Jeep Pulls Left w/ Hard Braking

Just test drove my 75 CJ-5 after installing new suspension (springs, shocks) and brakes. At slow speeds stopping is no problem, but at higher speed when I stomp on the pedal, the left front dives and the right side of the Jeep swings around, like the beginning of a counterclockwise spin.

I recently replaced the ball joints, front wheel bearings, rear axle bearings, front brake lines, and steering stabilizer. I had the wheels aligned, bled the brakes thoroughly, and adjusted the drums by driving in reverse and stomping on the brake pedal about 10 times.

Is there an accurate way to manually adjust the brakes? I'm not convinced that the automatically adjusting the brakes is working.

I appreciate any advice!

 

There should be an oval port on the back side of the backing plate. Just inside should be the adjusting wheel that lets you fine tune the drag while the wheel and drum are tight and true. There is a tool that you can buy that is specificly for doing the adjustment or you can just use a flat bladed screwdriver

 

You should be able to make the automatic adjusters work. Don't resort to manual adjustment. The usual problem with the adjusters is improper assembly.

You could also have a problem with the hydraulics, possibly a leaky cylinder.

With drum brakes, you really need to pull the drums off and take a look. If you have not inspected the brakes up close, you are just guessing.

 

I'd check for air in the system, wheel cylinders working properly, even adjustment of the brakes, brake hardware working correctly. I'd manually adjust the brakes first then do the back up and brake thing to fine adjust them. If the shoes are too far out of adjustment the self adjusters won't work properly.

 

Also symptom for a bad wheel seal.

 

When I had that problem on my '74 in high school, I typically just found a good pothole & hit it hard with the right wheel - straightened everything right up!

 

Thanks for the help, I will start by pulling the drums off and making sure everything is intact. I am pretty sure I installed the brakes correctly, I've done it a few times and keep my service manual handy.

How do you know if the self adjusters are worn out?

How can you tell if a wheel cylinder is blown out? I was thinking about taking the drums off, applying pressure to the shoes with my hands and having someone step on the pedal. Aside from brake fluid leakage, what am I looking for?

 

Mike,

If you have a bad wheel cylinder, you will get some fluid. It may or may not be enough to be visible outside the brake drum. In order to be sure, take off the drum and look inside for fluid. While you are at it, take notice of how tightly the drum sits on the shoes. If you can easily take the drum off without backing off the adjustment, then it is probably not adjusted correctly.

It sounds to me like you just need to manually adjust the brakes. Once you get them set initially, then properly set up adjusters will keep them pretty well adjusted, but after any major disassembly, it's worth five or ten minutes to go ahead and tighten them up manually. If I were you I would start by adjusting everything manually and see how that goes for you.

Good luck!

 

Automatic adjusters at best are a crap shoot adjust them manually and then you know that they are all adjusted the same to start. It only takes a couple of minutes.

 

To check for leakage at the wheel cylinders pull the dust boots away from the cylinders carefully. If it's wet inside they are leaking. A few very small droplets like condensation is somewhat normal but if there is actual fluid in there that's bad. A lot of the time the dust boots will seal well enough to hold the fluid in until you get a serious leak.
Regarding checking the adjusters, with the drum off, lightly pull on the adjuster cable. If it moves freely and will actually move the adjuster it should be working ok. If the pawl won't catch the adjuster or move it then you have something worn out or sticking.

 

Thanks again for the help, I will let you know how it turns out.

 

You should not have to ever manually adjust the self-adjusting brakes if you use a tool like this to put them together.



http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/kd3377.html

This is what the pros use, and I own one.

 

I have two at work and one at home. Very useful tool, for getting you close. I still fine tune my adjustment by hand afterward and then do the back up and hit the brakes method to truly get everything equalized. Has worked for me for 25 years and for my Dad 30 years before me.

 

Sorry to bring up an old subject, but what was the outcome? I have this issue whenever I take the Jeep on the trails, when I get back out on the road it pulls hard to the left. It is the left front trying to lock up. I get it home and hose out the drums from the back and that usually fixes it. However, taking it down a dirt road with soft sand starts it all over again. They have new cylinders, new shoes, new adjusters, new springs. Basically everything brand new, no leaks, no worn parts. Gets scary driving home after a nice long trail ride.

 

My shoes are new, drums are freshly turned, and wheel cylinders are in good shape. I bled the brakes till the pedal was real firm.

I tried getting everything lined up the best I could in my garage, then backed up and hit the brakes a few times for auto adjustment. The auto adjustment made the brake pull worse! I think my star wheels may be worn.

I took a grease pen and made a mark on the tire and adjusted the shoes manually so that the wheels would spin 1 full revolution when I hit the tread with the palm of my hand. This seemed to work out OK. The pull is reduced significantly w/ normal driving/braking, but when I really lay on the brakes and lay skidmarks, It still pulls pretty bad. Anyone have a solution?

I am thinking about converting the front drums to disks with junkyard GM parts. It seems to be more affordable than I suspected. There is a write up in the tech section.

 

from experience if the rears are loose it tends to use the fronts harder and is more likely to pull i adjust till they all have a little drag and "tune" from there

 

My rears are all new and adjusted out correctly too. Must be getting some crap in there on trail rides or something I guess. Maybe disc brakes are the way to go.

 

My dad always complained of his jeep pulling hard to the right, which is the jeep I'm slowing renewing now. I noticed there is a crack in the frame from the front right shackle mount back to the large round hole in the bottom of the frame near the grill. Maybe this is my main culprit, but I won't know until I get the Jeep drivable and get the frame welded.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

well.......they do require more service than a disk and tend to collect crap.......I kinda like the mystery swerve after wheelin,makes sure im paying attention....

 

Make sure your shackle bolts are equally torqued, I think the spec is 30 lbs, but make sure your springs can still flex. If one of the shackles is overtightened it could contribute to the pulling and a lot of people crank down on those shackle bolts, thinking it will solve their steering issues.