Hey everyone, I am looking for some advice. I have a pulling under braking issue that would typically mean I have a caliper not working correctly from either failure of caliper, pad worn uneven, oil from seal leaking, however...... My issue is not showing as any of those that i can see anyway. I pull to the left under the initial application of the brakes, then after a few seconds it pulls to the right, then it goes straight again. It is fine under normal braking but as i live in the woods in the northeast, I have many larger animals that like to run out from the woods and it is down right dangerous when I have to emergency brake. I have a few hundred mile drive coming up in a few weeks to Lake erie with my large camper and I want to see if I can find the problem before i have 8000 pounds in tow. Any advice would be great thanks guys (and of course the ladies )

 

How are the pads wearing? Tires? Steering tight?

 

I assume no codes? That almost sounds like a ABS sensor issue. One caliper actuates and the other activates and releases, pulling you left, then the caliper returns to nornal operation.

 

Hey HeyYou lol, I took the front wheels off yesterday and took the calipers off the pads are in good condition, if anything they were wearing a little more on the bottom so after some google search I decided to put the outer pad on the inside and inside on the outside for both the driver and passenger side. It seems to have helped.... Not 100% sure yet. Steering is the same feeling from when I bought it, not really tight to me, but not sloppy either. I did notice that when I have the front end in the air the passenger side spins freely about 4 to 5 rotations with a minimal amount of force. While the driver side only spins about a 1/4 turn. I am not sure if this is normal because it is a 2500 4x4 and the axle is engaged all the time or if I have a problem with the bearing... No wiggle in the wheels when I pushed up down or left right. I greased my axle U-joints and they don't seem to be binding or anything either. Oh, the calipers when I had the brakes engaged both pushed out to apply pressure and when the pedal was release I saw them both disengage and I was able to manually press (pry slight pressure) the calipers and have the pistons release even more pressure thinking it was possibly a bad line or caliper.

 

bdhunter, I don't have any codes, I definitely have ABS so that is a possibility... I hate to do the part swapping troubleshooting so I might be making a call to my mechanic in the near future.... Who knows...

 

If the bearings feel ok, and not loose, crunchy, or such, they are likely fine.

Is the rest of the steering tight? Tie rod ends, and such?

 

Yeah! everything seems tight... It is a real challenge this one... also it only happens when the brakes heat up to normal operating temps....

 

How old are the pads?

 

there are 12000 miles on them, they still have about 14/32 of wear left using my gauge. They were worn a small amount more on the lower side so I swapped inner and outer pads a few days ago, also used some brake lube on the slide and tray where the pads ride. seems 100% better.

 

That easy? Great.