kabhatti

96 Accord LX, still drifts left especially much more when braking. I inspected the brake caliper, cleaned it a bit, noticed the brake shoes were wearing a bit strangely, sorta cupped inward. Replaced with used but good brake shoes, seemed to help a bit or for awhile, but when jacking up the car after 50 miles, and rotating the wheel, it seems to roll freely. Is it still the caliper? Also noticed when the road was wet tonight, hitting the brake hard, the left front wheel locked instantly and tire skid. Please help.

Thanks for the help

I Have an STD

yeah thats definitely the obvious conclusion. sounds like the pads (not shoes) could be getting stuck in the bracket or the hose could be collapsing.

kabhatti

Wait, I just realized, that since the left side now has slightly better pads (I always get my shoes and pads mixed up, strangely) could that be a reason that the left is more "efficient" ?

The hose collapsing? Please elaborate.... Thanks

sillyboi

Have you check the tie rod end?

kabhatti

I believe there is no movement in that area, especially as the alignment shop did not indicate any problem there. They thought it could be a caliper or what I think he said like "extension arm?" I'm not a pro, just a longtime Honda Accord owner, so bear with me please. For what it's worth, I did replace both sides' upper ball joints and checked the other two ball joints, there is no movement side to side or top to bottom.

Atreidies

How are your rotors? Get them replaced if you need to. They are pressed on, so doing them yourself is probably not an option. And always replace both sides when changing pads.

kabhatti

Here's some additional symptoms, when I brake going forward, the car pulls left, when driving in reverse and hitting the brake, the car pulls to the right. Is it the left front caliper that is suspect? I can't afford to put in parts that it doesn't need, hence my frustration.

kabhatti

New left front brake caliper, still pulls. I'm thinking now that it's something else bent in there. Will update this weekend by showing another alignment shop for free estimate.

arkangel2487

the only other thing that would cause it to pull is the hose..since its pulling to the left id try replacing the right. the hoses can brake inside causein a kinda check valve or restriction..do some regular braking and see which rotor gets hotter

delta_1980

if everything on the driver-side is good then the problem is that the right side is not doing it's fair share of the work. pull that side(passenger) apart and look for broken/worn out parts.