'89 rrc brake question

[cobb ridge]

I have replaced every brake part I can think of on my range rover. It still pulls to the right when braking but not while driving. Let off the brakes and it straightens up. I have replaced every part that has to do with brakes except the hard lines if that helps. What do I look for next? Also it seems like my pedal goes down farther now than in the past. What could cause that? Some info, I went to a carb would that affect the vacuum to the vacuum assist(which is new)?

 

[Fivespddisco]

Did you swap in new pads.
Dose the RRC have abs?

 

[cobb ridge]

Did you swap in new pads.
Dose the RRC have abs?

Several new sets of pads front and rear. I have replaced all brake parts(that I know of).
No abs on '89s
On a side note I think I bought some ashcroft gears for this thing last year from you. Everyone with larger tires should think about this swap. It really woke it up.

 

[headdamage]

Suspension bushings perhaps?

 

[Funrover]

Had same issue on mine, How do the bushings in your front suspension look? Mine were worn out more on the left side and it pulled left a little. Just an idea

 

[cobb ridge]

Had same issue on mine, How do the bushings in your front suspension look? Mine were worn out more on the left side and it pulled left a little. Just an idea

Do you mean the radius arms? I have done those a little while back but I don't drive it very much so I don't think that would be it. Are there other suspension bits I can look at?

 

[Funrover]

The radius arm bushings fixed mine. What have you replaced so far?

 

[cobb ridge]

The radius arm bushings fixed mine. What have you replaced so far?

Off the top of my head, 4 calipers,4 rotors,multiple sets of brake pads,master cylinder,vacuum booster. A couple of years ago I put on new stainless braided extended lines. As I said earlier I don't drive it that often so I didn't think that was it,a mechanic friend said that he thinks that may be it,so I am going to try that. Any ideas why the pedal feels softer than it did? I had a mechanic bleed them per the manual.

 

[Snagger]

If it's spongy, you either have failing hoses or air in the system - professional mechanics don't always do the job very well because they rush or because they have no personal investment in doing the job properly. In the UK, most garages do a terrible job, including franchised dealer workshops.

My feeling is that it is one of the above or a suspension fault (bushes being the likely culprit, allowing the axle alignment to move in relation to the chassis) - I know a LR specialist who bought his wife a brand new D1 years ago, and it occasionally lunged across the road into oncoming traffic under braking; they found the radius arm bolts had never been tighten up and the axle was moving by 2" at one end.

If the suspension is all good, check the swivel pins and bearings and the steering rods and rod ends. Have a close look at the steel/copper brake pipes to make sure they don't have any damage or crimps from excessively tight bending, off road impacts or being bashed by tools while servicing.

If they're all good, swap the brake disc and pads (don't intermix them) from one side to the other and see if the pull swaps direction. If that makes no difference, swap the hoses over and try again.

One other thing - make sure the callipers are a matched pair; an LR owner in England had a badly maintained and modified 110 with rotten suspension brackets, a trailing arm that was 1" shorter than its counter part and mismatched callipers, plus a raft of other defects, which resulted in him crashing his family into a drainage ditch and drowning some of his kids. Google "Gresham" if you want to read more about it.

 

[upcruiser]

I would go out on a limb and guess it isn't brakes but your driver's side control arm bushings. I had the exact same issue with my D1 and was thinking brakes but discovered it was the bushings. They tend to wear a bit quicker on the driver side supposedly from the way the engine torques and twists. Anyway, once replaced the issue was gone. As you get on the brakes, it basically is allowing the front axle to move for and aft on one side altering the steering.

 

[cobb ridge]

Thanks for the ideas. I am checking things out. I will report back if I find out anything.

 

[cobb ridge]

I took it to a european car specialist. He said the bushings look good. He said it could be a valve that I think he called a proportional valve. It was $150 plus labor. He said he couldn't be sure it would work but that's the only thing not replaced yet. Well, it did not work. So it has stumped an off road shop and now a european shop. Any more ideas? I have spent way too much money changing parts and not fixing the problem.

 

[Funrover]

I am going on a limb here but how does the steering shaft (rag joint) look? If it is weak, worn or broken you may be hitting the brakes and the wheels follow the road crown. Given all the other issues you have already taken care of this is worth at least looking at.

 

[Snagger]

The proportioning or biasing valve in in the line to the rear brakes only. The valve that one of the front and the rear lines go through is a pressure differential sensing valve with a switch to activate a dash warning light - a differential pressure between the front and rear lines signifies a failure or leak in one of the circuits and moves a piston towards the failed circuit inside that valve, throwing the switch. It's not impossible that the valve has moved and the piston could be restricting fluid flow through the front line. This would likely have been caused by high-pressure bleeding the front brakes.

Check the track rod ends (the tie bar, I think you call it) - if the rod ends are worn, the tracking could be rather toe in when driving, but on braking the wheels will toe out strongly, and if the drag link is good but the track rod bad, the off side wheel will stay relatively straight while the near (driver's) side wheel will rock back a fair old way and the steering will pull to the driver's side.

 

[cobb ridge]

The proportioning or biasing valve in in the line to the rear brakes only. The valve that one of the front and the rear lines go through is a pressure differential sensing valve with a switch to activate a dash warning light - a differential pressure between the front and rear lines signifies a failure or leak in one of the circuits and moves a piston towards the failed circuit inside that valve, throwing the switch. It's not impossible that the valve has moved and the piston could be restricting fluid flow through the front line. This would likely have been caused by high-pressure bleeding the front brakes.

Check the track rod ends (the tie bar, I think you call it) - if the rod ends are worn, the tracking could be rather toe in when driving, but on braking the wheels will toe out strongly, and if the drag link is good but the track rod bad, the off side wheel will stay relatively straight while the near (driver's) side wheel will rock back a fair old way and the steering will pull to the driver's side.

Is this for non abs? Mine does not have abs.