As your vehicle is in motion, there will be several incidences where you’ll have to step on the brake pedal to slow down or stop. When you step on the brake pedal, your vehicle should stay straight if it is moving straight. However, if the vehicle ever pulls excessively to the right or left side as you’re braking, then you definitely have some kind of problem. This is not a problem you can ignore either because your ability to steer the vehicle straight will be close to impossible. The pulling effect will be totally out of your control. If the situation keeps getting worse, you may even get into an accident over it.
Fortunately, when the pulling first happens, it doesn’t pull very much to one side. The problem basically progresses as time goes on. The longer you go without fixing the cause of the pulling problem, the worse the pulling will get. Take the early warning signs seriously. You’ll still be able to steer your vehicle back into a straightforward position in the beginning. But eventually, you won’t have the power to do this anymore. Don’t wait for it to get this bad.
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5 Common Causes
In order to solve the car pulling problem, you must first discover what the cause of it is. There are many possible causes you will have to consider before you locate the exact cause of your particular pulling problem. Below are the top 5 causes of pulls to the left or right when braking in your car. Look through these causes and compare their symptoms to what you’re experiencing in your vehicle. That is the best way to figure out which cause is the reason for your vehicle’s pulling problem.
1) Brake Hose is Bad – The brake calipers receive brake fluid through brake hoses. If any of the brake hoses are worn out or damaged, they may end up leaking brake fluid or at least interrupting the flow of the fluid. This means the braking components of the brake system won’t receive the braking fluid they need to function properly. Whenever the flow of brake fluid is restricted like this, a pulling effect is created when you step on the brake pedal.
2) Brake Caliper is Stuck – If you have a disc braking system in your vehicle, then it has a brake caliper. The master cylinder sends braking fluid to the brake caliper, which puts pressure on the piston. This creates an effect that pushes the brake pad against the spinning brake disc, resulting in the car slowing down. But if the brake caliper ever gets stuck, your car will start to pull to one side whenever you step on the brake pedal.
3) Misaligned Wheels – In some cases, you may have misaligned wheels which are causing the pulling problem. The good news is that you won’t have to repair or replace any components in your braking system. Instead, you just need to realign your wheels to fix the pulling problem.
4) Worn Tire Treads – If your tire treads are worn or uneven, your vehicle will pull closer to one side over another side. This can happen not only when you brake, but also when you’re driving too. The treads on all your tires must be even to avoid this problem. The only way to solve this problem is to replace worn tires with new ones. And if there is a mechanical issue which is causing excessive wear to one or more tires, make sure you solve that issue too.
5) Heavy Load – Each vehicle has a weight capacity limit. If you’ve exceeded your vehicle’s weight capacity because you stuffed a lot of possessions in it, then it can increase the chances of vehicle pulls whenever you brake. It’ll also put extra pressure on your suspension system, especially your suspension coil spring. If this happens, you’ll need to replace the spring after you take out all the heavy objects from your vehicle.
