Steering problem with my Silverado

[Rene T]

A couple of weeks ago, I started to noticing a problem with my steering. No matter what speed I'm going, 5 MPH or 40 MPH, if I'm going in a straight line and I remove my hands from the wheel, if I just touch the brakes a little, the steering will turn to the right just a touch. It's enough that the truck wants to shift right just a bit. The strange thing is that it sort a corrects itself immediately. The tire pressure is 80 PSI all the way around. Any ideas.
Would air in one of the brake cylinders cause something like this?  If it would, I don't know how air would have entered the lines.
Also there haven't been any situations recently where the brakes may have gotten hot from braking while towing the RV. The last time we towed was in October and never had to do any hard braking. 

 

[Gizmo100]

Have you checked you brake disc on the left side?

 

[Rene T]

Have you checked you brake disc on the left side?

It's suppose to rain all day tomorrow so I was planning on pulling both wheels on Monday to see if there's anything out of the ordinary.  Thanks Giz.

 

[SpencerPJ]

Hard telling, sounds like a bit of crud / corrosion.  If it was me, I'd drive it, two foot it for a short distance to clean them off.  Don't come to a stop immediately after heating them up, you can impregnate the brake material onto the rotor, and have even more issue.  Of course, you could also do it the right way and take them apart, lightly sand the disks and clean everything up nice.  Unlikely you got air in the lines, and that really wouldn't cause that condition you describe.  It could be a caliber starting to stick. The truck is 8 years old.  Have you ever exchanged the brake fluid in it?

 

[Rene T]

  Have you ever exchanged the brake fluid in it?

Nope

 

[Gizmo100]

Here's another thought

https://www.ford.com/trucks/super-duty/

Sorry I couldn't help myself ;D

 

[donn]

Stuck caliper, warped rotor, bad brake pads.  Any of those things could be your problem.

 

[Rene T]

Stuck caliper, warped rotor, bad brake pads.  Any of those things could be your problem.

Wouldn't a warped rotor have the tendency to pulsate when braking?
Brake pads were check 5 months ago. We have a state inspection.
How would a stuck caliper cause what it's doing?

 

[IBTripping]

Wouldn't a warped rotor have the tendency to pulsate when braking?
Brake pads were check 5 months ago. We have a state inspection.
How would a stuck caliper cause what it's doing?

Yes a bad caliper or a sticking brake pad could be the cause. Do one of the wheels have more brake dust than the others?

 

[regval]

Possible cause is uneven hydraulic brake fluid pressure. Lower pressure going to the left front brake caliper causing the right front caliper to grab more quickly than the left, pulling the steering to the right.
This can be caused by a weakening rubber brake line that attaches to the caliper. Aging of the rubber line, line wreaking due to contaminated brake fluid or simple rubber line failure can allow the line to swell when brakes are applied, resulting in uneven pressure. Another cause is internal corrosion within the brake caliper causing friction when the caliper piston moves, thus providing uneven pressure at the brake pad causing it to pull left or right, depending which caliper is affected.

 

[Robert K]

Bite the bullet and change or have them changed.Do both calipers and have a safe ride home in the spring.

 

[Old_Crow]

I'm with regval on this.  Stuck caliper or bad rubber brake hose.  I'll go one step further and say that since it's pulling to the right, I'd look at the left side. 
If you're getting low hydraulic pressure(bad brake hose)to the left side, or the caliper is stuck, the right caliper is working normally and just drags the truck to the right.

 

[donn]

I see your from the rust belt.  That alone should tell you where the problem lies.  Take the bolts out that the calipers slide on.  Thoroughly clean everything and grease the bolts before putting them back in.  That will likely take care of the problem.  At least temporairly.

 

[Rene T]

I see your from the rust belt.  That alone should tell you where the problem lies.  Take the bolts out that the calipers slide on.  Thoroughly clean everything and grease the bolts before putting them back in.  That will likely take care of the problem.  At least temporairly.

This truck has only seen snow and salt one year and that was back in 2011 when it was new. The rest of the time, it's spent it's time in FL during the winter months.

 

[Saab guy]

Rene it's possible that the brake pads are stuck on the brake perch.i would take them apart and clean the pads and the brake perches.

Bill

 

[phil-t]

Hard telling, sounds like a bit of crud / corrosion.  If it was me, I'd drive it, two foot it for a short distance to clean them off.  Don't come to a stop immediately after heating them up, you can impregnate the brake material onto the rotor, and have even more issue.  Of course, you could also do it the right way and take them apart, lightly sand the disks and clean everything up nice.  Unlikely you got air in the lines, and that really wouldn't cause that condition you describe.  It could be a caliber starting to stick. The truck is 8 years old.  Have you ever exchanged the brake fluid in it?

This, to start with.

 

[Rene T]

This, to start with.

I plan on doing this 1st.

 

[kjansen]

I had the same issue and found a rusty caliper.  Took it apart and used a wire brush on a 4" grinder to clean all the rust off and that took care of the problem.  The caliper was not releasing completely and that brake would engage faster thus causing the pull.

 

[Rene T]

If it was me, I'd drive it, two foot it for a short distance to clean them off.  Don't come to a stop immediately after heating them up, you can impregnate the brake material onto the rotor, and have even more issue. 

 
This is what I did and it greatly improved the situation by about 75%., I'm going to pull the wheels and see if there is anything obvious.  I don't have the tools here to completely disassemble the brakes. Will have to wait till I get home in the spring. Thanks for your help and all the other ideas.