Brakes pulling to the right.

[JoeHall]

Roy: the steering wheel turns itself to the right with some amount of "force," thus I feel it is the fronts pulling to the right, not a problem with the rears.

One thing that can make it pull that hard to the right is wet shoes. If the right side shoes have ever been wet, i.e. with brake fluid, they will always grab way before the other side. If you scuff them with rough sandpaper they will appear dry. But no matter how dry they appear, the fluid will keep bleeding to the surface. One easy, and free way to check this is to swap the shoes from side to side.

[jclary]

In your initial post, you stated ..."adjusted the brakes per the shop manual. By turning the star wheel adjuster until the brakes are seized and then backing off 20 notches."

There are many things on these cars that are "exact" in their design. However, I think that there are some things that require a bit of "feel" ( or call it art, skill, or "touch"). My way of adjusting brakes is to adjust the wheel until it locks and then back off just enough for the wheel to turn freely but have a very slight touch of shoe. 20 notches seems like a lot to me. Try getting the shoes adjusted for the same feel and see how they perform. 20 notches may have one shoe actually closer to the drum on one side than the other.

Regardless of what you find that corrects the problem...looks like in your attempt to correct it...you discovered and repaired some other very needed problems. That in itself is a positive and perhaps a benefit to having the original problem. Good luck and let us know what cures it.

[jackb]

I would suggest 2 things: do you know that both drums are the same inside diameter? That is is it possible one of the drums has been turned more than the other ? Also, if you did not arc the shoes, you may need 500+ miles for shoe setting..maybe more...

[jclary]

I would suggest 2 things: do you know that both drums are the same inside diameter? That is is it possible one of the drums has been turned more than the other ? Also, if you did not arc the shoes, you may need 500+ miles for shoe setting..maybe more...

That's a very important point...it is possible for one wheel to have full length contact with a shoe and the opposite wheel only have a couple inches of surface contact if the arc is not correct. That can mean a big difference in braking power.

[JoeHall]

In your initial post, you stated ..."adjusted the brakes per the shop manual. By turning the star wheel adjuster until the brakes are seized and then backing off 20 notches."

There are many things on these cars that are "exact" in their design. However, I think that there are some things that require a bit of "feel" ( or call it art, skill, or "touch"). My way of adjusting brakes is to adjust the wheel until it locks and then back off just enough for the wheel to turn freely but have a very slight touch of shoe. 20 notches seems like a lot to me. Try getting the shoes adjusted for the same feel and see how they perform. 20 notches may have one shoe actually closer to the drum on one side than the other.

Regardless of what you find that corrects the problem...looks like in your attempt to correct it...you discovered and repaired some other very needed problems. That in itself is a positive and perhaps a benefit to having the original problem. Good luck and let us know what cures it.

I adjust them same way as you. It usually takes 10-15 clicks of backing off to clear so the wheel spins freely, depending on how round the drum is. If there's a major difference in adjustment between right & left sides, that may result in pulling toward the tighter side. It would also likely result in a slightly lower pedal.

[Son O Lark]

Make sure the primary shoe is forward. These are easy to overlook sometimes. The primary shoe has a shorter pad than the secondary.Check BOTH sides.