when I hit the brakes on my car, sometimes it will pull to one side. I figured it was becasue of uneven braking, but what would cause this? Not enough brake fluid?

 

I'd make sure that all pads have even wear. Also, that there is no blockage in the brake line.

Could a need for a front end alignment cause that too?

 

no it's not alignment... i went through the same thing not too long ago. i tried alingment cuzi needed it... thoght it was the answer but the braking didnt get any better.... im guessing you have front disc and rear drum.... well eventually i had a brake caliper failure in the front and the calipers stuck to the rotors and ruined everything. That will most likely happen to you somewhere down the road, maybe not if you decide to sell it. But it wasnt cheap to fix it.

 

I have the same thing with my car. Whenever I brake hard it pulls to one side and it switches sides when I do it. Sometimes it pulls to the right, sometimes to the left. I also have disc/drums, what causes this? Are the calipers bad, or is it something with the brake lines. I just put new pads on it and had the rotors turned, yet the problem still remains.

 

proportioning valve maybe??

 

one caliper gets more fluid than the other... hose problems.... old brake parts to put it bluntly.

 

Sounds like my next project, replacing the brake lines.

 

Definitely check the brake lines first - this happened to me too, turned out one of my brake lines was completely blocked. That's my 2cents, if you care to read a little more I'll tell you how I found this out lol.

Upon routine replacement of the pads and resetting the caliper pistons (pumping the pedal and such), went for a test drive to see how the pads were. Needless to say, the car pulled to one side HARD with no brake applied and eventually I could smell a burning and smoke was coming from the fender on the side that was pulling. What happened is somehow I was able to push the caliper piston down to full brake when I was pumping them but because the line was clogged it didn't release! I had to replace the pads (and obviously, the line) and almost had to buy a new rotor.

Anyways, I suggest you take off your brake lines and see if you can blow air through them equally before spending money on alignments and such. Hope this helps!

 

Heh heh heh...

You had line lock....with no disable feature

 

Thanks, I feel better that I'm not driving the car right now. How much do new brake lines run?

 

The lines are fairly cheap, I know my back ones were like under $10 or so.

 

I had the same problem with my flex lines last summer and let me tell you -- get some braided steel lines like earls hyperfirms.

I did and they made a HUGE difference in pedal feel.
no more spongy hard to push pedal. feels like Im driving my moms old mazda MX-3 the pedal is so much lighter and positive.

 

so you guys think maybe just replace my lines, and check the pads to make sure they are wearing evenly?

 

check the pads and shoes for even wear if they look pretty even then try bleeding the brakes air in the line could cause this too. Have you had the brakes worked on recently? If you have a sticky caliper, the uneven wear of the shoes will show it.

 

If it pulls to the same side every time, replace the front brake hoses (like $10-15 each) and possibly the caliper's too. The brake hoses often get a piece of the rubber inside them that will only let fluid flow well in one direction causing one side to either not apply like it should, or to not realease like it should. You can just pull the calipers and make sure that they move freely, but that doesn't always catch a caliper problem.

If it pulls to which ever side it feels liek that time, I'd be looking at the steering. Tie-rod ends, idler arm, pitman arm, even excessive gearbox play could cause this.

 

would the steering components need to be replaced you think? Should I take it to a mechanic, or could I do this myself. I have pretty basic knowledge of working on cars.

 

I would say it's the calipers or the lines. Check the hard steel lines for kinks or breaks and replace the flexible rubber lines and calipers. The calipers are $15/each and the rubber lines are about the same. As the calipers get old, deposits between the piston and cylinder cause the caliper to stick at random. Also, make sure the rear brakes are in good shape too. If they are disc, then the same rules apply as the fronts. If they are drums, make sure all the lines are ok, and the wheel cylinders. Finally, adjust the rear drums so that both sides brake equally.

 

Well, if there is play in the steering components, they need replaced regardless of whether or not that is what is causing your brake pulling. As for difficulty, it's not all that bad if you have some mechanical ability, and a big hammer. Just don't plan to drive it any further than a few miles before having it aligned! I usually have to use a tape measure to get the toe pretty close because we need to drive a car about 4 miles to the alignment shop.

I also agree that it's a good idea to just replace the calipers and brake hoses, because they are inexpensive, and WILL fail at some point.

All the above happens to be on my to do list! I'm planning to replace all the wearable steering and suspension components soon.