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MG MGA - brake pulling question

I recently bled the brakes on my 58 MGA and have noticed two things: the pedal is still a bit soft and the car pulls to the left. I will re-bleed and re-adjust but does pulling to the left usually mean a problem on the right side? Thanks.

J Plegue

Check your right side for adjustment. If it pulls to the left , your right brake is not working correctly or you have adjusted your left too tight which makes them activate first then the right side.
JEFF BECKER

Take your car out for a drive and when you get home put your hand on each brake drum. If one feels hotter than the others back off the adjuster on that drum one notch. Do this after several drives and when the temp. seems the same for all four wheels it should be adjusted about equal.
N. Wessely

The easiest way ( and much easier on the hand than sticking it on a hot drum) is to drive the car on a gravel road or driveway and stomp the brakes hard enough to lock all 4 wheels. without moving the car, get out and look at the skid marks. It will tell you which wheel and if it is locking too soon or not at all. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Thanks, gang. I will follow your advice and see what happens. Jim
J Plegue

Or you might have a stuck RH wheel cylinder, or oil leak on the linings.
Art

Jim, this has got nothing to do with adjustment or bleeding, there is a fault !! Firstly on adjustment disk brakes are self adjusting the rear drums are not so on the assumption that the rears are not adjusted correctly all that will happen is that the shoes on the tightest adjusted wheel will touch the drum first but apply no load. The shoes on the other side will follow up and when both sets are in contact load can then be generated. That's the beauty of a hydraulic system as opposed to the old rod brakes, the system is self compensating.

Having said that if a piston is stuck in either a rear wheel cylinder or a caliper then the car will pull one way. First check are the front brakes, as the rears don't provide much of the total braking. Remove the pads and check for contamination, make sure that they are free in the calipers and check also that the pistons are free. My guess is that you have a problem with the front right brake but you never know as slight contamination of the left can make the stickyness actually increase the braking.

The other very real possibility is that your rear axle U bolts are slack. If its the left ones then that side of the axle will move forward under braking and the car will go to the left.

Once you've sorted this all out bleed the brakes again and get a hard pedal.
Iain MacKintosh

Hold on a second there Ian. Jim has a 58 model which by my reckoning is drums all round. When mine pulled I certainly did all the basics mentioned above (adjustments and bleeding). A bit of air still in the system on one brake will, in my opinion, give a soft feel and a pull to one side. If bleeding does not cure it, worth checking the condition of the linings for wear and contamination.

Steve
Steve Gyles

1958 does have drums all around, and the unusual dual-leading-shoe (with dual cylinders) design of the front brakes can make bleeding them tricky.
David Breneman

JP, we are all waiting the results of your investigation! My money is on a sticky cylinder.
Art

I would refine adjustment with the gravel road method, but would most certainly pull the drums and do a thorough cleaning/inspection. Don't use compressed air to blow off the dust without adequate eye and lung protection...
My money (halfpenny) is on a dust-caking buildup in the right front drum. Cheers
Jon Bachelor

OK, but much the same applies if the car has drums all round in that poor adjustment or the need for bleeding will not cause the car to pull as the system is still self compensating and the pressure will balance out throughout the system,

Having said that, front drums are notorious for pulling I think due to the fact that they are more susceptible to grabbing and also the slightest trace of leakage from the cylinders can aggravate this. Check the cylinders very carefully, firstly that they are free and then look behind the boots and if there is any seepage replace them. If there is any contamination on the linings then they should be replaced as well but only in a complete axle set. They cannot be cleaned properly and brake imbalance will result. Finally, what like is the surface of the drums ? they should be perfectly smooth and within the max diameter stamped on the outside. If the surface is poor have them skimmed by a competent machine shop but beware, don't expect perfect braking until the new components bed in. The car should stop in a straight line though and thye steering wheel not move even in a hands off stop.
Iain MacKintosh

For several years I had this problem on my '56 MGA. Every year I took the car for the MoT and it passed with a note that the brakes were on the limit of unbalance. It pulled slightly to the left.

I tried bleeding, changing the shoes and wheel cylinders with no effect.

I swapped the drums with those on my Magnette and the car passed - curiously I had the Magnette checked with the MGA drums and balance was fine.

I suggest that if all the suggested inspections don't sort the problem, try swapping the drums from side to side to see if the problem moves with it.

dan
Dan Smithers

Check for oil on the fron drum brakes which were on the 58. If you have dirty brakes this will cause one side to grab an shoot you of to that side. I had this problem when I 1st bought my A.
drew

Wow, you guys are great. I will tackle it this weekend and let everyone know the results. Thanks.
J Plegue

Another thing just worth checking is to ensure that a trace of hub bearing grease has escaped on to the linings. Make sure that the seal behind the rear bearing is not moist around the edges. You'll see it at the inner end of the hubs.
Iain MacKintosh

This thread was discussed between 07/05/2005 and 11/05/2005

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.