Pulling to one side during braking.

[eben80]

Good afternoon gents.

I have an interesting issue on my '82 650 (wide 4 PCD)
Under hard braking the car pulls to the left.
Went for a test on a big downhill stretch to diagnose.
After coming to a standstill, the left front wheel has significantly more heat in it than the right front.
I removed the right front drum to check for fluid or oil contamination but it was spotless. I also checked that the shoes weren't seized.

There is no excessive pedal travel to speak of.
I even tried the Haynes brake hard in reverse trick with only minor improvement.

What can it be?

What do you guys suggest I look for or try next?

Thanks

Eben

[Darrell]

Look in the left one too.

Sometimes fluid on the pads can make them bite more.

If there is not it could be a blockage in the hydraulics on the right.

Sometimes worn pads makes them bite more.

[eben80]

Aargh... I had the left side up and the wheel removed as well to check, then couldn't get the grease-cap off so I thought... Oh well surely it can't be because this side is braking better 

I'll have a look on that side and report back.

[dajwid]

Were you alone in the car? Mmmmmm have you been overdoing the pies.

[GTMaster]

Hi,

The brake cylinder might be faulty even if there isn't any brake fluid visible inside the brake mech. and drum. Use a thin flathead screwdriver and pull the rubber dust covers off the (wheel)brake cylinder and check to see if it's dry underneath. Also use a larger screwdriver and push the brake cylinder piston in to see if it moves  without too much force (if it doesn't budge then the piston is rotted in).

[eben80]

Thanks for the info gents. I will have a look at all these things, save for the pies, when I take the drums off 

[eben80]

Well OK this is what I found:
(Remember, left side was braking more than right side)
Right side>



Left side>




Both cylinders seemed to move freely. Could the difference be because of the different types/sizes of brake shoes/wheel cylinders? They are not identical both sides...

[thepuddlejumper]

I had a similar problem I found it to be the friction washers on one side did not hold the shoes out and were pulled back by the springs.  This caused one side to brake more while the other had a weak brake.  I think the difference in your shoes are a new set and an old set which you can replace the friction washers, ones with the circlips. I checked the friction washers by prying them out to see if the shoes stayed out, in my case one set creeped back which meant more fluid was required to get the shoes out to brake. I had to buy a new set of shoes.  Hope this helps

Ralph

[eben80]

Thanks for the reply. I suppose a matching set is the first step in the right direction. What about the different-looking wheel cylinders? Were there different internal sizes or should I not be worried with that?

[GTMaster]

Hi,

The front and rear brake cylinders are different sized (bigger ones at the front) but there was a change in size in the rear brake cylinders from 1983:
Front: (brake cylinder diameter):23.81mm
Rear: (till '83): 15.87mm
        (from '83): 19.05mm

[bis13]

the larger of the two looks like a rear cylinder to me if you can buy some new ones and fit them along with new shoes and that way you have peace of mind.
 

[fiatmaluch126]

My car still pulls to the right when i first drive it every day without fail for the first mile, then acts normal, poor brakes!