7 Causes of a Car That Pulls to the Right or Left
One of the most common brake problems is when your steering wheel starts to pull to the right or left when you press the brake pedal. There are rare cases where your steering wheel will pull to the left or right.
Let’s take a look at the most common reasons why your vehicle only pulls to one side (right or left) when you apply the brakes and how to properly diagnose the problem.
Why Does My Car Pull to One Side When I Apply the Brakes
1) Stuck Brake Calipers
Most of the time, when your car pulls to the right or left, it’s due to a faulty caliper in your braking system. Most of the time, the brake calipers are stuck and need to be replaced to get your braking system working properly again.
2) Bent Brake Hose
Another scenario for a one-sided pulling problem is a crushed brake hose. When you inspect the hose, it may look fine from the outside, but you won’t know if the inner lining is causing the restriction. The only way to diagnose this problem is to see how the car pulls when you apply the brakes.
If the brake hose is crushed, the car will usually only pull for a few seconds after applying the brakes and then run normally. In rare cases, the brake hose may allow fluid to flow from the brake hose to the caliper, but then stop flowing back into the master cylinder. This means the caliper isn’t releasing all the way and the cable is stuck there.
3) Worn brake pads
Normally, the left and right brake pads on the same axle will wear to the same degree. However, if the brake pads are wearing unevenly for any reason (such as a stuck brake caliper), one side of the brake pads may “grab” harder than the other, causing your car or truck to swerve in one direction when braking.
4) Worn suspension components
The suspension acts as a brake because it shifts the weight of the vehicle when slowing down or stopping. For example, if a bushing on a lower control arm is bad, the control arm on that corner may move, causing the car to pull left or right depending on which side of the bushing.
5) Uneven tire pressure
This cause is mostly evident while accelerating or driving, but if a tire has significantly lower air pressure than the opposite tire on the same axle, the car will naturally pull to that side. This is most evident in the front tires.
The reason is that low air pressure effectively changes the diameter and speed of this tire, which can send the car running off the track. This is similar to replacing a flat tire with a “donut” (space-saving) tire. There will be a tendency for the vehicle to drift slightly forward when driving or braking.
6) Faulty Wheel Bearings
If your wheel bearings have too much play or looseness, they can cause the brake rotor and brake caliper (and their pads) to become misaligned. When you apply the brakes, the brake pads may not contact the disc in the same way as they do on the other side.
This means there is less friction on one side and your vehicle pulls in one direction.
7) Mismatched Brake Pads
Different brake pad materials have different coefficients of friction. So if you or the previous owner of your car only replaced the brake pads on one wheel (which you shouldn’t do), there’s a good chance that the brake pads on the left side have a different friction material than the brake pads on the right side. This means that one brake pad has more stopping power than the other, causing the car to pull to the right or left when braking.
Self-Diagnosis Tips
Before you go to an auto repair shop and pay a mechanic hundreds of dollars to replace your brake calipers and other related parts, you should first self-diagnose your car.
The cause of such train problems is usually the caliper, but not always. Even if you replace the caliper, you may still experience pulling problems afterwards. That’s why you should always check your rear brakes, front brakes, steering components, and suspension components to see if they are causing the pulling.
For example, loose suspension components can cause your steering wheel to pull, so double-check to see if these components have come loose. Also, check your tire pressure and make sure each tire is at the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended pressure.