brakes pulling

[Bruce W.]

Hey Guys could use a little help. Steering wheel pulls hard to the left when applying the brakes hard. this happens just before i stop. I have replaced the wheel cylinders,brake lines and shoes on both sides. Also had the the brake drums turned. what I did notice is that that the adjustment seems to loosen on the opposite side as the pull. Even tried switching the drums. Any body had this problem/ Very puzzling?
Bruce

[Patrick C.]

Re: brakes pulling

Hey Guys could use a little help. Steering wheel pulls hard to the left when applying the brakes hard. this happens just before i stop. I have replaced the wheel cylinders,brake lines and shoes on both sides. Also had the the brake drums turned. what I did notice is that that the adjustment seems to loosen on the opposite side as the pull. Even tried switching the drums. Any body had this problem/ Very puzzling?
Bruce

I assume you have drums..have you tried backing up and hitting the brakes hard several times? Worked great for me on my 64’

[Mark E.]

Re: brakes pulling

As Patrick suggests, make sure they're adjusted properly. CSM has the procedure for initial adjustment. Low speed but deliberate start/stops in reverse will complete the adjustment. For this to work, your brake adjuster wheels must be clean, not stuck, and properly engaging.

Next things to check: glazed or contaminated lining, air in brake lines, loose or worn front suspension components.

Grabbing just before stopping is often a symptom of glazed, contaminated or improperly seated linings.

[Richard M.]

Re: brakes pulling

It's a C1 so no self adjusters. Bruce used the 56/57 icon in his post.

You say the adjuster on the right wheel loosens. If so that's a problem as you'll get more brake action on the left then the right. Check that the right hold-down spring on the star-adjuster is holding the star wheel solidly.

Also... Did you change the 2 front rubber lines? If not, it could be that the rubber line on the right wheel is swelled and restricting fluid to that side.

Rich

[Bruce W.]

Re: brakes pulling

Thanks Richard, yes i did change the two front lines. These are new brake shoes. I find it curious that I find after I adjust the brakes and drive the car the right wheel brake adjustment has backed off and the wheel spins with no drag? How could the adjuster loosen?? I have orgered a new adjuster and spring even though they seem ok? Have you ever heard of this problem before?? Thanks for your help.
Bruce

[Richard M.]

Re: brakes pulling

Thanks Richard, yes i did change the two front lines. These are new brake shoes. I find it curious that I find after I adjust the brakes and drive the car the right wheel brake adjustment has backed off and the wheel spins with no drag? How could the adjuster loosen?? I have orgered a new adjuster and spring even though they seem ok? Have you ever heard of this problem before?? Thanks for your help.
Bruce

It certainly seems that the loose adjuster is the culprit, but why is a good question.

I'm not sure if the Primary and Secondary shoes being reversed would cause anything like that. Best to check orientation.

I did have a "pull left" problem on a 61 build-after-paint not that long ago. Prior builder installed all new brake system, lines. rubber hoses, MC, wheel cylinders, etc. Kept pulling left. I adjusted shoes to spec. Brought in adjusters tight, then backed off until slight drag. Kept pulling. Drove me crazy. Now that I think of it, it may be that it also seemed to loosen the adjuster on the right wheel. I kept tightening it but it still pulled left after a few braking cycles.

Pulled drums and swapped drums, still pulled. Shoes on properly, etc. I pulled all brake shoes, springs etc. Nothing odd. Then I noticed the wheel cylinders had slightly different markings. Owner got them from a vendor. So I went inside them both. I pulled them apart and found 2 different strength springs. Pistons were different then I found the bores were slightly different sizes. Someone installed 2 different sized cylinders, but they didn't notice it then. Replaced with 2 new "matched" wheel cylinders and all fixed.

Just for giggles you may want to check those wheel cylinders.

Rich

edit... a few pics of the culprits...

[Bruce W.]

Re: brakes pulling

Richard, thanks! will look at the wheel cylinders. They are both new from corvette central but anything is possible. there was some glazing on the shoes but i sanded them,didn't help. i have ordered new hardware even though everything looks ok? BTW do you know if the primary and secondary spring are different and if that could make a difference?
Appreciate your help
Bruce

[Richard M.]

Re: brakes pulling

Bruce,

The mismatched pair came from there too.

The springs are identical. Before I found the wheel cylinder problem, the other thing I tried was to bevel the top and bottom edges of the shoe linings. No difference though. Also, I bled the fronts again thinking some air entrapment.

You may want to re-bleed too just in case. If there's air on the right it may not be applying that side evenly with the left.

It may also be worthwhile to swap shoe pairs side to side just to rule that out too. While they're out lay each shoe in both drums to verify that the arc of each shoe. Before swaps it may be a good idea to mark each item to keep track of original placement. If you find something different it'll be good to know.

I'm hoping you find something simple and very curious what it turns out to be.

Rich

[Bruce W.]

Re: brakes pulling

Rich, good suggestions i will let you know
Bruce

[Bruce W.]

Re: brakes pulling

Rich, You aren't going to believe this. spoke to Tim Mickey and he said try switching the drums. I did and the problem is gone. Go figure makes no logical sense. thanks for your help.
Bruce

[Richard M.]

Re: brakes pulling

Rich, You aren't going to believe this. spoke to Tim Mickey and he said try switching the drums. I did and the problem is gone. Go figure makes no logical sense. thanks for your help.
Bruce

That's excellent. I'm glad it solved it. Success!

I'd have to imagine that the 2 drums are not identical diameters and play differently with the 2 different sets of installed shoes.

Rich

[Bruce W.]

Re: brakes pulling

Rich, this will add to the mystery. I measured the drums off the car and they are identical!!! go figure??
Bruce

[Mark E.]

Re: brakes pulling

But you said in post 1 you already switched the drums...

[Bruce W.]

Re: brakes pulling

Hey Mark,yes i did swap the drums last year. Then the car pulled to the other side.The only thing I did was have the drums turned but it still pulled to the same side.when i swapped the drums again the pull went away. Makes no logical sense to me?? Tim Mickey told me this makes no sense but that it has worked for him in the past. Mike Sams told him about this. go figure??
Bruce