[Teracis]

As the title suggests, my zook (1990 WT Sierra) pulls to the left under brakes.

It pulls to the left all the time if you let go of the wheel, guessing a product of wheeling because it nearly stopped this after last time it had a wheel alignment, but it's back now...

Also, the right front is a LOT harder to turn (up on stands) than the left, seems like the brake is partially locked on, however I can't be in two places at once to test it so waiting for mrs to get home to confirm if the front right is working or not.

Aside from the front right brake not working at all, what else could it be? the rears seem to be working the same and properly.

So many things wrong with my zook

[Reubs]

There is no such thing as a 'wheel alignment' on a Sierra. The only thing that can be adjusted is front toe and that would only be out if something was bent.

Your problem could definitely be a product of wheeling. I would be looking at stuffed wheel bearings or frozen caliper slides first (easy to check). Both will cause you dramas if unchecked for too long.

[Teracis]

Heh, I think BOTH of the those issues are part of what is wrong.

Also, really no wheel alignment? Damn mechanic never said anything about that, they did adjust the toe and I think camber?

Stands to reason because it's a leaf sprung vehicle.

I'll have to pull the caliper off to check it wont I, wheel bearings I just tried to wobble the wheel up and down, it moves a tiny bit, which is probably too much!

[Scrawny]

No camber adjustment on Sierras (unless you bend something )

I would suggest the brake caliper is your issue. Have a look at the colour of the disc. Easy enough to pull apart to check.

[Teracis]

Disc is shiny, I'll pull the caliper down tomorrow and get it working again.

[Built4thrashing]

caliper may be slightly siesed or you have polished a disc.

get disc machined and new pads and put a reco kit through both calipers...

Could also be air in the lines/caliper.

If pulling to the left check the right side.

[TZAR]

Teracis wrote:

As the title suggests, my zook (1990 WT Sierra) pulls to the left under brakes.


So many things wrong with my zook

easy fix don't brake :-p

[steve]

I had this issue once, the front right brake was siezed on, so it pulled to the right when driving, then when you hit the brakes it would veer the left dramattically... was a pretty serious problem i guess but was a little bit funny.

[Teracis]

steve wrote:

I had this issue once, the front right brake was siezed on, so it pulled to the right when driving, then when you hit the brakes it would veer the left dramattically... was a pretty serious problem i guess but was a little bit funny.

This is the way I look at it too, I've banned the mrs from driving it till I fix it though because if you weren't expecting it it would be dangerous.

I also have to remember to stop fighting the wheel when I come off the brake or I turn right!

Also, for any of the wowsers out there, it's nowhere near as bad as we're making it sound, I'm trying to get it fixed asap though!

[steve]

oh yer it's a serious problem, i got a few Ks from home on the way to wheeling and had to turn around, had to pull over and spread the siezed brakes before i could drive off. Pretty dangerous really, i have seen a car spin around on the highway when hitting the brakes, which i would assume his brakes were a bit screwed up like that.

[Teracis]

Oh I understand how serious it can be, mine has only just started playing up at the moment, both wheels still lock, one just pulls a touch harder and it's noticeable.

I'm not one to leave it till the other one stops working or locks on solid though!

As I said, I'll try and free it up tomorrow after we go wheeling, no point doing it before because it's okay at the moment and if I stuff it I can't go wheeling :p

[crewsy]

Sometimes when you brake it does it a little bit anyway in some 4x4's. Could it sometimes be to do with having a lift in the car and the angle of the drag link/tie rod being too much causing it to veer off when braking? Just something Ive always put it down to. What do others think?

[steve]

another interesting brake problem is,

I had both rear brake cylinders seize, and you would think that would be ok because most braking on the road would be front, which is a great theory on the road, but if you drive up a steep dirt hill in the bush and stop, you have absolutly no braking! The front brakes lock and the rears are seized, so proceed to slide backwards down the hill at high speed! which is not very pleseant! ... also pretty funny if you don't die

[Teracis]

steve wrote:

another interesting brake problem is,

I had both rear brake cylinders seize, and you would think that would be ok because most braking on the road would be front, which is a great theory on the road, but if you drive up a steep dirt hill in the bush and stop, you have absolutly no braking! The front brakes lock and the rears are seized, so proceed to slide backwards down the hill at high speed! which is not very pleseant! ... also pretty funny if you don't die

Handbrake at the same time? I thought it was a separate mechanism to the foot pedal when it comes to rears. Unless it is the same part that moves the pads and that is what had siezed? I'm sure you would have thought of the handbrake at the time if it was going to work thought so I guess I'm wrong!

