I've had my 04 Navigator since January of this year. I noticed when I test drove it that when I applied the brakes somewhat hard that the back of the vehicle would seem to pull to the right real quick then "gather itself" as I let off the pedal. I assumed this was due to needing brakes or just the fact that the vehicle is lighter in the back end. I have replaced pads and rotors all the way around as well as changed the brake fluid. My question is: Is this normal for these vehicles and if not any ideas to cure it.

 

you may need to replace the brake hoses on the rear calipers or the caliper guides are stuck. Hopefully you made sure that the calipers moved freely, pads were easy to put into the brackets, (No rust) lubed guides. Brake hoses if everything else is good.

 

No it's not normal, But it a rather common problem. But note: the problem could be on either side. A sticking piston or calibers could make the brake on that side slow to engage so truck could veer to the other side. OTOH if sticking piston or calibers engages ok but doesn't release immediately when the brake pedal is released then that will cause truck to veer to that side! But I wouldn't worry too much about figuring out which side it is, I'd just get a good brake overhaul done on both sides.

 

I thought I had done the brake overhaul when I had the rotors, pads and fluid replaced. I guess its time to try something else. Thanks

 

Did you replace or hone out the cylinders and install new seals? If not it could be a piston sticking. It could also be a flexible hose that is failing. Also are you sure that you lubed the sliding parts of the brake calipers in the correct places? It's also possible that you got air into the break line close to one brake and that's affecting only one wheel.

 

No probably not. It was done at the local Firestone. I'm going to take back to them to have those things checked out. Thanks for the input

 

OH - if you HAD the work done, take it back, a reputable shop should have a warranty on the work. They should have found this issue on a test drive.

 

That's ironic! The WORST problem that I ever had of this sort was after I let a Firestone dealer in St Alban's, Vt work on my car. I never could fix the problem completely and I replaced the car shortly afterwards.

 

Just to be clear, it was pulling to the right before I took it ti Firestone. I know several to the guys at that Firestone and trust them completely. Also, probably wouldn't have shown up in the test drive since it only does it when having to brake hard or quick. Again thanks for the input

 

Your vehicle has independent rear suspension, right? I would check the suspension components and make sure they are not worn out.

 

Had it checked today. Turned out it was the left front brake hose. Thanks again for the ideas

 

I'm trying to visualize why a defective left front brake hose could cause the rear to pull to the right when braking.

But, it is old enough to need the hoses replaced. May as well replace all of them. Two front and 3 rear hoses if it's like my 02 F150.

 

Because the front left brake will not get any pressure making the truck pull to the right, because the the front right will pull the truck that way. Which ever way a pulling takes place, its always the other side not working. I would replace all the caliper hoses!

 

I'm glad they found the problem. It frequently gets tricky trying to tell which brake is causing a problem. How did they know that the hose was the problem? Could they tell from the appearance or did they just start replacing parts till they found the right one?

 

I think the failure mode of the hoses is either to rupture or to swell up and not release the caliper when the brake pedal is released. I suppose that makes sense if the left front is still braking that the rear would go to the right.

I recently replaced all 5 of my brake hoses because of sticking rear calipers. I also replaced the calipers but they were not the problem.