The last time I noticed the pull was at 60 mph. I modulated the brakes and my Stang was ready to slide into the next lane. I had one hand on the steering wheel, the other hand on the shifter ready to downshift, and my left foot ready to get on the clutch in preparation for the full stop at the light.

 

Better take it in. I could be just about anything. It will probably be pretty obvious once somebody gets on eyeball on it. The kicker is that your mileage is WAY too low to have any normal wear related issues.

 

I went and searched the web for photos of fixed and floating calipers to discover that all of my vehicles have floating calipers. My 88 Bronco also had the floating varity as well. It was my 88 that had a stuck phenolic caliper piston. Unfortunately it failed after the 12 month 12K mile bumper to bumper but before the 36 month drivetrain expiration. The dealership gleefully informed me that it would be my nickel. Some of my 4x4 friends suggested putting in steel pistons but they have their own set of issues including overheating (cooking) the brake fluid. I ended up just replacing the caliper with another OEM unit.

Another thing to consider is that the brake fluids we use are hydroscopic (readily mix with water) and anhydrous (able to absorb water from the atmosphere) neither of which is good. Water in the brake fluid turns to steam when the brakes heat up. This steam pushes on the piston and can cause pad wear.

If you are still under your bumper to bumper then have the dealership look at it. If not then try lubricating the slides. If that doesn't cure it then you'll probably need to replace the caliper due to a sticking piston. I prefer the unloaded varity so that I can put the pads on that I want.

Good luck

From the rocket ranch

BB

Semper Fi

 

Yeah, not a whole lot of cars have fixed calipers. The PBR calipers that were on the SN95 Cobra were fixed. Same for the Baer kits that used PBR calipers.

The issue with excess water in the lines and overheating is that the water goes to vapor which is compressible vs. fluid water (and brake fluid) which are not. The vapor in the line will lead to fade or a pedal that goes to the floor!

 

Centurian96 -

Hate to burst your bubble, but if you were to get the calipers hot enough to cause any entraped water moisture to turn to steam, once you lift off the pedal, that steam pressure would be released as well because everything vents to the resevoir except for a couple psi caused by a check valve in the circuit designed to keep the pads just touching the rotors. Also the calipers begin to cool down after the brakes are released so such a condition would not sustain.

 

Ever driven on track (road course not 1/4 mile)? It's EASY to get temps that are sky high. You are correct regarding pressure release. The biggest issue is that once the fluid boils you're screwed for a while. Tehcnically I don't think you end up with steam, it's that the moisture content lowers the boiling point of the fluid. As I mentioned above, the vapor that's introduced to the system is compressible which essentially makes the brake system ineffective.

 

The rear brakes on a Crown Vic can heat up to over 1000F.

 

It wasn't my bubble. I found that information at the below listed URL as well as others whose URLs I didn't retain while researching fixed and floating brake calipers.

http://www.afcoracing.com/tech_pages/fluid.shtml

If this information is wrong then I apologize for the misinformation


From the rocket ranch

BB

Semper Fi

 

While were on the subject of brakes, I was driving a Mazda 3 for the day couple a weeks ago and the brake pedal response was awesome ! Compared to my mustang which has some sponge feeling this thing was right now.
Any clue as to how I can improve mine?

 

A big brake upgrade kit is about the only major upgrade available for our cars. I don't know that pads or rotors would make any difference in the "sponge feeling" you describe or for that matter the big brake kit. Also keep in mind, I don't have the specs but I would imagine the Mazda 3 in probably about 600 pounds lighter which would certainly make a difference.

 

Stainless lines will help in this regard. They don't give like the stock rubber lines do. A lot of it has to do with the amount of boost and the master cylinder sizing.

 

Stainless braided brake hoses don't flex or swell as much as the OEM rubber hoses, which can help improve brake pedal feel. I read the stock pad material is a ceramic material supplied by Akebono. I'm sure a different grippier material will improve brake pedal feel as well.

 

Yup, stainless lines fix pedal feel as you can no longer feel the lines swell. Its amazing how much tactile feel you can get from a brake pedal, if you measured the 'difference' between lousy and great its a tiny amount of difference in movement. You should feel how much they help on a bike. Unless your doing track time, SS lines and Hawk HPC pads(or any aftermarket STREET pad) will make a world of difference for pennies on the dollar over a bling bling brake kit. The rotors are ventilated front and rear which is much better then the average sub-$50K car has.


If a car is pulling and you are 100% sure it is not from the crown in the road or the tires' pressure or the tread following pavement irregularities, something needs adjustment/repair. If you purposely try it on a surface that is leaning away from the pull and its still doing it(left lane on a highway or parking lot, etc), thats pretty serious.

 

+1 the Hawk pads. It's AMAZING the difference a good set of pads makes. The stock pads are rock hard so they'll last 100k miles. I run Hawk street pads on all my street cars and truck. The track car gets Hawk blues.

 

I noticed that mine pulls to the right. But only on a road by my house on the highway or on other streets it doesnt pull at all just stops straight. You might want to try another road to just to see.

 

After some more driving, I no longer noticed the pull. It must have been the tires (sitting in the garage too long) or rust on the rotors/brake pads.

 

I recently pulled all my wheels and bleed the calipers and sure enough there was air in the right rear.

This has solved the brake pull and improved the pedal response that I posted about earlier.