Front brakes pull to right

[spark949]

My front brakes pull to the right when I apply them. It has done it for a while, but not really bad. The left rotor goes through brakes every 10,000 mile or so with the inner shoe being the one that wears. The rest (both sides) have some meat left on them. I've bled the rotor a couple times thinking that might be it, but it was not. This time I needed brakes and rotors, so I decided to install new calipers thinking the right caliper must be defective. Got it all back together and bled it off, still pulls. Any thoughts?

99 Ram Van 2500

[dizzyD]

proportioning valve, rubber brake lines expanding, crushed/pinched brake line to front left.

[dizzyD]

If it pulls to right, your left caliper/system is the issue.

[Dodgevanman]

Replace the front brake hoses..I will almost bet this is where the problem is.

[alloro]

My front brakes pull to the right when I apply them. It has done it for a while, but not really bad. The right rotor goes through brakes every 10,000 mile or so with the inner shoe being the one that wears.

Since it's a mild pull and not a hard one, the problem is likely the left rear brake adjuster isn't working. As a result, the left rear brake shoe is not fully engaging, resulting in more braking power on the right side of the vehicle...hence the pull. If the pulling was sever, then that's usually an indication of front brake issues due to the direct connection to the steering system.

Regarding the uneven wearing of the inner and outer pads, that's a result of the caliper not being able to freely slide in and out on the sliders. What happens is when you apply the brakes the inner pad is pushed to the rotor by the caliper piston, yet the caliper doesn't slide inward to distribute some of that load to the outer pad. So the inner pad is performing the stopping power of two pads and wears faster, or your wheel bearing is too loose on that side.

[dizzyD]

your 99 van has rotor, caliper, pads up front, drum and shoes in back.
Check to make sure your caliper pin in not cross threaded, can cause uneven pad wear.

[landyacht318]

I got to agree with Alloro on the likely possibility of the rear brake adjusters being uneven side to side.

I have in the past adjusted the rear brakes to make it pull right or left and even straight while braking. Also before I knew how to do this I was finding uneven front brake pad wear, because one side of the front brakes has to work a lot harder than the other side when the back brakes are applying different pressures.

Also take a stiff wire brush and hit the area wear the pads fit in the calipers so they can slide easier. A smidge of high temp grease helps too.

[spark949]

Quote:
Originally Posted by spark949 View Post
My front brakes pull to the right when I apply them. It has done it for a while, but not really bad. The right rotor goes through brakes every 10,000 mile or so with the inner shoe being the one that wears.

Oops sorry it was the left caliper that eats the inner pads. It's definitely the front brakes as the nose of the van veers right when you really mash them down, and the right brake locks up at low speeds, but not the left.

[dizzyD]

the front brake system does 70% of stoping power, 30% for rear. have you tested to see if your rear brakes are functioning? have someone step on pedal with engine off and try to turn the axle (While front wheels chocked and trans in neutral). I'd do the same with front, especially look harder at the left caliper for binding issues, your right side sounds like it's looking good.

[B-300]

If it's the left eating pads and the right locking-up, the left side caliper is sticking of has a bad hose/restricted or bent tube.... A bleeding of the caliper should confirm fluid flow. If this is good I would suspect the (left) caliper is sticking causing the pad to drag and not engage as hard under braking.
As to the rears, put the parking brake on and see if both cables move out of there housings the same amount to confirm the adjusters are working equally.

[citichap]

I had the same problem on my 1997 B1500 3.9 a couple of years ago. First I replaced all front and rear breaks, pads, rotors, rear shoes, rear drums. I bleed the rear breaks first then did the fronts. After test driving the van, I saw that the break pedal would not come up to the top. After inspection of the rear breaks, I saw that the adjuster cable (part # 3461660) would not tighten up, even after adjusting the "Adjusting pivot screw". (part # 2944692 and 2944693). So I modified the parking break adjusting lever, so that the slack in the adjusting cable would be taken up. ( the replacement part # 4761759 did not takeup the slack in the cable) So I had to produce my own home made parts in order to take up the slack in the cable. This is the only way that both the front and rear breaks to have equal amount of breaking power. 50% to the rear and 50 % to the front.

This is how I made a new revised parking break lever. I made two parking break levers (rear right and rear left side.) I bought a metal plate cover for a 2 gang electrical box. I took the old parking brake levers and trace them out onto the metal covers. Using a hack saw, drill bits, file, etc. I cut out 2 new pieces but with a differrent cut for the parking break spring fits onto. In other words, the parking spring is now attached to a different point on the parking lever, thus taking up more slack in the cable and thus making all of the breaks to work at the same time.

Before the mod, when I applied the breaks, only 30% went to the rear and 70% went to the front. This is not suppose to work like that. That is why that there should be no slack in the adjustment level cable while breaking. That's how my 1982 Dodge van was set up, and I just applied that same procedure to my 1997 B1500 3.9 van and now the breaks works GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!

With this modifcation, I stop much faster, all of the breaks wear evenly, and the vechicle does not pull when breaking. I think Dodge made the level loose because of the rear anti breaks. When it rains out, and when you first start the car and go under way the rear breaks may lock up just a little. After about 30 secounds on the road this issue goes away. I can live with that. I just wanted the breaks to break in even, like the old days before anti-lock breaks.

If you guys make your own parking break lever mod; then, don't thow out the old parts just in case you have to put them back in. This mod worked for me and like I said I can live with the slight locking up of the rear anti-breaks for a few secounds until the water gets off of the drums after a good rain. This only happens after some 10 hours of standing while parked or more and only after a good rain. The lockup does not happen for the rest of the day. let me know what you guys think of this mod?

please note that if I had gotten a shorter parking adjustment cable, (1/4 -inch or so) That might have worked. I ordered a new Adjuster cable from DC, but in was the same lenght of my old cable. Thats why I made up my new modified parking breake lever instead. I did not want to mess around with the adjuster cable, such as cut it up, etc. I did not want it to fail. With the lever mod, I feel safe. and it works.

Citichap

[spark949]

Haven't been here for a while but I wanted to update on the brake problem I had. I changed the left front brake hose, bled the system and everything is back to normal again.