77 Bonanza Brakes Pulling to Left

[LBJ]

This just started happening since I drove the truck 2 months ago. Truck usually sits in the garage for fun trips around the area and to charge the battery and stuff.

I needed to haul some 4x8 foot sheets of OSB flooring and went to Lowe's. The brakes pulled HARD to the left EVERY time. It was controllable, but something NEW. I replaced all the front and rear end brake parts 25 years ago. Yes, that's a long time ago, but likely has less than 10K miles on her in that time period. Could be something easy or maybe hard. The last thing "Brakes" I replaced was the power brake booster about 8 years ago. Other than that, no problems prior to this recent development. Any ideas?

Recent photo.

[Pine Bark Auto]

Did you replace the front brake hoses? I had this problem several years ago on a 85 model and it turned out to be the front hose on the OPPOSITE side from the direction of pulling. I think the hoses separate on the inside and collapse. I would suggest changing both or all three maybe. Chip.

[mongocanfly]

Mine was doing the same thing when I bought it and my problem was the brake caliper was froze up on the anchor plate, the support key and support spring was rusted up pretty bad to the caliper and plate and wouldn't let the caliper move..I had to beat it apart with a hammer,, once apart I took a small 3M sanding disc on a angle grinder and cleaned up all the rust and used brake antiseize on all contact areas,, be careful not to get it on the pads or rotor..this is what my problem was and that fixed it.could also be a bad hose or a froze wheel cylider.

[wilkin250r]

And if it's pulling hard, every time, chances are overwhelmingly likely the problem is in your front brakes, and not your rear.

The rear brake problems can definitely pull you to one side or the other, but it's generally a mild pull, not a hard pull.

[lilpoindexter]

Make sure the control arm bushings aren't toasted.

[77K10Silverado]

First off LBJ, lets take some time and tell this man.. that's a damn fine looking Square!

These all all good suggestions. Sticking caliper would be my first suggestion. Second would be hose failure.

Good luck!

[f.monroe]

Apply the brakes and let off. Jack the front up and try to rotate the tires. One will probably not rotate. If you find that one is stuck then break the bleeder screw loose on that caliper. If it allows the wheel to spin then the hose is collapsed internally. My experience is that it is usually a collapsed hose causing the problem you have.
Frank

[f.monroe]

Pulling to the left usually indicates a collapsed hose on the right front.

[Rubble]

Just went thru the same thing with a 85 C30 I'm working on for a guy.Pulled to left, caliper was hanging up & I blamed that.Ran into this before on my own trucks,but turned out a collapsed brake line. And ya! Nice truck!!

[TexasJeff]

I just had this happen to, fixed mine by changing both rubber brake hoses on the front, if one is bad the other is close to it too.

[LBJ]

Thanks all! Fine suggestions. I've been busy working on my new garage/shop. Sounds like the brake hose is the most likely culprit. Although, I replaced those 20-25 years ago, that's a LONG time and they could go bad by now. I will look her over soon so I can get back to driving her. Thanks again for you comments.

[LBJ]

Well, it's been 7 or 8 months and I finally got to working on the brakes. After thinking about it, the last time I did anything on the brakes was 1986, 30 years ago. Since it was SO LONG AGO, I decided to replace the Master Cylinder, calipers, brake hoses, inner and outer bearings, grease seals, and brake pads. Wow, took me 3 days to do it all. But, got her done and inspected today. Drives like a new truck. I used the sintered iron brake pads from Auto Zone. Hope they do a good job. Most likely, the problem was a collapsed brake line, but decided to just do it all at once and be done with it. The rotors looked brand new for some reason, kept them. Thanks one and all for your inputs. Always good response from this forum. LBJ

[barry1982]

I actually had a "strange" experience changing a caliper hose today..... the brake line fitting was seized in the caliper hose fitting. Even though I was using a tube wrench, I could feel the brake line fitting was beginning to round.
I thought applying a little heat with a small propane torch may help. I heated the fittings for a short time, and just as I was putting the wrenches back on, the
caliper hose loudly "blew off" next to the fitting. Scared the #$#$# out of me!
Imagine the heat caused the brake fluid to build pressure, blowing the hose off.
The heat worked though.... was able to un-thread the brake line.

[LBJ]

Barry, that sounded almost dangerous!

I had a run in with the brake hoses getting to the transition between the hose and steel lines. Those flare fitting nuts were the DEVIL to get loose and reconnected. I almost stripped them, even using a tubing wrench. Hope I don't have to look at those again, ever. Ha. Seems things had gotten quite a bit more setup on the old truck since I worked on the brakes 30 years ago. I was younger then as well. Old age makes a difference. Ha

[barry1982]

I would have to agree LBJ...... seems these old trucks used to be easier to work on... I live in northern Alberta.... and the salt/sand they use on the roads in winter rusting everything doesn't help. It's a good idea to keep those caliper hoses in good shape. I used to run them with cracks in the rubber, but not anymore. Just when you need your brakes the most... the line will blow at a crack. With new hoses on your truck you should be good for a long time.