[steve]

on that particular occasion, it was at Black Duck Valley (big steep hills). We got to the top of the hill and were bouncing and powering on, then the rear drive shaft broke, and the bang knocked the case in to neutrel and we stopped, looked at each other and mouthed the words "SHIT!", brakes on which only locked the front brakes, no rear brakes as they were seized and the handbrake was a NT handbrake so was on the shaft which was broken.

We flew backwards down the hill , i was looking backwards steering, we got to the bottom and spung did a 90degree spin and the car lent over but came back down. We cracked up laughing. But was a pretty stupid situation to be in.

Brakes can be handy

[Teracis]

Holy crap that's a hectic story!

Good to hear you got out of it unscathed!

[crewsy]

Oh man, that would have been THE scariest thing!

[shep]

crewsy wrote:

Oh man, that would have been THE scariest thing!

while at the same time being as funny as fuck

[zuk85]

check your wheel bearing give the wheel a wobble up and down... not side to side.

[SuziBlu]

steve wrote:

on that particular occasion, it was at Black Duck Valley (big steep hills). We got to the top of the hill and were bouncing and powering on, then the rear drive shaft broke, and the bang knocked the case in to neutrel and we stopped, looked at each other and mouthed the words "SHIT!", brakes on which only locked the front brakes, no rear brakes as they were seized and the handbrake was a NT handbrake so was on the shaft which was broken.

We flew backwards down the hill , i was looking backwards steering, we got to the bottom and spung did a 90degree spin and the car lent over but came back down. We cracked up laughing. But was a pretty stupid situation to be in.

Brakes can be handy

I wonder if that would have happened if you were driving a real 4w, sierra, aahahahahahahahahaaa

[Teracis]

Also, I have been searching on here for the thread that shows clearly how to rebuild a brake caliper. Thought it would be easier to follow than the manual as I've not done one before.

Plan is to go get a rebuild kit tomorrow for them and do the fronts.

Also, what is this talk of tightening the wheel bearing? I'm going to have to look that up, coz that's probably what's causing my steering wobble (from reading other threads)

[Teracis]

Nobody on the Gold Coast has a rebuild kit for a sierra brake caliper in stock...

Thought you lads said it was a shelf item?

Guess I'll just have to take it off and clean it out then!

[Teracis]

Okay so now it's locked up completely, I went to take the zook out to take a dvd back to blockbuster and it didn't want to take off out of the garage...

Should have pulled the caliper down today after all

[steve]

This is dodgy i know but we'll call it a "shep fix"

Take the caliper/cylinder out, smooth it off with a soft scourer/washing up pad.

Tip on getting a seized caliper/cylinder out. Get a clamp and clamp it up and squeeze it inwards to unsieze it, then push the brake pedal a few times until it pops completely out.

They get water on them and rust the outside of the cylinder so then get siezed in the caliper thingy. Chuck it back in and it'll be good. Make sure it's all free moving.

[Teracis]

steve wrote:

This is dodgy i know but we'll call it a "shep fix"

Take the caliper/cylinder out, smooth it off with a soft scourer/washing up pad.

Tip on getting a seized caliper/cylinder out. Get a clamp and clamp it up and squeeze it inwards to unsieze it, then push the brake pedal a few times until it pops completely out.

They get water on them and rust the outside of the cylinder so then get siezed in the caliper thingy. Chuck it back in and it'll be good. Make sure it's all free moving.

This was my plan, pull it all apart and clean the lot of it, and replace ALL the brake fluid because I don't know how old it is, I've had the thing since december and I'm slowly finding rougher and rougher things previous owners have done

But yeh, I'll see how it all goes and if it's too rooted I'll just take it off the road till I get the required parts! It's not like I don't have a work ute to get to work in!

[Teracis]

Okay so it's half fixed.

I removed the fronts, cleaned and greased all the parts of the calipers and put the back in with brand new bendix pads (the old ones were nearly gone and worn on the piss because of the locked up piston and slides)

Took it for a test drive, It no longer pulls to one side under brakes. About the third time I pushed the pedal though it went really soft and started to pulse. I pulled the handbrake (as I seemed to have no brakes) and it kept doing it, guessing it was from the back (because of it affecting handbrake as well, along with the rattling noise coming from the rear) so I took the rear drums apart.

The pads had separated from the brake shoes!

Off to get some new shoes now on the way to dinner, along with some brake cleaner. I'll finish it off in the morning!

[Teracis]

So it's fixed now, thanks to all who suggested ideas!

Rebuilt/cleaned both brake calipers and replaced front pads.
Cleaned drums + replaced brake shoes.

Now she stops on a dime and if I want I can lock the wheels in the dry on tarmac! Not that I want to just can that's all!