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Truck pulls right driving, straightens when braking

2K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  Treehugger 
#1 · (Edited)
This is a new one for me.

Truck pulls right while driving. Been to alignment shop twice and say its perfect. New bilsteins up front, didn't see anything bad when installing.

So get this, when I brake it immediately stops pulling and drives straight . Also feels squirely when first applying the brakes. Like you can feel one pad grab, then the rest all grab at once. And it brakes straight. Also have an ABS light on.

Any thoughts where to start looking? Stuck right front caliper? Collapsed brake line? I'm dumbfounded

2002 4x4 trd 306k miles
 
#3 · (Edited)
Drive for several minutes from cold without using the brakes much. Stop carefully using the EBrake (neutral makes that easier). Then check the temp of each front rotor. If something on your front brakes is sticking, that side should be hotter. Be careful, if something (slide pins or pistons) is sticking, it can make that rotor very hot. It likely will pull to the side with the sticky brake.

Tire pressures ok?
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the quick replies everyone!

I'm going to run the test from cold you advised and see if I notice any heat.

Then I'll pull the tires and take apart the pads and see if they're sticking on the pins. Either way I'll lube them up while I'm in there.

I'll report back shortly.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Update:

Tire pressures even.

Did not notice any difference in temperature between calipers doing brake test from cold.

Both wheels spin freely off the ground.

Pulled pads and pins. Sanded down rust and dirt off pins and lubed them up while I was in there. Pads look fine to me, no signs of scorching. Rotors showed no signs of overheating or scoring.

Lower control arm bushings look shot on both sides, 306k miles will do that. But I didn't notice any play with a crow bar moving things around.

Uneven tire wear on my right front. Much more wear on the inside of the tire.

I guess the only thing I didn't check was tie rods....

Thoughts?
 

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#8 ·
inside tire wear isn't good, means something is out of wack, i always see that on the large trucks i work on when they usually have severely worn kingpins. my guess is that you have a severely worn ball joint or control arm bushings.
 
#10 ·
Hmmm shit. I'll check the ball joints when i jack it up to check the tie rods. I also noticed a torn boot on the left inner tie rod with some dirt in the r&p. :banghead:

Now I'm starting to wonder about the steering rack bushings as well...

I just bought the truck last month from an old co worker. Some kid rolled it into a ditch I got it cheap. I just got done pulling out the roof and replacing all the panels on the right side. Now to chase down all these mechanical gremlins!

Surprised your alignment shop didn't report worn or failed front end parts. The one I use does. Glad you found something.
Yea I'm not too pleased. I'm a decent bush mechanic, but I expect them to catch this stuff and at least let me know. I scheduled an appointment friday with a different firestone location to have them check the alignment again. Hopefully they take the 5 minutes while its on the rack to shake everything down and can give me some answers.
 
#13 ·
So as of right now here's my bets, hopefully I'll find out more friday:
1. Ball joint -Unlikely (may be bad but is not causing your issue)
2. LCA Bushings- very possible
3. Inner tie rods- unlikely but somewhat possible(would have to be VERY bad)
4. Steering rack bushings- very possible
Another thing I see on a lot of these high mileage older Tundras is that the lower control arm where the bushings are pressed in get distorted.
 
#12 ·
i doubt it'll be a tie rod, that usually gives you loose or delay in steering when you turn the wheel. my bet is one of the ball joints. how are you checking the ball joints when you have the front end off the ground?
 
#14 ·
So I jacked the truck up by the cross member. Put my hands a 12 and 6 on the tire and pushed/pulled on the tire. Didn't notice anything lose. I look a piece of pipe and levered it under the tire... didn't see anything move.

Another thing I see on a lot of these high mileage older Tundras is that the lower control arm where the bushings are pressed in get distorted.
I noticed when I was levering the tire from the front at an angle, the rear LCA bushing had some play, a little more than what's probably normal. Also the bushings are cracked and even look torn. So I'm sure this is not helping and could certainly be the cause.

The drivers side LCA rear bushing had the same amount of play as the passenger. So is it normal, or do I need to replace both LCA? (I'm not dealing with pressing the bushings lol)
 
#16 ·
Just wanted to say I was able to remedy the situation. And it drives like a new truck!

I replaced the lower control arms, ball joints, inner/outer tie rods, sway bar bushings, and steering rack bushings.

As to what was causing the issues I think everything was thrashed besides the ball joints. Sway bar bushings were rotted and cracked. Outer tie rods were very sloppy. And worst of all were the lower control are bushings. Looked like the rubber bushings were split all the way around.

Previous owner showed paperwork that most of that was replaced 45k ago. Judging by the quality of the parts, it's no wonder why. Comparing them to the new moog products and senkie?japan, it's night and day.

Make sure to get quality parts for the front end!

Thanks for all the help.
 
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