Just a quick question. I had my truck aligned around 12,000 miles ago when I had a bunch of front end components replaced. I have since installed new rotors, pads, and put on new tires. My truck is pulling a smidge to the left and if I take my hands off the wheel when I brake, it seems to pull a bit more. So the question is, is this an alignment issue that gets accentuated at slow speeds while braking? Or is it a brake system issue thats dragging and causing the pull while driving? There's no noises going on at all. Thanks for the help and if I should put his in another section, please let me know. Thanks.

 

Sorry, don't normally bump my own threads, but the wheel and tire threads tend to pile up quickly!

 

Do you have any way to see if the left rotors are any hotter than the rights?

Did you get everything re-aligned when you put the new tires on? If not, my bet would be on the alignment.

- NCSU

 

If it pulls to the left without braking, and the road surface is relatively flat, yes it is probably alignment, although tires can also cause this. 12k and it could easily be out of alignment.

 

Other than by touch, do you mean with a thermometer of some sort? In that case no. And no, I didn't get realigned with the new tires. The truck shop I take it to said it wasn't necessarily necessary if I wasn't feeling any pull. But I guess I will now.



So I'll get an alignment and see if things improve. What do you mean by tires can cause this?

 

I have had tires cause a pull to one side or the other. Whether caused by a belt shift in the tire or something else, the only way to tell it is atire is to rotate to the other side and see if the pull changes.

 

Gotcha. Thanks for the input. I'll talk to the shop again and see about an alignment too. If it were say the caliper sticking a bit, would I get a noise in addition to some pull or not necessarily? Thanks again.

 

You may not get any noise until it is down to the rivets if a stuck caliper. If a stuck caliper, you will get heat, even without a lot of braking. If when you stop, especially after highway driving and the wheel is hot enough you can't touch it, it may be a caliper. You may also get vibration even without the brakes on.

 

Sorry to revive this thread after so long, but still battling the issue. I talked to the shop I was going to take it to and they suggested the possibility of "radial pull" caused by the tire as well. I did a swap this morning and it still pulls to the left. When driving, slight pull, when braking at low speeds or if I have to really press on it, it pulls harder. If I take my hands off the wheel, the wheel moves about a 1/8 of a turn to the left when I brake to a stop. I've felt them and they are both hot. But they are stock sizes and I have 20x10" wheels and 33's, so not sure what to think of that. I examined the brakes this morning, but to be honest, I'm a bit beyond my knowledge base at this point. They were tough to take off. But I'm not sure if everything is still a tight fit from having new pads or not. When spinning the hub, there appears to be a small bit of drag noise on both wheels like it sliding against the pads. Is that normal? The piston compressed easily to reseat everything. The pins seemed to be moving ok. I just don't know which avenue to pursue. Don't want to just throw money at it. Brake Check, without even looking at it said there's no way for them to really diagnose a caliper other than just looking at it. Suggested replacing brake lines. Wasn't crazy about just paying for something new with no idea whether it would do anything. And I do have a vibration at higher speeds, like 65 and above, but I attributed that to the MT's. I don't recall that with my AT's and I had those with the new brakes for a few days. Thanks again for any input!

 

Glad you were able to eliminate the tire. Now the question becomes what part of the brakes is it. My guess would be caliper. But it is just that, a guess. Problem is definitely up front as the steering wheel is turning.

 

Thanks for your response. So you are leaning towards caliper as well? I haven't had it aligned yet as I said I was planning to in earlier posts. The shop I trust is reluctant to have me pay for another alignment without trying to diagnose other possibilities first. I'll give them a call this morning and see what they suggest now, I just don't know what to look for anymore myself and want someone with real knowledge to take a look. Thanks for your help!

 

If it is truly in alignment, then yes I would guess it would be the caliper. How are the brakes wearing? Any excessive where on the side it is pulling to? Something else to check is bearings and ball joints. Make sure they are not worn, something they should be able to check during an alignment.

 

Ok. Well, as far as I could tell when I looked at the pads and rotors yesterday, they looked great. Nothing to note out of the ordinary. I'm hoping its not the bearings or ball joints because those have been replaced fairly recently. Just out of curiosity, if it were a brake issue, would brake lines be a possible cause? And back to the more pertinent question, would you spend the money on alignment to rule that out first? I have new tires since my last alignment so it can't really "hurt" to get an alignment other than paying for it.

 

Usually, if it is brake lines, it is that the rubber lines swell causing less braking. I suppose it could be the right side that is putting out less pressure, but your truck really isn't that old for rotting brake lines.

 

Thanks Kingfish. I really appreciate all your input. I'll report back after I talk to the shop. Thanks again for taking time to answer.