Car Pulls When Braking

[Bill75]

I rebuilt my brake calipers and installed new pads a couple of years ago, calipers were S/S sleeved and looked fine so I reused them. Generally they have been fine but once in a while they would tend to slightly pull to one side when stopping then the next time it might be the other side. Nothing really bad only slightly noticable.
This spring I now have a pretty bad pull to the left every time when braking. I've looked for the obvious, no leaks anywhere, I bled them again, no noise, pads look almost as new without removing the calipers yet. Tire pressure is the same all the way around and the algnment was done a couple of years ago, it goes straight down the road although I haven't really checked it.
I did reuse the original pistons after cleaning them up with brake fluid, they looked OK at the time. I used the original design lip seals at the time also for the rebuild.
So I'm going to take these apart to have a look inside and not sure what to look for other than a sticking piston maybe (??) but not sure. I've been thinking that maybe I should install the "O" ring style conversion as long as it's apart AGAIN.
Any advise on this? I know there are varying opinions on "O" ring styles vs lip seals. I had looked at SS Brakes site for the conversion kit.
http://www.cssbinc.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=297

Bill

 

[bradfordsvettes]

are the brake hoses original or even older they frequently collapse internally and restrict flow under pressure or return depending on how they failed just my 2 cents Steve

 

[Bill75]

are the brake hoses original or even older they frequently collapse internally and restrict flow under pressure or return depending on how they failed just my 2 cents Steve

Forgot to mention, I changed them to S/S braided lines when I did the calipers, all four wheels.

 

[duke94]

Check for worn suspension parts, ball joints and tie rod ends. Also upper/lower control arm bushings.

 

[LVMYVT76]

It could be that you have a rotor that is wobbling to make it possible for air to get in the caliper, causing it to better breaking on one side than the other. Have you checked for run out on the rotors? Even with the best calipers, run out will cause problems.

 

[Bill75]

It could be that you have a rotor that is wobbling to make it possible for air to get in the caliper, causing it to better breaking on one side than the other. Have you checked for run out on the rotors? Even with the best calipers, run out will cause problems.

I haven't actually checked the runout on either rotor. No pulse when I apply the brakes but it's something to look into. I didn't get any air out when I bled them.

Thanx for the idea, I'll check to be safe.

 

[USNA1969]

are the brake hoses original or even older they frequently collapse internally and restrict flow under pressure or return depending on how they failed just my 2 cents Steve

I think he's talking about the rubber hoses. I had one plug internally and it locked up a rear caliper causing a LOT of heat back there.