Ok, here we go. '64 Beaumont. Brakes pull badly to the left. (drum brakes) All new steel lines and rubber hoses. New wheel cylinders. Can't see any grease or brake fuild on shoes or drums but brake cleened (spray boom)all shoes and drums anyway. Disconnected the rears and ran fronts only and no pull. Reconnected rears and left rear locked up and pulled to left. Changed left rear wheel cylinder and stopped locking up but still pulls badly left. Right rear works with car jacked up. Going to change cylinder as they are cheap. Brakes bleed until 1/2 litre pop bottle full. If changing other cylinder doesn't work may try new shoes?
Any other thoughts out there as to the problem??????
all new rear cylinders? new shoes? check the distance the adjuster is spread from the other side check shoe thickness,are they the same? then check the drum.thinner than the other?
Did you measure the drum wear. Someone may have turned a drum near or past Max spec. That side the cylinder will travel further to make contact no matter the adjustment. Been there before. New drums - cured. JC
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'68 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible Matador Red (Resale Red but not for sale).
Brian, you probably already know this but I remember years ago once getting my primary and secondary shoes mixed up. You might want to double check how you've got them set in there.
Forgot to say new drum all around also but will try side to side and I did check shoes for primary and secondary. Adjusters are close to the same. Will let you know when I do changes how it works. The blue one has drums also and works as it should. I will figure it out.
Just had a thought, I wonder if the rear end is dog walking and if that would have any effect?????
Well I don't know. Today changed Wheels cylinders (new), back drums side to side and brake shoes side to side. Torqued front wheel bearings. Checked brake lines. Tires all the same psi. It's not like this is my first brake job.
What am I missing?????? Never had this problem when driving it before restoring.
-- Edited by Brian on Thursday 3rd of February 2011 10:47:45 PM
That's an odd one. Usually a pull like that is a contaminated brake lining. It would be the contaminated shoes that grab not slip if oil or brake fluid soaked. The fronts are the shoes that do the most work and would be the most noticeable if you had a problem. You say you have all new steel lines. You still have a residual check valve in the system right?
-- Edited by Steve C on Thursday 3rd of February 2011 11:34:43 PM
If problem wasn't there before you restored then it's something you changed. You say you changed all the lines and hoses. I've run across a new hose that wasn't crimped properly and a peice of rubber was restricting flow through the hose. When bleeding are you getting equal flow? Or bending your new lines - any kinks? Not accusing just asking. JC
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'68 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible Matador Red (Resale Red but not for sale).
If problem wasn't there before you restored then it's something you changed. You say you changed all the lines and hoses. I've run across a new hose that wasn't crimped properly and a peice of rubber was restricting flow through the hose. When bleeding are you getting equal flow? Or bending your new lines - any kinks? Not accusing just asking. JC
I would start with these suggestions....sounds like the right direction to start!!
When one side pulls, I allways go the opposite side to see why that side not working??? Have you tried to stop the car with just the emm. brake??? If it stops straight, it's in the hydrualic's to rear brakes, you mentioned or someone did "dog walking' this could also pull on the emm. cable & apply heavy emm brake application on one side????
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Some times I wake up GRUMPY, but today I let her sleep in !!!!!!!!BLACKSTOCK Ont.
Being a '64, does it have the funky upper control arm bushings?. Only found on some '64 A-Body cars, these need to be packed w/ grease so look under the hood for the grease nipple where the upper arms mount to the frame..
After a drive and experiencing the pull a few times, have you tried stopping and immediately checking and comparing rim/hub temperatures?. Finding one hotter than the others may help identify which corner has a brake problem or even indicate the possibility of wheel bearings failing under loaded weight but not noticable cold and/or with the car in the air?.
Good luck!. ~
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I like real cars best...especially the REAL real ones! ----------------------------------------------------------------
Ok here we go. Got frustrated with what I had done so started over. Disconnected rears and now it pulled to left with fronts only. Go figure. Changed tires sise to side. No good. Changed right flex line. No good. Changed brake shoes side to side. No good. Changed drums side to side. Seem to work for about 3/4 mile then started pulling to left again. Progressively got worse. Checked drums for roundness, with in a 1/32. One was 35 over other standard. Turned standard 10 over. No good again. Changed Wheel cylinders, both fronts. Seems good. Drove for about 4 miles and seemed to pull first right and then left, but very little. Could have been the raod also. Not like before, extreme left. Will try again tomorrow if not raining.
Oh ya, forgat to say that I left the garage quite often, back in the next day, account so frustrated that I didn't want to wreck anything. The wife is now a real pro at pumping the brake for bleeding.
Why it didn't pull the first time a disconnected the rears is beyond me. May be because it sat for 2 months and I didn't drive it far that time.
Your driving concerns sound similar to front end play existing somewhere so how are you confirming the pull is actually being caused by the brakes?. After a test drive experiencing the problem, is any corner actually heating up more than its opposite side brother?. If not a brake concern, try another and very thorough front end inspection.. If all components are indeed good, a proper rear compensated alignment should take care of things!.
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-- Edited by Ghost Post on Friday 11th of February 2011 11:09:45 AM
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I like real cars best...especially the REAL real ones! ----------------------------------------------------------------
Well here we go. Checked front end out, Ok. Went and got front end alignment checked again, Ok. Looked at front shoes (new) but they were all the same size???? Decided to put new shoes on (why not not, changed everything else) Went for long drive today and, NOTHING. Straight as an arrow. Something had to be wrong with those front shoes. Brake pedal is even a softer touch now to stop.
