# 1992 Ford Thunderbird pulls left when braking **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** thunderbird, ford\ **Created:** [October 12, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148 "2020-10-12T18:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pete38](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@pete38](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pete38)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/1 "2020-10-12T18:34:41Z")
Car pulls left when braking. Replaced all front end parts including struts. ---
**Author:** ![davepsinbox\_157004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@davepsinbox\_157004](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davepsinbox_157004)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/2 "2020-10-13T00:16:21Z")
The brakes on that side are taking hold more than on the other. If you had the brakes done recently take it back to the shop that did the work. If not, have the brakes looked at. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 7:39am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/3 "2020-10-13T07:39:27Z")
Remember, it is just as likely to be caused by the right side brake not working as it is the left side grabbing. The back brakes can cause this too. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 11:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/4 "2020-10-13T11:38:39Z")
Does “all front end parts” include ball joints? If not, that is a possibility. Since all front end parts including struts were replaced has the car been on the alignment rack? If not, it should have been. The car is 28 years old and that brings up the possibility of original calipers and whether or not the right side caliper piston is sticking or the caliper is sticking on the sliders. ---
**Author:** ![pete38](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@pete38](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pete38)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/5 "2020-10-13T13:12:21Z")
Thank you all. Yes, the car has been aligned by two different shops. I replaced the calipers because of this issue and it didn’t change. Rear brakes are OK. I also replaced the front hoses and the master cylinder. Ball joints are tight. I suspect the strut bushings but the “rubber” is new. I had an older mechanic who worked on these cars look at them. He suggested an alignment. How many alignments do I need? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![davepsinbox\_157004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@davepsinbox\_157004](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davepsinbox_157004)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/6 "2020-10-13T22:26:12Z")
> [@pete38](#): > > How many alignments do I need? One more should do it. 😉 Seriously, I’m not a mechanic but it doesn’t sound like another alignment will solve your problem unless the guys who did the last two are utterly incompetent. Unless some part is damaged I’d go back to a problem with the brakes. As @oldtimer-11 said, the left brake or even the _front_ brakes aren’t necessarily the source of the trouble. ---
**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/7 "2020-10-14T15:58:07Z")
If you can do it safely, try braking with the parking brake while underway. That puts only the rear brakes - or one of them - in play. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/8 "2020-10-15T04:31:29Z")
The rear parking brake is cable actuated so if the rear brake is having a problem with a sticking caliper or hose, it won’t show up using the parking brake. ---
**Author:** ![pete38](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@pete38](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pete38)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 11:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/9 "2020-10-15T11:27:32Z")
I pinched off the hoses for the front brakes so that only the rear brakes were active. They worked fine. No pulling. ---
**Author:** ![davepsinbox\_157004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@davepsinbox\_157004](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davepsinbox_157004)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/10 "2020-10-15T16:12:41Z")
Great detective work. You’ve isolated the problem to the front of the car and my money’s still on the brakes. ---
**Author:** ![pete38](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@pete38](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pete38)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/11 "2020-10-15T20:54:00Z")
The problem started as pulling left when hitting the brakes. The first thing I did was the front calipers and rotors. There was no change. So I’m up against the odds of getting a new caliper failing the exact same way on the same side. Maybe I’ll swap the calipers and see if the problem follows to the right side. ---
**Author:** ![pete38](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@pete38](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pete38)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/12 "2020-11-10T14:27:17Z")
Problem solved. I figured I should close this loop. It was a bad ball joint. Car tracks nice and straight now. I had brought it to 3 shops and all said that the ball joints were fine. It recently developed a “squeak/groan” when turning. I thought ball joint so replaced all 4. That was it! Thank you all for your help. ---
**Author:** ![pyrolord314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@pyrolord314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pyrolord314)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1992-ford-thunderbird-pulls-left-when-braking/171148/13 "2020-11-10T15:03:43Z")
> [@pete38](#): > > I figured I should close this loop We appreciate it, many people never bother to come back and let us know what the resolution was. Glad you figured it out, happy motoring 🙂