will lock up under mid to hard braking.
Have you driven and checked for a "hot wheel" yet?
did you adjust the rears properly?

xtoyz17

It was all on the "to-do" list tonight, however believe it or not the front right caliper locked up and started smoking on my dads 01 this afternoon. Since he needs it for a trip this weekend I just spent the past few hours diagnosing the problem and going through the brakes on his.

Good news! His stops straight. Even better news is that I made his lazy-*** buy a vacuum pump so I should REALLY be able to give these brakes a good bleeding. Starting to think maybe I didn't bleed them good enough last time.

The rears are adjusted properly, however I haven't driven the truck enough today to find out if any wheel is hotter than another.

I'll report back tomorrow after I have a chance to go through the rest of whats been recommended.

Thanks for the help Nick!
Shawn

xtoyz17

Back to the top, yet again guys...This issue has been plaguing me for sometime and I've been replacing suspension and brake parts trying to track it down.

Anyways, the suspension is finally tight like it probably was the day it left the dealership. Steering is nice and snug, no play in anything what so ever.

However, the brakes still pull. After driving around with a 1k pounds in the bed the other day and manhandling my truck every time I tried to slow down I hopped out and checked all the wheels. They all feel about the same temperature except for the passenger side front wheel which is piping hot compared to the drivers side front. The drivers side front has a new rubber line and new caliper.

What else can I replace that would be making the right side work harder than the left? Is it possible the old caliper on the passenger side for some reason or another actually stops harder than the new one on the drivers side? Are there any other brake lines I might need to replace? It seems as though one main line feeds the front, and that the drivers side rubber line tee's to both from wheels so I'm not really sure replacing anything up stream will fix it.

Anyways, two ways to ask this question. What makes the passenger side brake too hard? What makes the drivers side brake too soft?

Lost and confused here....

cappykd

The answer is in the piping hot caliper. Bad or over tight wheel bearings? Pull the passengers side caliper and check the pads. Is one more worn then the other? if so, which one? If it's the outside worn more then the caliper slides are sticking. if the inside is worn more then the piston on the new caliper is sticking. Hope that helps.

Kirk

xtoyz17

Pads are wearing even on each side, and if a bearing were bad wouldn't the truck pull down the road as well?

RWDCelicadude

You could have a collapsed line that's not letting the brake release fully. You could also have a stuck piston, again, not releasing fully. Listen to everyone else here, replace both the passenger side caliper and the line and bleed the system when you're done. Chances are extremely good that will fix your problem.

xtoyz17

Replaced the passenger side caliper and hose tonight, bled the brakes good, and adjusted the rears yet again. Pulling is substantially better but it still pulls the wheel to the right. After 25 mins of driving I got out and I could touch both of the rear drums without issue, the drivers side front caliper without issue, and then I burned my hand on the passenger side caliper (the new one).

So now we're up to new wheel cylinders, new shoes, new front brake hoses, new pads, new rotors, new calipers, new track bar, DSS, and good ball joints and tie rod ends.

Anyone got any idea why the front right is getting much hotter than the other corners?

I'm pretty much at a loss and am thinking about selling/trading the truck for a 3rd gen at this point.

cappykd

bad abs unit?