94 c1500 4.3 brake problem

[Irish_Alley]

When i go to use my brakes hard enough to make the nose drop a little it will pull to the left side. But once it does it i can release and reapply the same pressure and it won’t happen again. Any ideal where to start

[Grim 82]

Pads & rotors. Does the steering wheel shake back and forth when you apply the brakes? That would indicate warped rotors.

[Irish_Alley]

nope on the wheel but the pads are pretty new more than 50 left the rotors i cant remember changing them

[zieg85]

Left lower ball joint is where I would start.  My 95 did the same exact thing and that was the cause of it...

[Irish_Alley]

They were replaced last year but you know what that means. The weird part is that once i reapply the brakes it won’t do it again. Almost like the pressure stabilized

[Irish_Alley]

Well dang zieg. Today went to the store right down the road. And went to leave with my pregnant wife. Before we left the parking lot. We where ridding in a low rider well on the left front side. The lower joint broke again after less than a year of replacing them. What causes this much stress to that once side

[zieg85]

I can't tell you the actual problem but I know the geometry never looked right to me.  Seems like there is to much movement.  You are not the first I have heard having re-occurring ball joint issues with that type of GM truck.  Glad it didn't give way going down the highway....

[Irish_Alley]

like i said this is the second time this happened once to the wife and now to me both times it was in a parking lot i think someone is watching out for us

[Irish_Alley]

Changed the ball joint today, i used sgt's little how-to on it. It was real easy since there was no pressure on the a-arms due to the ball joint being broke. We have what i call an impact hammer and i used a piece of pipe to slide over the ball joint fork and instead of hammering on the fork i used the impact hammer works so much easier than trying to use a hammer

[ehjorten]

With it lowered what is the ball-joint angle like?  You might be reaching the travel limit and bending the stud.

Maybe try a Howe ball-joint.  RockAuto lists a Moog K6445 for the lower ball joint, but Howe doesn't list a cross reference for that number.  The closest number is a K6145 that Howe lists and it is suppose to cross-over to a Howe 22419 that is suppose to be for 71-95 Chevy/GMC Trucks.  These lower ball-joints are however about $77 ea.  That $77 gets you a darn high quality and high strength ball-joint though!!!

[Irish_Alley]

stock hight not lowered

[Irish_Alley]

well just started driving the 94 more then normal (up the road to take care of the horses) diving it to work now and i dont know if its from driving the impala or what but the brakes seam harder to push. it still pulls to the left when first applying brakes but it seems like if i let off and reapply them it doesn’t pull again. now i have also noticed once i let off the brakes it doesn’t pull and more and the wheel will straighten back up but i was on a dirt road and got on the brakes it seems like the left side will lock up before the right side. almost like a delayed reaction on the right side. so where do i start when replacing parts will a caliper weaken over time or will they get stronger over time? i dont think the lines have anything to do with it since the problem does away after releasing the brakes and nothing seems to be sticking

[thirsty]

Sounds just like what a car with four wheel drum brakes does when one side is adjusted different than the other. Or when one of the wheel cylinders has an issue. Takes less pressure to work one side compared to the other. Maybe one of your calipers Irish? Are your pads the same thickness on both sides? Just food for thought. Hope you can get it fixed.

[VileZambonie]

It's probably a bad brake hose.

[Irish_Alley]

which side should i be looking to replace? the side thats seams to be working harder or the side they seams to be "just" working