Totally stock '52 half-ton Chevy. Has pulled left (toward driver's side) under hard braking for as long as I can remember. Only a problem when you get surprised and have to really hit 'em hard, like when a deer or dog bolts in front of you.
But she's had a leaky wheel cylinder lately, so it's time for some brake maintenance. I changed pretty much everything: new shoes, new wheel cylinders, new flex hoses, and even swapped drums left to right to eliminate the possibility of uneven warping or wear...although there's no ridge in the drums and I'm certain they're excellent. Same story for the rear, new shoes, swapped drums, etc.
So....she still pulls left. I'm thinking "what the heck??" Maybe it's an alignment issue although she tracks straight and true and I'm sure alignment is good. Or perhaps that right front spring sags maybe a quarter inch more than the left and causes her to dip more on the right and steer left.
EXCEPT...and I feel this is important...I'll crawl under and measure the drum temps after a run using one of those infrared thermometers from Harbor Freight. Left front is always 55F or so hotter than the right. Like today left was 175F and right barely nudged 120F. Rear drums seem normal...both less, about 110.
Uneven drum temps gotta rule out anything in the alignment realm. It's a shoe/drum friction issue...something is causing the right shoes to not grip the to drum as tightly. Obviously! Right???
Racking my brain, I decide now would be the perfect time to convert the old single reservoir master to a modern dual system, complete with re-routed lines.
Maybe the original system with one short line to the front left and the other line shared between the other three could have something to do with it. That just don't seem right.
Long story shortened, and because I'm tired of typing, I've completed the dual conversion and even that makes no darn difference!! Still pulls left under hard braking!!
Other than finding a solution, what I'd also like to know is whether anyone else's AD pulls left but don't wanna ask because I doubt there's anyone who'd admit it. Anyone???
I'm stumped but guess I'll have to live with it. At least she's got all new brakes and a dual master cylinder, so the work hasn't been for nothing.
