Right front brake caliper always dragging-- ive changed everything!

Black dawg

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Have you tried switching front tires side to side? This sounds like an alignment issue to me, what front end do you have?
 

The_Josh_Bear

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Have you tried switching front tires side to side? This sounds like an alignment issue to me, what front end do you have?
It's a TTB D50, but the right side brake is FOR SURE sticking and causing drag that the other side doesn't have. I've always done tape measure alignments on this truck, never have any issues with it.

But to answer your question I have swapped tires front to back a few times and right to left doing rotations and trying different tires over the last year or so. Brake has dragged a long time, I swapped a new caliper in and it didn't change. I don't DD too often since gasoline is cheaper than diesel.
 
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ROCK HARVEY

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You should try loosening the bleeder valve on the dragging caliper, and seeing if it is still tight with the hydraulic pressure relieved. If it’s still tight, you know the issue isn’t hydraulic and has to be a mechanical one like a bent caliper bracket or crooked caliper groove.

When you replaced the brake pads, did they wear evenly?
 

The_Josh_Bear

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That's great thinking! I'll have to do that soon. Family still getting better so some things are taking priority. Maybe today or tomorrow.

I was going to crack the bleeder to check for residual pressure, but your idea goes one step further. Beautiful.
 

Black dawg

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pretty difficult to measure/calculate caster and camber with a tape measure. Those are the angles that will cause pull.

In my experience, any brake drag caused by a caliper gets worse the farther you drive and the more you use the brakes.
 

The_Josh_Bear

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Got after this a little today.

Cracked the bleeder after a drive, zero pressure that I could tell. Nothing jumped or squirted, just oozed out eventually. I drove a bit and tried the same on the other side, same story.

I pulled the wheel and checked the brake caliper and pads, pads are wearing as evenly as the can on a Ford...I mean it's not a Volvo or a Toyota, right? ;) So they are pretty darn square. I'm impressed.

I cleaned up the slide pins and channels. Found a little sharp point here and there but I think that was from the removal. Either way I filed it down and lubed them up with a silicone brake parts lube from NAPA. Very thin coat. Drove around and it seems better, but still there. In fact I jacked up the tires one at a time and could rotate the driver's side at the hub with one hand(barely) and the passenger didn't even try to move. The tire stops spinning rapidly when I give it a spin on the tread. So odd...
 

ROCK HARVEY

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When you had the bleeder cracked was the wheel still difficult to spin by hand? If so, the I think the issue is in your hub. With the caliper removed, how hard is it to spin the hub by hand? I wonder if the hub nut is tighter on the passenger side than it should be, causing too much bearing pre-load. I would think it would be getting hot if that was the case though.

Here’s an off-the wall idea: have you made sure that the locking hub isn’t somehow engaged and spinning the axle shaft along with the wheel? It’s a long shot but it would behave how you’re describing.
 

The_Josh_Bear

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I did check that the hub was in the free position but forgot to see if the shaft was spinning or not.

And the hub rotates very smoothly when the brake is backed off. Still too hard to turn after I cracked the bleeder and didn't touch the caliper.
Hub is warm but not hot.
 

ROCK HARVEY

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It sure sounds like your calipers aren’t backing off once they apply pressure for some reason. You‘ve eliminated every other cause I can think of.
 

The_Josh_Bear

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Same problem, even after replacing the caliper. So now I'm on caliper #3. Took a 30 min drive and after stopping, smelled of brakes. Then smoked a bit as I got the kiddos into church. So that's not going in the right direction.
 

KansasIDI

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Try replacing the other side caliper, then adjust brake push rod as needed. Inch isn’t always what you want, last couple weeks I’ve been working on a 91 and an 89, both 460s. The right spot on the 89 was 7/8”, and the 91 was at 1 1/16”

Could be a rotor bent or warped to one side. Seen that on a GMC once. Maybe replace rotors while your at it.
 

KansasIDI

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Same problem, even after replacing the caliper. So now I'm on caliper #3. Took a 30 min drive and after stopping, smelled of brakes. Then smoked a bit as I got the kiddos into church. So that's not going in the right direction.
 

The_Josh_Bear

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I hadn't considered the push rod, since it's only affecting one caliper. Any ideas why it would only affect the one side if it was a push rod depth issue?
 

Rdnck84_03

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No idea. I know we have had a bad master cylinder cause only the passenger front to drag. We replaced calipers, rotors, rubber lines and proportioning valve before final replacing master cylinder.

I doubt ours had anything to do with the rod as it and the booster had been on the truck for years before the issue.

James
 
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