Would a steering damper help with bump steer on a '68 2wd LB truck? What would make my front brakes pull to the left only when the drums get hot? When I'm coming to a gradual stop at a light or stop sign the steering wheel will turn several turns to the right if I let go of it, and it only does it when the drums get hot. The drums have been turned, new wheel and master cylinders, brake springs and shoes,and hoses. None of the lines are crimped or crushed and the proportioning valve is centered.

 

I can't explain for sure why only when hot, but I think I would get NEW drums and shoes. Possibly one drum has beed turned considerably more than the other or possibly manufactured at a different casting plant that ended up with a different wall thickness or diferent cast-iron alloy material than the other. Therefore it heats up faster and/or fades faster making it weaker than the other. Not that one is unsafe or out of tolerance, but possibly they just don't match in some way or another.

 

Have you tried adjusting the brake shoes? It could be that the star adjuster is frozen. When I do a brake job, I will disassemble the star adjuster, clean it and apply anti-seize to the parts.

 

I agree with LikeM. This is a problem even some "experts" overlook. I had a car come in with the same problem once and I was the 4th shop to look at it. Someone had replaced one of the drums and reused the other since it apparently was within wear specs. There was still over .090 difference between the two. Replacing the other drum fixed the problem.

 

Thank's for those replies. The drums being different makes sense. Especially since everything on this truck has been a piece of this and a half-dozen of the other. I did have all four drums turned at the same time and checked to make sure that the adjusters were working properly.

 

Some shops don't pay that close of attention to the size of the drums when they turn them and may take a lot more out of one to get rid of a groove. If I had to cut more out of one I would take the corresponding amount out of the other to keep them equal. What sometimes happens is the first one they turn is still within specs but at the high end of the wear limits. The next one can't be cleaned up and stay within specs so they replace it. The only way this can be done satisfactorly is to turn the new one out to the max to match the worn out one, which doesn't make sense. In this case you should replace both even though the one is still within specs.