Jerking left while braking after TBU install

JWaldz

JWaldz

Moderator
I just recently upgraded my brake system to the tundra 231mm brakes. New calipers, rotors, and pads. After my initial install I realized the driver side caliper was leaking. At this time the truck jerked to the left while braking, especially when slamming on the brakes. I thought that the leaking caliper was the cause. I've since exchanged the bad caliper for a new one with no problems. However, I can still feel a slight jerk to the left when applying the brakes. I don't know if I just so happened to get another bad caliper or I have something else wrong. The install went fine, bled all the brakes front and rear from farthest to closest to the mc. The only thing I can think of is that I might need an alignment. My steering wheel is not centered up, it's off counter clockwise about 30 degrees. I just think it has to do with the brakes considering it didn't start till I put all the new parts on. Any thoughts?
 
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ARKRWLR said:
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...


Better stopping power is making an existing problem worse?

Both calipers receive hydraulic power from the same source. So they should clamp down at the same rate. I've never heard of one caliper "working better" than the other. If it pulls left, perhaps the one on the right is bad.

I'd start with the alignment regardless, if your wheel is off by 30 degrees....That aint right.
 
Socco said:
Better stopping power is making an existing problem worse?

Both calipers receive hydraulic power from the same source. So they should clamp down at the same rate. I've never heard of one caliper "working better" than the other. If it pulls left, perhaps the one on the right is bad.

I'd start with the alignment regardless, if your wheel is off by 30 degrees....That aint right.
Click to expand...

yeah teh steering wheel being off by that much isn't good, that said how did you bleed your brakes? i know when i bleed mine i got 2 different pressures on each side of the truck until i evened them out with my brake bleeder...so it is possible that one side isn't grabbing as effectively as the other, but would say that your issues are more likely caused by a fubar'd alignment.

buy one of these for doing your brake jobs
Mityvac Vacuum Pump - Save on Mityvac Pumps at Harbor Freight!
 
I had this same problem on my '97 after I swapped out the calipers and rotors. I was going from stock parts to stock parts, but regardless, had the same issue.

When I would get into the brakes easy I wouldn't feel it, but if I stabbed the brake petal the steering wheel would yank to the right about 30 degrees.

I thought about it and decided the only possible cause was that the caliper on the right was grabbing harder than the caliper on the left, causing the right side of the vehicle to slow at a greater rate than the left and making the truck want to turn the right. Imagine if you had two wheels on a solid axle, and applied braking force only to one side or the other while both were in motion... the entire axle would turn toward the braked side.

I asked my mechanic and he confirmed my logic, advising that I should bleed the brakes again.

I did so, and the problem went away. I must have had a small air pocket in there somewhere that was decreasing the caliper's effectiveness on the driver's side.
 
I just did it the conventional way. Start from farthest and worked my way up. Put a line in a bottle filled with fluid and simultaneously opening/closing valve while pumping brakes till no more air bubbles came out yada yada yada yada... It's possible that I might need to re-do it. It's worth a shot to see if the problem will go away.

The steering wheel isn't like incredibly bad off. Think of it this way, if you hold your wheel in the 3 and 9 position while going straight turn the wheel with your hands counter clockwise and put it somewhere in between the 2-3 and 8-9 position and that's where I'm at while going straight. I'm not so concerned with the steering wheel unless the alignment is the issue. My truck isn't wondering left or right and my tread on my tires are pretty even.

Back to the brakes, BigFish pretty much nailed it. It's not so much when I ease into braking, it only happens when I use it suddenly. I'm thinking maybe the front passenger side needs to be bled again if anything.
 
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seriously then get the mighty vac thing, no stupid cups no running back and forth, and an actual psi reading on each caliper as your pulling the fluid, can also do various other vacuum related tests and fixes as well...i used to use the stupid little cup thing and thought it was fine until i ponied the cash for the right tool, it really does make the job easy and you know it's done right.




as for the steering wheel being off, when they do an alignment, centering the wheel is like step number 2 or 3 in the sequence, so if your steering wheel isn't dead straight there is a possibility they screwed something up, just the possibility as it still possible to have the alignment correct with the steering wheel off center, the aren't mutually exclusive or inclusive if that makes any sense what so ever. if your tracking straight and got a good wear pattern on your tire tread i wouldn't mess with it if it's not bothering anything.

proper psi on calipers is around 12-15 psi as explained to me here
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/96392-mighty-vac-brake-bleed-oressure-question.html
 
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