[wiener]

I recently bought my used truck and have been working thru problems,
One thing that happens is when I slow down at slower speeds my truck pulls to the left. The strange thing is it is not consistent, sometimes (3 out 4) it stops perfectly straight. One thing I noticed is that it pulls to the right when I let go of the wheel, so I took it to a front end alignment place and it is better. I called and they said to bring it back. I know there are probally lots of ideas, what are your best guess's?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Unit453]

Sounds like your brakes are wearing unevenly.

 

[66flh]

Check tire pressure too.

 

[carsluTT]

jack up the front end and check to see how much play your idler and pitmen arms have. i had about 4" of uncontroled movement that when driving i couldnt feel. but when breaking or using 4x4 my truck would wonder like hell. i installed a new pitmen, new idler and some brace's for them to fix it. now im just fine. it was hard to find the problem till i had the front end in the air and started wiggeiling parts around.

 

[Unit453]

Wondering where you're at in Northern NY. I'm 18 miles from the US/Ontario border.

 

[wiener]

Watertown

 

[wiener]

jack up the front end and check to see how much play your idler and pitmen arms have. i had about 4" of uncontroled movement that when driving i couldnt feel. but when breaking or using 4x4 my truck would wonder like hell. i installed a new pitmen, new idler and some brace's for them to fix it. now im just fine. it was hard to find the problem till i had the front end in the air and started wiggeiling parts around.

I was wondering about them, being almost 10 yrs old and 154K plus milage those parts can't last forever. The thing that is bugging me is that it seems to do it at slow speeds and why it isn't consistent. I'll get it back to KOST Tire next weekend when I get back from work, for them to re-do the alignment and I'll have them check those and tie rods.
Thanks, Wiener

 

[budfan8]

Check your wheel bearings too.

 

[wiener]

Check your wheel bearings too.

You might be on to something. Another guy posted a reply to my ABS Problem post and I found the front wheel sensors being electrically open(both), and he said that could be caused by worn bearings also.
Thanks

 

[saratoga]

Check your caliper slide bolts, they may be rusted or have some crud on them which won't allow the caliper to move freely and will cause pulling.

When it pulls, does the wheel want to turn? If yes, then that tells you it is coming from the front and not the rears.

Poor alignment will cause the same issues, but should happen at all speeds.