On my '69, the brakes were pulling to the right very strongly...at slow speeds the steering wheel would go hard right and if braking from higher speed you would almost have to let go of the wheel.

What I had done to the car is:

rebuild all four calipers...new seals and new pistons;
all new brake hoses;
completely flush the brake lines (four times);
new rear pads as one side was fluid soaked and front pads were fine;
fill the system with DOT 4 brake fluid.

When I got the car back, the shop (a damn good shop and they do great work), said they experienced a pull to the right when testing it and then it settled down and no more pull.

When I drove home, the car still pulls to the right, though not nearly as bad as before, but definitely noticeable.

I called the shop and told them, and they're more than willing to work on it more to determine the cause and what is needed to make it right. I'm taking the car to a show this weekend so I told them I'd drive it and see if the brakes settled in and let them know.

What I'm asking is advice as to what I (and the tech) should be looking for if the pulling continues. If I have to have new pads installed on the front...fine. I, and they, don't want to do that if it doesn't cure the problem.

What should we be looking at? I'm sure they can figure it out next week if necessary, but if some brake gurus can give me advice, it can be cured more quickly.

 

Keep in mind it may not be the brakes. I bought a '75 to restore sometime ago and the same thing was going on with it both before and after I did a complete brake job. I then took it to a shop to have it gone over and to have the front end aligned, after which it continued to pull to one side. The shop was at a loss as to why and in fact, didn't even charge me.

After doing some research, I learned that an incorrectly adjusted power steering cylinder can cause this problem. I properly adjusted it and that was the end of the pulling. I'm not saying this is your problem, but just something to keep in mind.

 

I appreciate that. I know that sometimes all is not what it seems, but I had the obvious checked and taken care of first.

I neglected to say the shop bled the brakes several times to make sure there was no air in the system, but I know C3 brakes can be notoriously difficult to get all the air out.

Hopefully more ideas will come.

 

I've been working on Vettes since the mid '70's and never had a problem bleeding the brakes. I always use the gravity method. However, it is a very big topic here on the Forum. In any event, if you do have air in the system, your pedal will be spongy without exception. Hope you find the problem quickly.

 

Thanks. The car does have a hard pedal...not spongy in the least.

I thought about your experience with your power steering control valve...I neglected to say my car has manual steering, so I can discount that possibility.

It will get squared away...maybe as simple as needing to drive it a bit to get everything to settle in.

 

If it is still doing it, in addition to looking at the brakes again, check all your suspension components too - ball joints; upper and lower; A-arm bushings and bolts, and wheel bearings, as well as the steering components. As the earlier poster said, it's not always the brakes.

With any luck maybe it is something pretty simple and inexpensive (if there is such a thing on a C-3) to fix.

 

look for grease on one of your pads

 

Trailing Arm bushings might be shot or a shim may have come out, that will definately cause it to pull. Could do it braking or accelerating.

 

BRAKE HOSE, caliper not releasing......


don't ask how I know this.....

please.....

 

Thanks to everyone for their ideas and experiences. It gives me places to look beyond the obvious (which was already done).

The pulling as it is now is not bad...just annoying and not nearly as bad as before. Brake issues are one thing that doesn't get put off.

 

That was my first thought. Rubber line collapsing and re-opening ?? Mine didn't quite act so civil - just collapsed and front right locked down on the highway. Now everything is stainless.