brake light is on

[James McClure]

Slugish: Morning. First things first. CRS simply means "can't remember sh*t". LOL. Now about your truck. Could be a front brake hose causing a problem with pulling, but in my expirence it has almost always been a caliper problem. This is mostly due to the corrosion from all the salt they use up here to keep the roads clear in the winter. Now for the diagnosis part. Take the truck for a drive, less than 10 miles should do it. Pull over and touch the area around the lug nuts. What you are feeling for is heat. One side will be hotter than the other, that's the side where the trouble is. Also when it pulls on heavy brake apply it will pull to the opposite side. Now go home and pull both front wheels and do the temp check again to make sure. Now try to rotate each rotor, one will be tight and should be the hotter rotor. To see if the problem is hydrolic open the bleeder on the offending side. If the wheel loosens up, replace the hose. If it doesen't free up, replace the caliper. Best thing to do when you have a caliper go south on you is replace both of them and if you see anything relating to the hoses replace them too. You can get brand new (not rebuilt) calipers from NAPA for something like $40 each and you can keep the cores to play with. If the rotors look like they need replacement do that also. 2 wheel drive is easy, 4 wheel drive isn't so easy. Background info. Brakes are nothing more than "heat engines". A brakes job is to turn motion into heat energy and they accomplish this through friction. ANYTHING that interfers with the systems ability to apply this friction evenly will cause a problem. If you find you need\want to replace the front rotors and it's 4 wheel drive and you don't know how let me know in a private e-mail and I'll give you my phone number and I'll talk you through it. Hope this helps, Jim

[slugish]

Originally Posted by James McClure

Slugish: Morning. First things first. CRS simply means "can't remember sh*t". LOL. Now about your truck. Could be a front brake hose causing a problem with pulling, but in my expirence it has almost always been a caliper problem. This is mostly due to the corrosion from all the salt they use up here to keep the roads clear in the winter. Now for the diagnosis part. Take the truck for a drive, less than 10 miles should do it. Pull over and touch the area around the lug nuts. What you are feeling for is heat. One side will be hotter than the other, that's the side where the trouble is. Also when it pulls on heavy brake apply it will pull to the opposite side. Now go home and pull both front wheels and do the temp check again to make sure. Now try to rotate each rotor, one will be tight and should be the hotter rotor. To see if the problem is hydrolic open the bleeder on the offending side. If the wheel loosens up, replace the hose. If it doesen't free up, replace the caliper. Best thing to do when you have a caliper go south on you is replace both of them and if you see anything relating to the hoses replace them too. You can get brand new (not rebuilt) calipers from NAPA for something like $40 each and you can keep the cores to play with. If the rotors look like they need replacement do that also. 2 wheel drive is easy, 4 wheel drive isn't so easy. Background info. Brakes are nothing more than "heat engines". A brakes job is to turn motion into heat energy and they accomplish this through friction. ANYTHING that interfers with the systems ability to apply this friction evenly will cause a problem. If you find you need\want to replace the front rotors and it's 4 wheel drive and you don't know how let me know in a private e-mail and I'll give you my phone number and I'll talk you through it. Hope this helps, Jim

Thanks again Jim for your input / Iwill do what you say / Ifeel guilty sometimes with not having much to add to other s problems becausr im not too gifted mechanically, b
ut I really a=ppreciate people like you sharing your expertise with us

[James McClure]

Originally Posted by slugish

Thanks again Jim for your input / Iwill do what you say / Ifeel guilty sometimes with not having much to add to other s problems becausr im not too gifted mechanically, b
ut I really a=ppreciate people like you sharing your expertise with us

Slugish: No need to feel guilty. Everyone here started out knowing nothing at all and over time, learned. I am meerly giving back what was given to me, thats all. Better to ask what you might think is a dumb question, than to make a REALLY dumb mistake. I am VERY mechanicly inclined, I can screw up ANYTHING. The questions you ask are sometimes the answers others seek, so don't be to hard on yourself. Talk later, jim