I've got some kind of issue with my brakes that is frankly making the car borderline undrivable... It's a little scary.

When I first press the brakes, the car pulls hard to the left as if the right side isnt even engaging, but after a moment, when the position of the brake pedal stabilizes, it tracks perfectly straight.

What could cause this? I've noticed for a while that I have a LOT more brake dust on the driver's side of the car than the passenger side, and I think that might have something to do with it.

I replaced the brakes and pads about a year ago, and noticed it then, but now that I've replaced my shocks/struts/springs today (Apparently those shocks had 190k miles on them, they were TOASTED and looked stock...) with newer pieces that dont wallow around nearly as much, the symptoms are much more obvious. To be honest, I think the new shocks all around just aren't masking hte problem like teh old shocks were, but maybe something has actually gotten worse, not sure.

So is it a bad caliper? bad rubber line maybe? The pads and rotors are fine although the driver's side is a lot more worn than the passenger side... Could it be the alignment? The shocks were so bad the car didnt sit level. I had one corner of hte car sitting at 25.5 inches from ground to fender, and the other corner sitting at 27. Pretty ghetto. So maybe now that it's fixed... ?

It steers pretty straight, which is what confuses me about a potentially stuck caliper... Just not exactly sure where I should throw my energy in at. Was thinking about replacing the brake lines and the calipers but that'd be a waste if it's just the alignment is off. But like I said it drives straightl, and it brakes straight as soon both sides engage... but it seems like the passenger side isnt engaging as quickly as the driver's side...


Any ideas?

For the record I went from 190k mile possibly factory shocks/struts and RS springs to IROC springs and Koni yellows all around, so it's a pretty drastic change, hence my thinking that these symptoms just aren't being masked like they were before.

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...ulls-side.html

JamesC

 

RIGHT CALIPER.. about 12 bucks at autozone

 

Most likely a rubber line is collapsing (check the link).

JamesC

 

Could be either a hose or caliper.... they're cheap so be on the safe side and just do it all. It'd be a real shame to have an accident over $100 worth of parts and a little bit of labor.

 

I guess I might as well get both calipers then.

And I'll go ahead and grab some brake lines while Im at it...

 

i would do the right hose and caliper and see if that fixes the problem. I wouldnt do both unless you run into another problem after.. if it aint broke dont fix it, ya know??

 

Given the age of the car, your plan is sound.

JamesC

 

Just to be clear, Im referring to the rubber lines... not the hardlines... What are the odds that the problem is in the hardlines?

Either way, I'll be tackling it tomorrow. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

ANd how tight do I tighten them? According to what I read it was something like 15 ft lbs I think. I dont have a torque wrench so I've got no idea what 15 ft lbs feels like. Will "snug" work?

 

yeah, the problem is probably not in the hard line, but since you recently did all that work to the front end it might be worth it to inspect them and make sure there are no kinks in them. If they look ok the it's either the hose or the caliper.

Yeah, snug will work... just check to make sure there are no leaks. I usually have someone hold down the brake for 30 seconds or so with the car running and watch the connections.

 

I would bet on the hoses.

 

I had the exact same thing happen to my car. I replaced both of the rubber brake lines, and brakes perfect. I would be 95% sure of that

 

my rs was doing this too, i always thought it was a sticking caliper.. but if it was the caliper, it would always pull to the side, right?? B/C mine pulls at first then it straightens out... that means its a hose?

 

I replaced the caliper and hose today on the passenger side, the problem seems to have gone away, Im hoping it stays gone. I only drove it a few miles tonight just to test it out around the neighborhood and it seems pretty good so far, so I'm guessing the caliper or the hose was the problem.

 

I would replace the other hose also.

 

Me too. I thought that that was your intention above.

JamesC

 

Ran out of time to do it yesterday and I wanted to give it a test run to see if the problem was still there.

I've got the driver's side hose already, so it's just a matter of getting around to getting the caliper off and going to get a new one. But I spent so much time messing with the other one yesterday that I could do this with my eyes closed at this point. I hate brake fluid with a passion, and I was running out of daylight.

I did put fresh pads in on both sides, though.

 

When it comes to brake parts, Im a big fan of doing both sides at once. If one hose/caliper that has been on the car since 198x is going bad, chances are the other one isnt too far behind. Especially since you need to bleed the brakes when youre done. Who wants to do that more than once... haha.

Glad to see you got it fixed though! Nothing better than having a problem that you've been "putting up with" and fixing it yourself...and for fairly cheap I imagine, unless you bought gold plated calipers and hoses.

J.

 

yeah it would have been better to see if it was the hose or caliper that was broke though

 

This is for anyone who searches and is unfamiliar with this kind of thing like me. This was the first time I've messed with replacing calipers and brake lines and if you're doing a search, I think it's relatively safe to assume you're a little in the dark, so this is for you! A few tips:

1. Grab some flare nut wrenches for the hard line. You do NOT want to strip that nut. A set of Goodwrench flare nut wrenches cost me a whole $13. Worked great on the bleeder screw too!

2. Make absolutely positive you know your rights from your left. The right side brake line will NOT work on the left side. I had it all buttoned up and ready to go, and spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get the clip on it and trying to figure out why the line woudlnt fit into the clip right.... Then I realized I was going to have to take it all apart and do it over again.

3. When you remove the caliper, put a big vacuum plug through the old line where the banjo bolt was. My biggest plug wasnt big enough, so I just shoved a medium sized screwdriver through that. Kept it plugged up pretty well so it doesnt leak all over the place while you go to the store to get your $9 caliper(s).

4. Another thing I learned, although I'm curious to see whether or not this is indeed the textbook way to do it or whether it's a horribly bad idea for some reason. But it's much easier to bolt the brake line to the caliper (dont forget the washers!) first. Then disconnect the old line and connect the new one. You get a lot less brake fluid all over everything tha way. Of course you'll have a lot of air in the system then. But just make sure you bleed everything properly and it feels good before you set off. The first time I did it (I used the wrong side's brake line) I disconnected the old line, brake fluid everywhere, connected the new one, brake fluid still going everywhere, then connected the caliper, still had brake fluid going everywhere until it got torqued down.

If I had known all that when I started, it would have taken more time to put the car on jackstands than it would have then to replace the caliper and lines.

 

Can anyone for sure answer this

 

Mine never pulled except under braking. I figure if it was the caliper it was because it didnt move as freely, smoothly, or as quickly as it should have.

It cost me $9 for the caliper... about $20 for each line I think, but IM not sure. I walked out with wrenches, caliper, and 2 lines for around $55.