Left Disc DRAGS...??????

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pastortom1

pastortom1

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Dart Sport with discs.........Left front was dragging a bit, pulling the car a little..........I had new calipers installed, and the mechanic agreed the left was hanging up a little. New ones in, and it still drags the same way.

What gives? Disc thicker than the other? (actually, the one on the passenger side is fairly new........the left is older....I wouldn't think that it was thicker......).................................

Isn't there ANY way to balance these things so the pressure is even like I used to do with drums???????
 
Turn rotors same thickness and grind pads same thickness. About the only thing that comes to mind @ the moment. New calipers could be lemons. And we assume their installed bleeders up? air in system?
 
Make sure that where the caliper slides are not grooved or rusty. The hyd. pressure will force the caliper over it but there is not enough internal pressure to let it return.
 
Jack it up , pump the brake, turn the wheel by hand and feel for the drag.
Crack the bleeder and feel for change. Still tight rules out lines, etc...
Check the pads for binding in their guides. I've found stamped backing plates that needed filing more than once. Quality control aint what it once was. nothing left but caliper to blame ( and your mechanic ) . Always replace calipers in pairs.
 
pastortom1 said:
Dart Sport with discs.........Left front was dragging a bit, pulling the car a little..........I had new calipers installed, and the mechanic agreed the left was hanging up a little. New ones in, and it still drags the same way.

What gives? Disc thicker than the other? (actually, the one on the passenger side is fairly new........the left is older....I wouldn't think that it was thicker......).................................

Isn't there ANY way to balance these things so the pressure is even like I used to do with drums???????
Click to expand...

Thickness of the rotors or pads makes no difference as long as they are within spec.

As was stated earlier, try having someone turn the wheel by hand and see if it frees up when you open the bleeder.

If it does not, pull the caliper and inspect the slides and pads for any issues and then install the wheel and turn it to see if it is still dragging.

If it is still dragging, check the bearings for grease and proper torque.

Let us know what you find.:read2:

P.S. Cuda67 is correct about the hoses. If the brake hose is in bad shape it can act like a pressure accumulator, ballooning a bit when you hit the brakes and holding the pressure a bit when your not because of it. I would think that this would effect both front brakes though.
 
How old are the brake hoses? I have seen hoses that collapse from the inside & acts like a check valve. More than likely even if you loosen the bleeder screw, you could still have a bad hose. you do the same test as the bleeder screw & loosen the line nut at the hose. this should tell you what you need.
 
My duster dose the same although I don't think the one side is draging so much as the two calipers are not the same. Stupid me when I got them I thought they would be a matching pair but one has a stainless piston and one has a phonolic piston and I have a feeling that the two have diffrent piston diameters which will couse one side to lock up before the other I'n my case the drivers side.
 
I just thought of somthing else. Does it pull will just driving down the road? If it still pulls without using the brakes, it could be a bad lower control arm bushing & or strut rod bushing. These A-bodies are notoriuos for these bushing failures. Do you have new bushings in it? Bad bushings could also cause it to pull when braking.
 
I'd put money on it being the hose.....

As stated already, crack that bleeder open.

Nice work pitching in guys! :cheers:
 
He replaced the hoses with the calipers........I'm gonna check the bearing myself........could be too tight I suppose, but it feels like the brakes........I'll crack the bleeder while I'm there and give her a whirl too.
 
My Duster does the same thing, 70 factory manual disk, changed to 73 set up, late model aluminum master, 70 prop valve. When the front is jacked up the wheels will go maybe 1 turn before they stop. When i really get on the throttle, she wants to pull to the left. But she will roll down a slight decline with no problem & no pulling. She also has 90/10's on the front but I don't think that is the problem. I've rebuilt the calipers twice, & made sure the slide area is well lubed with antiseize. Do you guys think the prop valve might be bad & sticking? When switched to the 73 stuff all the lines got changed out as well. I'm running dot5 brake fluid as well. Thanks inadvance for any help, Russell
 
pastortom1 said:
He replaced the hoses with the calipers........I'm gonna check the bearing myself........could be too tight I suppose, but it feels like the brakes........I'll crack the bleeder while I'm there and give her a whirl too.
Click to expand...

Defintiely pump the pedal and crack the bleeder as described above,this will rule out any line problems,new lines can be defective,Ive seen many that were bad at the shop i was working at.Rotor thickness wont be a problem either as stated,I have seen cars pull occasionally if the the thickness form side to side was more than .025 due to differences in friction/heat (some cars are picky) but not drag,that would be a mechanical problem.
 
lead69 said:
Defintiely pump the pedal and crack the bleeder as described above,this will rule out any line problems,new lines can be defective,Ive seen many that were bad at the shop i was working at.Rotor thickness wont be a problem either as stated,I have seen cars pull occasionally if the the thickness form side to side was more than .025 due to differences in friction/heat (some cars are picky) but not drag,that would be a mechanical problem.
Click to expand...

.025"??? Is that a typo?
That is 1/4 of 1/10 of an inch!
That's less than 2/3's of a millimeter!
I find it hard to believe that any cars brakes would be effected buy a difference this small, considering that I have changed one set of front pads one day after work and the other side the next day after work. The brakes worked fine and there was at least .400" difference between the two, that's over 10 mm's.
 
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