HARD pull under brakeing...

[DSC]

My car pulls very hard to the right under extreme brakeing. What does that tell me?
Based on some other posts, my pads should have been replaced about 4 months ago, but this is new I think.

Why would it pull to one side or the other??
Damaged rotor?
Worn pad (why would one side be more worn than the other)?
Bad brake mojo?
? ? ?

I don't know how new this problem is, but I just started noticeing it a couple days ago when I started expermenting with brakeing near lockup (or ABS engagement for me...bla). WEEE!
Anyway, the harder I brake the harder it pulls.
Brakeing from say 40 to a stop light the way any normal person would do, I can't feel any pulling...or when I can its very slight.

Any ideas? Can I tell whether something is bad or not by just looking at it? What should I look for?

[gh6o6]

warped rotor

[mbmbmb23]

Check to see if you have a broken steel belt on your tire....mind was broken on the inside and the car would shake and pull to the left under braking.  It might pull if the calipers arent  sharing the work 50-50.  If the pads are wearing unevenly, it would make sense that one brake would start to work before the other....and therefore pull to the side.  Also, have you ever had your car aligned?  If not...and theres play in the steering......it may have a natural tendancy to pull to one side or the other when braking hard.


just some thoughts,

M

[tnord]

leak in the brake lines? if you got air/water in there that could affect the effectiveness of one of the brakes.

busted caliper? obviously if one is working and the other one isn't, it'll pull.

i tend to think it has something to do with your tires, since that is the only thing you've changed recently that i know of. i don't think it has anything to do with rotors though.

[AceInHole]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (tnord @ May 10 2002,12:02)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">i tend to think it has something to do with your tires, since that is the only thing you've changed recently that i know of. i don't think it has anything to do with rotors though.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
the tires themselves may not be to blame, but they may have magnified the problem to the point that it's at.

air in one of the lines sounds likely, so you might as well just bleed your brakes (starting with the front corner that the car pulls away from). &nbsp;The other area to look at might be the brake proportioning valve at the M/C <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>

[Nismos14]

it could very likely be the balancing on the tires if they weren't balanced properly u can expect some pullin it happened to me for a lil while but then it just went away.. i can't explain why....

[DSC]

For more information Here's my whole tire ordeal...
Also, I know my t/c rods are shot to hell...I doubt either one has any silicone left. They clunk around all day long and that, I know for sure, is causing some unstability (which I didn't mention) under extreme driving of all types. I think the tires are ok (I know they are on right, but dono about ballancing and stuff) but like Ace said, are just magnifying existing problems. The tires are now forceing other parts to work harder because they grip instead of slip...

I'm ordering a speed bleeder today, so next week sometime, I'll see if anything in the lines was a problem. I'm also looking into getting new pads (need to anyway) so that problem would be eleminated also. And finally whiteline poly bushings for my t/c rods. If all that doesn't help then, I dono <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/butbut.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':but:'> but we'll see.

Anything else it could be that maybe I should check?

PS: for those competeing in solo-II, replaceing silicone bushings with pillow ball mounts will bump you up, out of STS/STX...however replaceing with polyurethane bushings is ok.

Edit: "The other area to look at might be the brake proportioning valve at the M/C" &nbsp;
Can you adjust front to rear also? &nbsp;
I thought you had to buy a special thing to adjust brake bias??
I have no idea what thing your talking about BTW, but I haven't gone out and looked yet...

[HippoSleek]

I'd also bet that your brakes are in need of bleeding. &nbsp;Number 2 on my list would be a seized caliper.

[240meowth]

alignment!?

[MrSpArkle]

for the love of god bump!
I've tried contacting DSC to find out how he solved this issue, but he seems to be MIA. Does anyone else know for certain what causes a car to pull in either direction when braking? This problem has persisted with recent brake service, including new front calpiers, and rear brake service. A former mechanic said it was a brake line, but I'm not sure how much I can trust him.

DSC, if you're out there, how'd you fix it?

[nightwalker]

three main things for sure cause this: warped rotors, allignment, and unballanced wheels.

[MrSpArkle]

Originally Posted by nightwalker

three main things for sure cause this: warped rotors, allignment, and unballanced wheels.

the problem persists after rotor resurfacing, tire alignment, and balancing.

