Ok, I have tried everything I know to fix this problem. And I have searched all the archives here for similar problems and eliminated those as well.

I have a 1992 f150 Flareside, 4.9L, 2WD and I have replaced everything on my front brake system except the master cylinder and the metal brake lines. Still, the truck pulls to the left. Jacking up the front end and spinning the wheels makes it obvious that the driver's side is dragging when compared to the passenger side. The truck has just been aligned as well, so that's not the problem. I even took the driver's side caliper back last night and got a new one in case I got a bad one the first time. Still the same problem. The brakes do release, just not as much as the other side, hence the pulling. And it is enough of a drag that after going down the road several miles, the brakes on that side heat up enough to violently grab when the pedal is depressed.

The only proportioning value on this model is for the Front/Back , not Side/Side. The older models had a distribution block/value that could cause this, but there is nothing like that on this truck.

The only thing I have left is the master cylinder, but I do not see how that could affect only one side. Am I missing something here?

Thanks

Scott

 

Well I'll be damned! I had the same exact problem on my 94 F150. No matter what the hell I did the truck would pull to the left every time I applied the brakes. I replaced everything from pads, rotors, calipers and brake lines. The truck still pulled to the left. Then one day I decided to clean the hell out of the rotors(wax removal) and I replaced the brake pads, just to make sure the pads were even and not contaminated. This helped alot but what really solved my problem was getting some "real grease made for brakes" and I greased the heck out of the sliders on each caliper. A few weeks went by and it stared to due this again. This weekend I am going to buy new slider boots and see if this will help. The old ones are soft and may be the cause of this problem. My truck pulls a little to one side on any given day as if it has a mind of its own. Hopefully the new slider boots will fix this problem once and for all.


1994 Ford F150
300-6
Highly Modified and more to come!

 

I would consider that the problem may not be on the driver's side that is pulling, but the passenger side. It may not be applying correctly. A list of things comes to mind that may cause a problem, and that you may have already checked, but here goes:

contaminated pads(oil, grease etc.)
caliper is froze in the spindle(use high temp grease on caliper slides and file down all metal burrs.)
I think you said you replaced both calipers, so I assume the piston is not stuck.
Dirt or obstruction in passenger side caliper restricting fluid flow
Kinked or pinched brake line (maybe from a chain being wrapped around the frame?)

I think you should concentrate on the passenger side caliper for awhile.

 

I was told by a mechanic that its no that one side grabs to much, but rather the other side doesn't grab hard enough.

1994 Ford F150
300-6
Highly Modified and more to come!

 

Possibly look into replacing the passenger side caliper...let me know...disc brakes will have a small amount of drag..

Wayne

 

I know you had it aligned but a lose wheel bearing, or bad tie rod will sometimes cause similar problems. Jack it up and shake the wheel & twist the tie rod and see what happens. I even had a major alignment shop say my front was aligned ok. I later found a bad tie rod after the vehicle kept pulling to the side when I put on the brakes.
92 F150 XLT ext cab
89 Bronco II XLT
93 Aerostar AWD

 

My money is on the passenger side caliper being the culprit. I was told by several sources in the past that if you do brake work to one side, you should always do the same to the other reguardless of what it may be. I would defenetly suggest having new calipers on each side and replacing the pads also. They could very well be contaminated on one side. Good luck.

Jakegypsum // Ford fleet, soup to nuts.

 

When looking at a problem like this its important to look at all the brakes , both front & rear . Have you serviced the rear brakes , checked for problems with the rear cylinders etc ? If the proportioning inst being delivered to all 4 wheels properly then you have to look at the whole system instead of foucusing only on one area .

 

I looked over the system again last night.

As I said before, Everything except the master cylinder and the metal lines is new. When I mentioned I got another caliper for the driver's side, I meant that I returned one that was just a few days old. The passenger side caliper is only a couple of days older than the driver's side one now, so I consider that as replacing them at the same time.

I relubed the slides, rebled everything, checked the rear brakes (they are fine), checked the passenger side again, checked the lines for kinks and the problem remains. I know that disc brakes are supposed to have some drag, but the problem here is that there is more on the driver's side, causing the truck to pull. Again, the passenger side checks out fine.

It acts like a sticking piston. It is worse immediately after applying the brakes and lessens if I can get a stretch without having to stop (like the piston is slowly releasing)

This may just be something inherent in the design of this system. Without some kind of regulator on the front lines (a line comes from the master cylinder to basically a tee on the driver's side rubber line and comes off that over to the passenger side), it makes sense that the side closest to the master cylinder will have more pressure when applied and retain more pressure when released, but I can't believe that was the intended design.

I'm stumped, I guess I will try replacing the pads before I replace the master cylinder, just in case I missed a contaminated pad or something.

Scott

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-Apr-01 AT 02:09 PM (EST)[/font][p]One more thing, see if a brake repair place will pressure bleed the lines just to make sure they don't contain air. If one side has an air bubble this will cause a pressure difference between the two front wheels. Also hydraulic fluid doesn't like being compressed at all. There shouldn't be any pressure difference just because one side is closer to the main line. I even tested this on a brake line pressure tester from a friend's repair shop. I thought so at first until I did some research into the principles of hydraulics. Did you make sure to clean the new break line with break cleaner before you installed it. The slightest foreign particle could cause a problem. I know what you mean when you say your getting frustrated. ##### for tat my problem was just like yours. I got so mad I was ready to sell my damn truck if I couldn't get it fixed.

1994 Ford F150
300-6
Highly Modified and more to come!

 

Another possibility is the flexible lines to the calipers. I have heard of the interior of the lines deteriorating to the point where a flap forms, not allowing all the pressure to release off the caliper, it works kind of like a check valve.

Good Luck,

Paul

 

I had the same thing happen, well maybe, sorta. The caliper was not sliding on the one pin properly. I pressed it out (c-clamp) and it had some rust that would not allow it to move. I cleaned it up good and lighlty applied some anti-sieze to it and reassembled it. It works like a charm. I did it to all 4 pins.

Doug

1966 Fairlane 500 428 2-4v MR 4/spd
1995 F-150 4x4 5.0 5/spd
Ford Mercury MuscleCar Era Cars & Parts Board
http://members4.boardhost.com/fairlaniac

 

Ok, here's an update. After all of this brake work with no solution for the pulling, I decided to try the old "swap the front tires" trick before I went any further. I didn't try this earlier because these are fairly new tires.

Anyway, the truck has stopped pulling to the left. Seems like it is always the simple things you think of last. And with the way the truck is steering now, I can definately tell I have tire problems. Time to test that tire warranty!

The driver's side brake still drags more than the passenger side and this still concerns me, but that does not now appear to have been the source of the original problem.

Oh well, I started the brake job because I had a warped rotor and needed new pads anyway, so I don't feel like I wasted a whole lot of time doing something that didn't need to be done.

We'll see what happens with the tire on the other side, it may eventually cause some other problems and once I get some brand new ones on there, it may return, but that's another thread.

Thanks for the help

Scott

 

A lot of my Fords, (especially the older one's) always seemed to wear more on the passenger side. When the tires had a fair amount of wear on them, the brakes did seem to pull a little to the right now that I think of it. Nothing drastic though. Once I replaced the passenger tire, the braking and steering would change. Not as much of a pull. I have found out that having different make or tread design tires on each side of the front end can make the truck handle different too. That was a long time ago though. If your warranty is still good, I would have them replace both fronts with new if possible. Good luck. Jake.

Jakegypsum // Ford fleet, soup to nuts.