Pulls To The Right

[tlap]

I have an '88 GMC Jimmy full size 4X4, no lift kit. It recently started to pull to the right when the brakes are applied. I have read some of the other posts on the subject, and have tried the following.

1) Inspected front disks, pads are good and rotors look good. Pistons move in and out when applying the brakes.

2) Rear drums, pads are good, however the auto adjusters were frozen, I cleaned and lubed the threads and repeatedly backed up to adjust the brakes.

3) inspected the stearing and wheel cyl. for play, found none.

4) looked for any broken leaf spring bolts or U bolts, or shock mounts.

5) swapped front tires from side to side

After all this it still pulls hard to the right when braking, could a collapsed brake hose cause this? or am I missing something?

Thanks

[zeus8807]

One side is probably not getting the same amount of presure as the other, could be several things, one of the cyl is either worn or sticking, kinked brake line(usually wont do it unless real bad), possibly water or air got into one of the lines, pin hole(you should notice a lose of fluid may be slow). if everything stock it wouldnt be the case, but i saw once a brake line run so close to exhaust on a custom truck it would actually overheat the fluid inside while idling making it usless.

 

inspect all the lines, if you cant find anything, i would bleed the brakes real well, if that doesnt work, then i would bet its a worn cylinder, the seals can wear out inside and cause a leak.

 

that would be my bet

[tlap]

I did bleed the brakes, it helped some. I have not seen any indication of a leak in the lines, the exhaust and all the brake lines are stock, so I dont think it would be boiling the brake fluid. I will take apart the cyl. and check that too.

Thanks.

[Draenor]

How do the pads look? Is one side worn out more than the other? My guess, since you bleed out the brakes, is a sticking brake caliper. You may have to remove it and grease the guide pins it slides on.

[tlap]

The pads have at least 1/4 to 3/8" thickness, and are the same on both sides. I will grease the guide pins also while I have the calipers out.

Thanks

[Draenor]

The pads have at least 1/4 to 3/8" thickness, and are the same on both sides. I will grease the guide pins also while I have the calipers out.

Thanks

If that doesnt work, look to the proportioning valve. Sometimes, I would completely flush a vehicle's brake system with a whole quart of fluid before I get all the crud out.

[93Sierra]

does it pull the second you ease into the brake peddle?.....sure sounds like a frozen caliper

[tlap]

OK, after working on it most of the weekend, here is where I am. We replaced the calipers with NAPA rebuilt parts, Completely flushed the system with new fluid, and bled the system. It STILL pulls to the right some! I did notice that with vehicle weight on the suspension, and turning the steering wheel from lock to lock, there is a bit of a "clunk" sound. It turns out that the clunk is comming from the steering arm ball joint. I guess that if there is wear at that ball joint, there is probably wear at the other 3 as well.

So now I am thinking, just replace all 4 ball joints? I mean what els could it be?

[facn8me]

I've seen the rubber brake lines cause this problem. Inside starts coming apart and restricts flow.

[tlap]

Ok, thanks facn8, I will try that next.

[93Sierra]

you need 2 people for this test....with truck in park have helper beside right front wheel while you hold brakes on and put in drive?....any movement of wheel?....put in reverse and see if the wheel moves back

 

 

had a similar problem here and found a bad tie rod end that way

[tlap]

Today we replaced both front rubber brake lines, and that seemed to solve the problem. Thanks for the help every one.