Steering gremlin - pulls right

[wallisek]

I've had this annoying "gremlin" over the last year which is bugging the hell out of me. My 2001 Cherokee started pulling to the right last year. I figured worn tires and a bad alignment was causing the problem. I just got brand new tires put on and a professional alignment (right side was toed in). Everything is within specs now but it still pulls to the right. It almost feels like throttle steer, if you "punch it" it stays nice and straight an soon as you let off, it pulls right. Occasionaly if I brake "medium-to-hard" it will *really* pull to the right and I have to turn the steering wheel a half turn left to keep it straight. Only thing left I can think of is something to do with the brakes. Sticky caliper, improperly adjusted drums? Any thoughts on this? :dunno:

 

:wall: :wall: :wall: :wall:

[dasbulliwagen]

Sounds like you have a sticking caliper on the right side, jack the front end up and feel the turning resistance at each wheel. I bet the right side is much harder to turn... Ive also seen this caused by bad brake hoses to the caliper, will let pressure build up, but not bleed off, so check that too if this is your problem! Good luck, let us know what you find!

[wallisek]

*Update*

 

No longer "pulls" right, but still has some throttle steer when I let off the gas. :hmm: Definatley 100x better than it was. At first I inspected the rear brakes, no drag and everything looked good inside. Checked front right...uh oh. Dragged like a SOB. Took the whole right side apart and put it back on. No drag. Went for a drive but problem was still there except when I braked, it pulled HARD to the left. Checked left side...dragged also. Took that side apart as well, inspected, put back together. I bleed both sides twice and used my mityvac which seemed to do the trick. Not sure what the issue was but something was wrong with brakes. My pedal is more firm now and the brakes seem to respond better. Dirty or debris? Slow leak? Air bubble...no idea. :nuts:

[Wildman]

dasbulliwagen mentioned it in his post.........The caliper soft lines.

 

After years the rubber lines break down, and collapse internally and act like a check valve, when you hit the pedal, your applying pressure, but then with the brake pedal off, it's just free flowing, and if the lines are old and fluid soaked, they will not let the fluid flow back to the master, causing the caliper to be "pressurized" causing drag, and eating up your pads very quickly.

 

Normally you can feel the line and feel a bubble in the rubber, or if the lines are cracked/checked or wet looking........time for a new set.

 

You can bleed the brakes a 100 times, if the soft lines are shot, your not gaining anything :roll:

[wallisek]

Lines seemed fine and they are fairly new. I replaced my stock lines about 2 years ago with the longer YJ ones. The problem is almost completely gone and none of the tires drag when I have the jeep up on jackstands. The jeep doesn't "pull" anymore but will tends to ever-so-slight wander to the right. Could it possibly be camber? Left side is within spec ( -0.67 , -0.75 min 0.50 max) but right side is ( -0.80).

[Yesterday's Danish]

I have this same problem on my 2000 XJ. It's only when I slam on the brakes though. I chalked it up to needing an alignment. I'll check the caliper soft lines next time the wheels are off.

[deziped]

I t don't sound like a camber problem unless someone installed adjustable ball joints on your vehicle or you have a bent axle tube.. It could be caster adjustment though. If you drive on a lot of crowned (Higher in center) roads and have identical caster on both wheels the vehicle will tend to pull to the right (downhill side of road). If thats the problem you can compensate for that by addeing slightly more positve caster to the right front wheel. Or back off a bit on the left one. I prefer to add as lessening caster leads to more wander as it makes the wheels react like casters. Push that ofc chair around and watch the wheels flop around, same principal. Put a .30 shim or a 1/64 in there and see what happens. Just loosen two bolts and slide it in. It won't affect toe-in. Thinking about it a second maybe you don't have enuf caster on either side.

[wallisek]

caster = 6.14º left, 6.08º right

 

I've got a 3.5" lift and I thought 6º is about what I want. I have adjustable LCAs.