My father has a 2000 Ranger 4.0L 4X4 with approximately 170k miles. For the past few weeks he's noticed that the truck would pull hard to the right when braking. He also noticed that the right front wheel was black with brake dust when the other wheels were clean. Upon initial inspection, the front right pads had worn almost all the way while the left pads still looked almost new (he replaced the pads two years ago). Since most of the brake system has about 170k miles, he decided to do a complete brake over haul including the following parts:

All parts are left AND right side and are NEW, not rebuilt:
Rubber Brake lines
Calipers and Caliper Carriages
Pads
Rotors
DOT 3 Brake fluid (from brand new bottle purchased this week)

After replacing the above parts and flushing the brake fluid, now the brake pedal is very spongy and the truck still pulls hard to the right .

We bled the brakes for about 30 minutes. First I hooked up my vacuum bleeder which sucked out clean fluid with no bubbles. Then we bled the brakes using the normal procedure of pumping the pedal and opening the valve. Also - my father and I have worked on countless brake jobs and never had this problem.

Any suggestions on the spongy brakes or pulling to the right?? Is DOT 3 the wrong fluid? What else can we replace to make it stop pulling to the right??? We're leaving Saturday for a trip to Maryland (from CT) so this is kind of urgent. THANKS!!!

 

Does it pull to the right when you brake or when you are just going down the road? The old calipers likely had stuck brake pistons that caused the pads to drag on the rotor all the time. The only thing retracting the piston is the twist action on the piston sealing ring, not very much. If the pads were worn out, either the piston didn't retract or the caliper could not move on the slide.
If they pull to the right after driving for a while, stop, and check the temperature near the wheel on both sides. If the left is hotter, it may be dragging, and it might be losing its effectiveness, and cause pulling to the right as the right brake is normal, cool, and doing its job.
What is a 'caliper cage'? Is it the assembly bolted to the spindle that carries the caliper?
If you can get rid of the sponginess by pumping up the brakes a little, you may have either 1)a worn out master cylinder or 2)air in the lines.
I did my calipers, and have bled the brakes 3 or 4 times, but still cannot get the pedal to get firm. I have to pump it a bit, not much, to get the pedal to come up all the way, and once pumped, it will stay if I don't take my foot off the pedal all the way. If I hold the pedal just a bit applied, not enough to slow down the truck, it will remain firm, and apply the brakes immediately when I press harder, while in motion.
It seems I cannot pump up the brakes nearly as well when I am in the garage trying to bleed them. The pedal just doesn't seem to get firm, and I cannot 'feel' when the brakes are pumped up any more. As a matter of fact, they don't seem to 'pump up' when I am sitting still in the garage. The pedal just does not get 'hard' pumping it up in the garage.
If this is what you are experiencing, I'd consider getting a master cylinder.
tom

 

If you have 4 wheel ABS, with all of the lines loose to replace those parts, you might have gotten air into the ABS valving & you'll need a vacuum on the brake lines & a scantool that can actuate the ABS motor, to get the air out of the ABS valving. Sometimes it's a bear to do, so maybe consider having a brake shop with the needed tools have a go at it, if all else fails.

Yes DOT-3 fluid is correct.

More thoughts for consideration, let us know how it goes.