Brakes Pull to the Right Options

[bkrantz]

Some of you might remember my struggle to get what I considered strong braking, even after many rounds of bleeding, bedding, pad brand changes, and voodoo. I finally noticed how much the firewall flexed and the master cylinder moved under hard pedal pressure, and built a brace to support it. See my main thread.

On my first drive of 2023, the brakes finally felt strong, and I could lock up the front pretty easily. But with strong brake response I now have strong pull to the right.

I did set the rear pad clearance on both sides, inside and out, to .004".

Any suggestions?

One thing I have not done yet is corner weight balance. If the right front (and left rear) are carrying too much weight, would that make the car pull to the right as the weight shifts forward under hard braking?

[Superhawk996]

99% of the time pull is in the brakes. The chances of having corner balance creating brake pull on the street while braking in a straight line is exceedingly rare. Especially since you didn’t notice the problem before winter storage.

My bet is that over the winter you’ve had air consolidate into a large bubble - probably in the left front brake line. As a result, that side is less effective than the right side brakes.

Less likely but not impossible is stuck piston or binding pad on the left caliper.

After that I’d be looking at alignment and tire pressures.

Very few production vehicles have perfectly even corner weights. Regardless, brake pull isn’t an issue when the brakes are working properly.

Assumption: ride heights are relatively even right to left (+/- 6 to 10 mm) and weren’t changed over the winter.

Assumption #2: car was stored indoors and the brake rotors look the same left to right. Parking cars outdoors for long periods with one side more exposed to prevailing weather can cause rotors on one side to corrode more than the other. Result: uneven braking that usually cleans up after some driving and the rotor surfaces become more similar.