Long story short, it pulls pretty good to the left and it's not the typical situation. Alignment is perfect, BJ's are tight, hub bearings are tight, brakes are new and not sticking (no abnormal wear), tires are balanced... still pulls. Tires aren't wearing bad at all so I KNOW it's not alignment. I've got more than 30K on this set already and they've got more than 50% tread left! So I've thunked and thunked and thunked about it and I think I might have an idea... it pulls slow or fast so it really doesn't sound or feel alot like an alignment to me. Yeah, could be brakes but I've checked them multiple times, pads are all the same (been doing this forever, even before I replaced the brakes 20K ago), etc. I've got a hunch it's my box. It's a reman and it's got at least 200K on it... it has play and leaks a hair as well. I went and looked up power steering boxes and from what I understand, there's some pretty sensitive valving inside of it. I've read/heard that boxes and/or pumps can cause wandering or odd behaviors. It would explain why it pulls even if I'm idling down my drive, or why it will randomly just pull itself to the right every now and again. Any other suggestions? Truck's never been hit/wrecked/off-roaded so I doubt it's chassis related. Only thing I have to wonder about is why does it pull harder when I have trailer/load? Thanks in advance, guys!

Link to steering box works: http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/214

 

Have you tried swapping tires from side to side and see if the pull changes? I have seen tires cause this. At least, it might eliminate them as the cause.

 

Yessir... Every tire has been in every spot for the last 30k and it's pulled even before the tires.

 

how are the tie ends?
connecting link?
when my box went out it would have a delay in the steering so it would role right then left and you could not get it to go strait
i have been trough 2 boxs in 30k miles for auto zone but they have the life time on them so all it cost is 2 hours to change.

 

I know its a long shot but check for loose steering box. Mine broke the bolts off, not all at once. Joe

 

Parking brake dragging on one side? U-Joints?

 

Tie rod ends are tight, drag link is tight, u-joints are tight... As for the p-brake, I don't think so. It barely holds the truck from rolling when I put it in gear. Steering box is tight. I did find it loose awhile back, but I tightened the bolts.

 

I know you sad that the brakes are not sticking but, how long have the calipers been on the truck? I had a pull as well and didnt think the brakes where sticking and it ended up being the brakes sticking, one caliper was not releasing all the way, i ended up discovering this by feeling the temp on the rotors after a run on the highway and coasting to a stop. The other thing you can do is park on a very slight hill (find an almost flat area but just enough that the truck rolls in N) in neutral, apply the brake hard and then release it and see if the truck will free wheel in neutral. Just an idea!

Maybe you have already done this

Good luck

Edit: Maybe a bad wheel bearing!

 

"New" calipers, but my luck with remans haven't been good. Thing is, it's done this since I've done the brakes... I would think that after 20k, I'd notice abnormal pad wear? I'll have to try it though... Hub bearings are tight. Checked them many times, but maybe one is dragging? I would think if it was a hub, it would only do it at high speeds?

 

Do you have any roaring/grinding,I have an outer axle shaft that's worn and it pulls to the right. Even with new hubs it pulled,I didn't realize the axle was bad.

 

No noise outta ordinary... no clue as to whether or not they're worn, but I don't recall any of them being bad when I had the front end apart doing seals. I would think it would have to be something else because it pulls harder going slow than fast... 5mph down the drive and it pulls funny.

 

Maybe a collapsed brake line?

 

New rubber lines...

When I did brakes, I did everything: calipers, pads, rotors, rubber lines. I'll pull the wheels off this weekend and look the brakes over really good. I would just think that with 25K on everything and pulling like this since the beginning, I would have noticeable differences in pad wear between the sides. I will say this, though... these cheap Napa rotors are already warped. I don't ride my brakes, I use the engine to brake when pulling a trailer, and alot of my miles are "put-r-in-D-and-roll" for hours and hours on end.

 

NAPA has a couple of grades of rotors I think, I put on NAPA rotors and haven't had any problems so far. I am thinking you have a bad caliper.
jmo

If you have access to a lazer temp gun take it with you and take a temp on the rotors. Just an idea.

 

I agree. I would at least pull the calipers and re-grease the slide pins, then maybe have someone step on the brakes so you can observe them in action.