Problem: Van pulls to the left when driving at any speed, and pulls to the right when braking at any speed (the higher the greater).

1998 E350 Van.
Purchased: 03/2017 w/ 35,909 Miles (Federal Government Vehicle with typical low millage).
Replaced 2 front tires 03/2017 at about 36,200 Miles.
Replaced Lower & Upper Joints 04/2018 at about 44,000 Miles.
Current Miles: 08/2018 50,085.

Problem History:
During the 1st 4 months, drove vehicle for short trips every other week or so (46 to 120 miles round-trips to town), all HiWy except for 2 to 5 miles of town traffic, and 2 1,300 miles (round-trips). Never a problem.

A year + after purchased, 04/18 with 44010 Miles: Started slightly pulling to the left). Took it to a local mechanic shop for Alignment. Told me that upper and lower joints needed replacement. Replaced joints + Alignment.

Driving back to the house (15 miles), noticed it was still pulling to the left. On my way back to the shop, as I came to the 1st stop light and applied my brakes (medium) the van pulled (hard) to the right and almost hit the curb. Shop said that they’ll check it out and fix what’s needed.

Mechanic said that they found no problem. Drove back to the house (14 miles), all normal, then a week later took it on a long trip (Texas to 3 Canadian Provinces). 1,770 Miles into the trip, as we went through about 30+ miles of stop and go construction traffic, applied brakes (medium) and it pulled (hard) to the right again.

Next day took it to a shop (it now has 45,812 miles), it showed no symptoms driving it to the shop. The mechanic couldn’t find anything wrong, but flushed and refilled with fresh brake fluid.

Drove it another 4,224 miles ( in Canada and back to Texas). No problem. I was pulling a 2,800 LBS cargo trailer, still I can let go of the steering wheel and stay straight as it can be.

Last week I drove it to town (1st time moved since back from the trip). The van was again pulling to the left. Also pulls to the right when brakes are applied.

Very Important**. I normally drive as if ‘I have no brakes’, I maintain distance and anticipate traffic movement and stop lights.

Is it possible that the brakes problem was always there, I just didn’t noticed it because of how we drive?

That’s just to many miles for the same conditions not repeated again!

Did the shop do something wrong when the Joints were replaced?

Please Help,
HD.

 

 

Always replace brake parts in pairs, such as hoses, calipers, or pads on both fronts or both rears.

 

Yep. Not a bad idea with ball joints and other suspension components, either. That flushing of the fluid was just a rip-off. That has no bearing on pulling while braking.

You need to find an honest and competent shop, first of all. (And in that order!) Ask at your local NAPA or CarQuest (NOT at Autozone or one of those 'retail' places). NAPA and CarQuest cater to the professionals, and they often know who is good and who to avoid. Worst case they won't have a recommendation for you.

The lack of left pull while towing points to a suspension problem.

 

Yeah, the braking thing, I had on my '01 SD - change the brake hoses.

As for pulling to one side while driving, get the "thrust angle" checked by an alignment shop.

 

You could also have a brake caliper hanging on one side that is sticking while driving and then heated up so doesn't grab well when you brake so it pulls to the opposite side. You may want to pull over next time it does that and see if you can smell hot brakes on one side or even feel the heat from that rotor. I'd second the pair of brake hoses but I'd really think about replacing those calipers. Since it was a government vehicle it sat a lot and built up moisture in the brake system which in turn may have put a mild rust on the caliper piston.

 

I would agree that the pulling to the left is either a dragging brake or an alignment issue. When you brake and it pulls to the right is it pulsating at all? I had that problem with my E350 van and it turned out I was over heating the rotors and warping them. I finally solved the problem by installing high performance racing rotors.

 

Hello Folks,

We finally got the van up on blocks and getting ready to follow your recommendations to replace the brake hoses and calipers.

Just want to add that when I turned the wheels by hand, the passenger side was easy to turn, while the driver side takes a bit of effort to turn. The rotors look good, and there’s about 1/2 of pad left on both sides of the 2 wheels).
Would that point to a another issue other than the hoses and calipers?

Thank you to all.

 

If the wheel bearing is good (which needs to be checked), the pads are dragging somehow. Pads stuck in the caliper bracket from rust, or the caliper pistons are not retracting. While the wheels are in the air, have someone step on the brake while trying to spin the wheel. It should (of course) lock up tight. Have them release the brake, while continuing to try to rotate the wheel. As the brake pedal is released, the wheel should start to spin. If one side is different feeling than the other, something is wrong. It could be a clogged brake hose, but check the calipers and pads for rust and if it has caliper pins, make sure they are greased well. If you road test after this and it's still doing this weird pulling one way, than the other, change the hoses.

 

Krewat
Thank you!
You said "If the wheel bearing is good (which needs to be checked),”

I think that you are onto something. Let’s see if I can check the wheel bearing, and report back.

That’s what got me thinking! If the brake pads still have about 1/2” (after 5750 miles), it must be something else causing the drag on the driver side wheel. …. Thank you so very much.

 

I think you misunderstand. The amount of pad has nothing to do with the dragging, it's the ability of the pad to retract that is important regardless of how thick it is. An easy way to check if it's the wheel bearing or the pad retraction is to place a large clamp over the caliper and manually squeeze the caliper piston back so that the pads are not touching the rotor. If the wheel does not spin easily after doing that then you have a bearing problem.If the wheel does spin freely then you need to find out why the pads are not retracting. Could be the pistons overheated and melted, bad hoses, etc.

 

 

C clamp, a large one.

 

Yes, I keep a big one in my garage just for working on my brakes. I am not sure what size it is, but I know the jaws open to 6.5 inches which is just enough to fit over my calipers. I place the outer jaw behind the caliper piston housing and the screw jaw on the inner pad. The caliper has a groove where you can get to the back of the inner pad. Just be careful when compressing the piston because that will back-up brake fluid into the reservoir, and it will overflow spilling fluid all over your engine compartment. When I do that I use an old turkey baster to suck excess fluid out of the reservoir.
Happy hunting.

 

A bit confused about the placment of the C-clamp!
I'm Googling to see if there's an illistartion of how to do it. I'll be working on it today.