Today's project was replacing the front struts on an '83 GS. Part of the process was removing the brake caliper and brake pads. After reinstallation of the struts and the brake assembly, the car now pulls hard to the right when braking. We took off the left tire to make sure everything was operating correctly and it appears so. Do you need to bleed the brakes after this process? I would think pull to the right when braking would mean the left brake is not engaging properly. The brake pad clips came off during the strut replacement but we believe we put them on correctly. Any ideas?

 

You should only need to bleed the brakes if you took the brake line off or disconnected it. With your symptoms, I'd bleed the brakes anyway.

 

Or you crimped a hard line on the left side preventing the brake fluid from flowing. This can happen if you let the strut hit the hard line when reinstalling. Bleeding that caliper will tell you right away if theres a problem with the line.

 

Bled the brakes and issue still occured. Looks like we accidently had brake grease on the rotors after repacking the bearings. After both cleaning the brakes and riding them for awhile, the pull seemed to disappear somewhat. The brakes look to be original. Checked all maintenance records and appears brakes have never changed so ordering a new set of Hawk HPS pads. Thanks for all the help.

 

Did you make sure to realign the top strut mount properly so your toe isn't off slightly? Won't cause a major pull to that side, but it probably could attribute.