Hello fellow Ranger enthusiasts,

This will be a lengthy post of all details I can remember for my brake troubles. So Here goes.

I have a 20111 Ford Ranger sport, 4.0L engine, 2wd, extended cab with half doors. 4wheel ABS with disc brakes, and traction control.

About 3 weeks back I was driving along....and all of a sudden my Ranger started pulling very hard to the right while braking. After driving for another 20 minutes, and on different types of road conditions, the pulling continued.

The next day I started investigating. No leaks, NO stuck calipers, NO ABS light, No nothing. I went had my alignment checked...alignment was still right on. The garage while doing the alignment checked my sway-bar, shocks, tire pressure, springs, etc. Once again...NO anything....everything good.

A few days later I decided to change all 4 calipers, brake lines, and pads on my Ranger. It has 75K miles on it and figured I would be changing them within the next year or two anyhow. Bleed the brakes in the traditional way, starting at the closet wheel…drivers front, the passenger front and so on. Then with a Foxwell ABS/SRS scanner (NT630 Elite) with auto bleed functions and such, I bleed all four wheels again. Note: a lot more air came out of the brake system while using the Foxwell ABS function/program.

I now have a very firm brake pedal. However, The Ranger still PULLS to right. I can not figure out what the heck is going on. Maybe the master cylinder???

Note: I did have to replace my OEM brake pads around 70K. Also, I replaced the driver side brake rotor ( was a large groove in the rotor and beyond the specs to have turned), and I had the passenger front rotor turned.


Any response will be greatly appreciated

Len

 

Reads more like a broken flex hose on the right front brake caliper, if the caliper is new

It may be separated inside so is acting like a one way valve, pressure flows TO the caliper but doesn't flow back easily

Jack up that wheel and have someone press and release the brakes while you spin the wheel to see if caliper is releasing instantly or there is a delay

Other side of that(pull to the right) is that the Left front wheel is not braking as hard as the right wheel


It wouldn't be a bad Master but could be a bad front wheel valve in 4WABS unit
Do that wheel spin test with key off and then engine running to see if right front wheel gets "grabby"



And not that this is the problem, but for full bleed you start from the farthest wheel, passenger side rear, and move around to end at closest wheel to Master, drivers side front

 

Thanks for the input RonD. However, this problem existed with the OLD lines, calipers and such. All lines, flex hoses, calipers are new. I have done the spin test on all 4 wheels...no NEW caliper is hanging up (not releasing the pressure) with engine running or off.

As far as the ABS unit...if there was a problem with one of the valves not working correctly, then the ABS light would be on. That is what my Ford Service manual said.The majority of people I have emailed with and even talked to have said that the bleeding procedure for this truck starts at the Drivers front...then passenger front....and son. Service manual said to start in front as well but did not state which front (driver or passenger).

Len

 

Thanks for your input/response RonD

This same exact problem existed before replacing all the brake flex hoses and the calipers. Also, I have done the spin tests as per my original post "The next day I started investigating. No leaks, NO stuck calipers, NO ABS light, No nothing." All four wheels release right away. The pulling is only there when applying the brake. When not braking...truck drives straight as an arrow.

I was told that if there was a bad valve in the ABS unit, the ABS light would be lite on the dash console. No ABS light.

Thank you for the last response to how to do a full bleed, starting from the furthermost wheel...passenger rear and moving to the drivers rear and so forth. I have found in my research, and talking to people that this a debatable detail of how to bleed brakes. The majority say that you start at the nearest wheel. This is even stated in the Mityvac instructions of the brake bleeder kit I purchased a couple of years back.

Len

 

Check your wheel bearings for slop. The brakes can pull a wheel to a different angle if there is play.

 

Thanks for the input 8thTon. I have checked and re-torqued all wheel bearings to factory specs. That was one of the very first things I did.

I am starting to think it may have something to do with the"turned" rotor on the passenger front. Or a combination of the turned rotor and the brake pads.

Len

 

Can you try to manually bleed the front brakes, i.e. you are at the caliper and someone sits in drivers seat and presses down the brake pedal

Looking for a FLOW issue, i.e. less flow out of left bleeder than right bleeder, this would be ABS valve issue or a pinched metal line, assuming flex lines are new

ABS faults are from electrical issues, not mechanical, so trouble codes won't be set unless there is an electrical issue

 

RonD no pinch in the NEW flex lines, and the front brakes, along with the back brakes have been manually bleed. Note: As per you description. I did this after installing the new flex lines and calipers. Then I did and auto bleed to remove all the air out the ABS module with a foxwell scanner ABS /SRS tool. The foxwell allows you to cycle the ABS pump motor, valve inlets and such wheel by wheel. This did give me a much firmer brake pedal.

Len