[sykikchimp]

Have you inspected your brake lines? If one was crimped that could cause the rotor to receive less pressure.

also see Ace's comments about the M/C proportioning valve. You could get a used MC from Car-parts.com for cheap and check that out too.

[nightwalker]

...then it's time to go further into the suspension, and other things. Do you have a bind somewhere. I find that if I just go through the paces and inspect the car thoroughly, I can usually figure out what is wrong. Good luck.

[DSC]

Hrm, I know I typed a reply. I guess it never went through? I don't see it in my sent items anywhere so I guess I fucked up, but I did type it sorry.

Well, my reply should have said that I never fixed it. It ended up just being the road. Since I was braking hard, thats the only time the slant in the road was felt. Feels great on a flat road on track.

[MrSpArkle]

Originally Posted by DSC

Hrm, I know I typed a reply. I guess it never went through? I don't see it in my sent items anywhere so I guess I fucked up, but I did type it sorry.

Well, my reply should have said that I never fixed it. It ended up just being the road. Since I was braking hard, thats the only time the slant in the road was felt. Feels great on a flat road on track.

...curses.
time to start throwing money at this.

[Dream240]

Originally Posted by MrSpArkle

...curses.
time to start throwing money at this.

so do you have the problem on a flatter road too? If so does the car pull when you're not braking? Could be a number of things.

1. Check brake lines for air/dirt etc. (bleed them)
2. Check your alignment. Last time you had it done? Hit any curbs or potholes lately?
3. Check your pads/rotors for wear. Rotor checking is simple. Just pull off the tire, and spin the rotor, if youe hear it brushing up against the pad(scraping) or the rotor stop abruptly then it's warped.
4. Caliper failure is not common in 240s. Unless you race then that changes everything. So it likely not the calipers.
5. Pinched brake line? Worn, leaky brake line?
6. Brake fluid level? Too low will cause uneven and poor brake performance.

Finally if all else fails. Do a 300zx brake swap!! solve all your problems!!! (joking)
seriously, that's the best I can think of.

Good luck!!

[kandyflip445]

Alright, this is from my brakes class that I took at my college.

BRAKE PULL

Front wheel pull to one side during braking may be caused by the brakes, tires, suspension, or alignment.

~Check the pedal height. If the pedal is low, perform a External Leak Test which I'll get to later. Inspect the brake pads.

~If the pedal height is normal, perform a road test. Check for pull to one side when the brakes are applied. Also check for pull in normal driving on a level road.

~If the pull during braking is erratic, check the alignment, suspension insulators(bushings), and steering gear adj.

~If the wheels pull to the same side each time during braking, check the strut insulators, tire pressure, brake rotors, and brake linings; also check for a brake line restriction, or improperly drilled hose to caliper (banjo) bolt.

~If the front wheels pull to one side when the brakes are applied, but do not pull when the brakes are released. The cause may involve the brakes OR suspension.

~If the pull occurs when the brakes are not being applied, check the alignment, tire pressure, radial tire pull.

~Check for grease or fluid on the friction surfaces. Also check for a sticking brake caliper piston.

EXTERNAL LEAK TEST

The External Leak Test should be performed if the brake pedal is low, the BRAKE warning lamp is on, and if the reservoir fluid is low or empty.

To perform this test, first fill the reservoir to the proper level and bleed the brakes. Press the brake pedal several times; the pedal will go to the floor is the system is leaking. Check to see whether the fluid level is dropping with each pedal stroke. If the reservoir is losing fluid, a possible external leak exists.

Check all possible leak points. Remember, brake fluid is water soluble, so the evidence of an external leak may be washed away. If the leak is not located, inspect the caliper pistons.


If this doesn't help then yur

The brake line suggestion could be it. You could always get some SS ones.

[MrSpArkle]

Thank you all VERY much for your input. The car does pull ever so slightly to the left when not braking, the same direction it pulls hard towards(and shakes) when I brake. From the probable causes, and because the problem has persisted through different sets of tires, rotors, calipers and 2 alignments, I'm narrowing it down to either a strut mount problem or misc suspension issue(tc rods maybe?), or a brake line problem. I'm just really puzzled as to how the alignment shop could've missed it. I'm going to another shop for an alignment and a brake line inspection.

Thank you all again!

[Dream240]

try to find a shop that knows or does lowered suspensions regularly. they seem to know more about overall alignments than the regular shops do. Good luck!!!