I just had new bearings, upper and lower ball joints and u-joints replaced on the right side by Tires Plus. They are saying I also need new brakes, rotors and calipers. I can do the latter myself.

My question is they told me that the truck pulls right when the brakes are applied because I need new brake equipment mentioned above. Are they pulling my leg? Every time a mechanic looks at brakes they say you either need new or to turn the rotors. I would like some input from the group and your opinions.

Thanks in advance.

 

What do the pads look like?

 

They are very worn and I was planning on replacing soon.

 

Very seldom do you actually need to replace calipers. Far too many get replaced, when the actual problem is the soft line leading to them. Rotors are fairly common..... they are a wear item after all. They *can* be turned, but, if you have to take enough off, to put them below spec, replace them. Brakes are not something to skimp on. My major malfunction with doing brakes at home is: Even brand-spanking-new-out-of-the-box rotors/drums can be a bit warped. You go to all the trouble to put your new brake parts on, only to find that you now get a serious vibration when you step on the pedal...... When I was doing this kind of thing for a living, I would routinely take a couple thousandths off NEW rotors, just to be sure. (and also to prevent me from having to do the job again, for free..... because of a pedal pulsation....) Usually didn't take much. But, 99.99% of the time, I was glad I did.

 

I agree with Hey You. Those rubber/soft lines to the calipers get old, lose flexibility and take a beating up under the wheels. 'Sticky' calipers, in many instances are caused by worn, or more likely, dry pins and pad guides... not worn caliper pistons.
But, let's assume your 20 year truck has low mileage of about 175K with original hoses and calipers. Using Rock Auto pricing...it looks like you could replace hoses, calipers, rotors, pads, guide pins, and hardware for about $100 per wheel using daily driver quality parts.
If you want to do a little more work...A caliper repair kit (no piston), new pins, and boots is about $10-15 per wheel.
Back "in the day" you could get rotors turned for about $5 each. But, the cost of truing a rotor today is getting close to the price of a new Chinese one. That sad fact put my local, decades old, experienced, wheel and brake shop out of business.
If warped rotors is part of the problem...the minimum thickness is stamped on the rotor. Should read about 1.215 inches for a front, 4WD rotor on a '96... according to Bendix and Raybestos. The shop that 'turns' a used rotor will let you know if you're getting too close, and in fact will NOT attempt it, if doing so, shaves it below minimum specs.

 

You need to grease the sliders(pin the caliper moves on) every time you do the breaks. They get dried out and the caliper doesn't want to move. This is on 4X4's.

 

On any vehicle with disc brakes.

Yep, the grease drys out, and then the caliper won't move. Makes for really funny wear patterns on the pads and rotors. Not to mention **** poor brake performance.

 

I know I haven't been on here for awhile, But Just like HeyYou said, BRAKE LINES, are usually the problem, you can either get factory replacement from auto store, or drop a couple more bucks and never have another issue go STEEL BRAIDED.