Uneven Braking

[CARNAC]

I pulled the wheels today and checked the brake pads. They have plenty of wear so I cleaned them and put the hubs and wheels back on.

Issue is when I hit the brakes, the truck slews to one side.

Now I found the rubber on the sway bar and the drag link are all about shot.

Issue has progressively gotten worse over time and the tires/tire pressures are good. Checked for kinked lines. Validate the calipers and drum brakes are functioning when the pedal is depressed.

Does the shot rubber sound like it could be the culprit?

 

[clinto]

If the brakes are ok, worn tie rods and ball joints are far more likely culprits than sway bar bushings.

You can test ball joints and tie rods for wear using a pair of pliers to measure vertical play.

 

[Rattlewagon]

Carnac, have you checked the spring bushings? King pins? The best advice is to put her in the air, start at the front and work your way to the back axle. while its in the air, give the tires a spin. you could have a brake hanging up.

just replacing all the bushings in the front (urethane is my preference, ymmv) will probably make it drive like a differend beast.

dont forget the steering box. if you have three knuckles full of slop, it can get ugly...

just some of my observations over the years.. and 8 different 73~87 chevys!

 

[dskchevy]

My M1009 sat in south Texas heat from 2001 till me buying it in 2008........
I had a brake hose that had swollen inside......................

 

[rlwm211]

Carnac; I had a similiar problem with my '91 Suburban which has the same front end as the CUCV 1009, I had a loose wheel bearing. When I hit the brakes, the right front would turn out and cause the truck to slew right.

One other possibility is that the caliper on one side is stickiing and using only one side of the pads, or the piston is not moving as easily under a given amount of brake pressure as the other front caliper is.

Just a couple of ideas....

RL

 

[ctmustang]

Carnac it is the brake hoses. Only one is probably bad but with the age replace both. Been doing this for 25 years and a bushing would have to be really bad. The ball joints really can't get enough slack to cause this situation.
CT