My daughter's 91 camaro pulls right when applying the brakes, straightens right out when you let off. Pulls left if you go in reverse. The front disks do need new pads, the left one being more worn than the right. The rear drum brakes are about half worn, with no leaks. She says it has pulled for a year or so. I'm going to put new pads and rotors on, but what is causing the pull?

I'd replace the calipers, sounds like you have you sticking.

and I would replace both front hoses. My 86 Monte Carlo SS was doing just that and with the original parts, I replaced the calipers(get loaded ones, they come with pads, get the premium ones,not the cheap ones.)hoses and rotors and just as a matter of prevention, I replaced the Master Cylinder too. Be sure to bleed the system thoroughly. If you replace the M/C, it needs to be bench bled.

Left pads worn, pulls to right. Sounds like inside lining of left hose is cracked. If you want to replace everything ok. I would replace the hose and see if the pull goes away, that's a 20 minute job including bleeding that line. If the pull is gone replace the pads and get the kit for the caliper slide pins. Clean up the pins and lube, all done.

If the L/F hose had a problem causing accelerated wear to the L/S then the pull would be left. Front brakes will always pull to the direction of the accelerated wear, that is why it wears faster. Although it possible to have a line problem it is fairly unlikely. A caliper sticking is a much more likely condition.

Originally posted by dennis68:
If the L/F hose had a problem causing accelerated wear to the L/S then the pull would be left. Front brakes will always pull to the direction of the accelerated wear, that is why it wears faster. Although it possible to have a line problem it is fairly unlikely. A caliper sticking is a much more likely condition. If the inner lining is cracked or has a tear it can restrict fluid/pressure to caliper. So you get more braking on the other side, pull. When you let off the brakes it still restricts fluid flow and does not allow the caliper to retract, wear. Seen it, been there, done it. Do a search here on brake lines/hoses. Isn't the only possibility but it absolutely can cause the problem described.

Note: You say front brakes always pull to the side of excess wear. Read the post again, he said pulls right, excess wear on left.

It is totally normal for brakes to wear one side more than the other in a perfect working brake system. Abnormal wear would be one side 50% both pads and the other side 0%. FYI, my background is brake and suspension specialist for Chrysler going on 8 years now, 15 years master certified tech.

I agree the hose could possibly be an issue but the calipers are by far a more common problem (also check the slides)

I replaced the cals, pads, rotors, and hoses tonight. Tomarrow night I will bleed the brakes and see what I got. Thank you all for the great responses! graemlins/hurray.gif