So basically when I press the brakes the car pulls to the right and stops pulling when I release the brake. I have all new rotors and pads. When I have the car in the air both of the front wheels spin freely. But when having the rear in the air (one wheel at a time) the rear drivers side wheel doesn’t spin at all even with releasing the bleeder. On the rear passenger the wheel moves but with some resistance. I’m assuming the brake lines are alright so that leaves me with the caliper and or wheel bearing? The caliper guide pins are moving freely as well. Any insight?
Realizing now, is a easy way to see if it’s the caliper or not is to just remove it and try spinning again?
That will tell whether it’s the brakes or the wheel. The problem could be a seized bearing.
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You didn’t say what vehicle you have (which is always helpful). But we’ll assume form the post that you’re disc brakes all around.
Don’t assume that the brake lines are ok - the flexible rubber ones at the calipers. They can break down on the interior and cause problems. Given what you’ve said, you either have a sticking caliper piston (or two) in the rear, and/or failing flexible rubber brake lines. (The interior walls can basically fail in a way that they become check valves allowing pressure to be applied, but not releasing it).
Do you have an IR thermometer? If not, they’re not very expensive. Drive around for a few minutes and then shoot the four calipers for temp. My guess is that the driver’s rear will be noticeably hotter than the rest. The passenger rear will be next and both of those will be hotter than the front.
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The other wild card (since we don’t know year/make/model and so can’t speculate) is whether or not your parking brake is out of whack.
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Crazy how I forgot it’s a 2004 mustang gt
I do have one of those I’ll definitely check that out tomorrow thanks
Ummmm, doesn’t a GT have a limited slip differential?? You have to have both rear wheels off the ground, cause that is normal for a posi…
EDIT: vehicle would have to be in neutral of course, not in park or gear, with one rear wheel on the ground…
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When I test the adjustment on my rear-wheel-drive Ford truck’s brakes using the hand-spin method, one wheel raised works fine for the front, but I have to have both rear wheels off the ground to test the back. Hard to explain why OP is able to hand spin one side on the rear but not the other with only one wheel raised. Seems like neither would hand-spin unless both were raised. Due to just the way a differential works.
As far as OP’s symptoms, my first thought was the same as CigR’s above, parking brake problem. If the parking brake uses cables, the cable(s) may be rust-frozen, keeping the parking brake engaged all the time. That’s often fairly easy to fix with a little rust-busting lube. Wheel cylinder/caliper problems are also a common cause for pulling when braking. If there’s any brake fluid under the piston’s boot, the wheel cylinder or caliper has to be replaced or rebuilt.
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Begin by feeling the disks after a short drive, they should all feel equally warm so if any one of them is significantly hotter or colder, start there.
If it immediately stops pulling right when the brake is released, check to see if your left front brake is working. Jack the corner up, spin it and have a buddy touch the brakes. Can you rotate it further?
Are you sure iabsolutly sure you nstalled the calipersand calipers correctly, bleed correctly, right side up, no leaks?
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Just my 2 cents for whatever it is worth.
Not sure it is a good idea to tell someone to touch the rotors after a short drive. It is a good way to get burned. they can heat up pretty quick. especially if a caliper is hanging up. a short drive could be a few blocks for one person or a 15-20 minute one for someone else. We have to remember that a lot of people coming here for advice are not mechanically inclined as the regulars here giving advice.
side note… you can purchase an Infrared Thermometer gun. they are pretty cheap.
Amazon.com: Infrared Thermometers - Temperature & Humidity: Industrial & Scientific
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It’s a good precaution. But vehicle diagnosis & repair is inherently dangerous. If the posters here had to equivocate for every possible danger, no one would bother to post. For example if a poster here said to someone asking why their car won’t start, “make sure there’s gas in the tank” , would they have to include to not use a match to look into the gas tank filler?
I agree about caution in touching brake rotors. But hand on the wheels instead is a decent substitute if you’ve been driving long enough. No matter either was as the OP said they have an IR thermometer.
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Did the pull happen before or after the pads and rotors were replaced??..
If after, then you may have twisted the brake hose…
It’s been happening. I lifted up the rear of the car with both wheels up and both of the rear wheels turn but with some resistance. When turning the wheels though I heard a clunk coming from what I think is the u joint near the diff so I think that’s a different problem.
Inspect the lower control arm bushings in the front suspension.
I do have negative camber. On the front drivers there’s -2 and on the front passenger it’s -1. I’m suspecting to have it because of my lowering springs but not all of it for the drivers side. I’m gonna order a whole new front end kit with control arms, tie rods and all that. Also I did end up using a temp gun for the brakes and their all the same
My Ford truck’s drum brakes developed a pulling problem one time. It would pull noticeably for about a second after applying the pedal, then return to normal operation, no more pulling. The cause turned out to be one front wheel cylinder was leaking a little brake fluid, which got onto the drum’s surface, making it slippery.
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My old Ford ('64 F100) truck did the same - wanted to put me in the ditch when braking, which is better than oncoming traffic! New flexible front lines solved it. I figured the LF line was probably just restricted from internal breakdown, but didn’t do anything to verify that.
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