Ive got a 96 4runner that has been pulling right while braking for a while now. I understand that this is an issue with the left brake and to me it feels like it is likely the front brake. I definitely have sufficient life left in my pads.

I haven't had much time to deal with it aside from giving it a quick brake cleaner spray down. How would I go about telling whether this is a calliper issue or possibly something else?

 

more than likely a seized calliper. Pull the front tires off, crack open the bleeder and try to collapse the calipers. I've seen it where half the caliper seizes. Both on one side.

 

Could also be a fairly tweaked alignment issue, or a worn out bushing allowing the suspension to move under braking, but the most likely culprit has already been mentioned /\ /\ /\.

 

great Ill look into that next. Ill need to take the calliper off the rotor to properly see if the calliper will collapse correct?

I just redid the control arm bushing, ball joints, tie rods ends, cvs and put in an OME lift and had an alignment so I was confident that wasn't the issue. It pulled before and after I had this work done.

 

Alright so the caliper is fully functional... All pistons good. Now Im just completely lost as to what the problem is.

 

Does it do this on every road and parking lot you try stopping on.??

Could be your tire pressure is just off a little.

Could also be that the roads are pitched that much in your area..

Does the 96 have the rear disc brakes I can`t keep up on every thing?/

You checked that all 4 calipers are working like they should.??

 

A pull during braking indicates possible multiple faults already mentioned above.

Fautly caliper assemblies.

Faulty brake flex hoses.

Faulty/sticking brake pad hardware/slide pins.

Poor rear brake adjustment.

Faulty rear brake hardware/wheel cylinders.

Air in hydraulic system.

Suspension/steering parts shifting/moving while braking. Verify all steering/suspension parts are securely fastened and tight.

Uneven brake lining wear...?

 

yeah id say I see the problem around 80% of the time when I brake. and it seems independent of the road. as for tire pressure Ill check it again, but wouldn't that lead to a pull all of the time not just under braking? without braking Im straight as can be.

just front callipers, and checked. both are working smooth.

So rear brake issues could cause the pull as well? I haven't check on those yet, but I know I have an axel seal leak on the left. That may be causing issues.

 

Your looking at the front and think the rear brakes are fine.

Leaking rear seal DUH!!

It could also be in the rear suspension shifting weight making it pull only when braking.

Just what is different the 20% of the time it does not seem to happen.

Another thing your strong pull might just be minor pull to me something in a few days I would no longer even notice.

This strong pull is so bad that if a person was unaware depending just where you were driving one would be in the field on the right side of the road or in the ditch .

In town perhaps half in someones basement

 

haha yeah. I did just jack it up and the leaky seal doesn't seem to be doing anything to the brake quality. I did also check on the rubber brake hoses in the front and I can definitely feel the drivers side pulse stronger under brake compared to the passenger so maybe its time to replace those.

The other 20% it just brakes normally, no pull either way. Maybe strong pull is an over exaggeration, its definitely not sudden enough or strong enough to put an unaware person in the ditch.

 

What I was asking when it seems to not pull at all .

Are you braking on a down grade or in a slight up hill grade.

while turning to the right or left.

Changing road conditions can cause different handling .

Something is different if you can figure just what it helps to figure things out.

 

Ahh sorry my mistake.

Hmmm Im not really sure what the conditions are. I definitely try to note the effect only when Im driving in a straight line. Ill have to check that out.

On a longer drive yesterday I definitely noticed that the issue seemed to be less significant. Could going through the motions of collapsing the calliper make a difference?

 

PROBLEM FIXED.

I was finally able to diagnose and fix the issue. Unfortunately after all the work Id done to rectify the issue it was one of the non OEM parts that I installed when fixing my front end.

The Dorman lower control arms I installed instead of just replacing the the bushings in the original were total crap. The bushings in the Dorman arms were no were near stiff enough and under braking conditions caused the lateral pull. I have since installed some OEM arms and no more issues.

This video helped me when I was diagnosing my problem. Pretty good for visualizing the quality different in the parts.


Sorry for the delay on this one. Took me a while to actually figure out the problem...

 

Good follow up. An unlikely solution that may come in handy for a future searcher.