Pulls hard to the left when brakes are applied

I have a 2005 double cab tundra sr5 4x4 and it pulls extremely hard to left (driver side) when driving but mostly when brakes are applied . Ive replaced rack and pinion because thats what I was told was wrong but it still does it . Any Ideas?
it has new wheel cylinders shocks struts too .
Ive spent so much and now I just need to have it fixed.....

 

Stop replacing parts before diagnosing the problem. you’re going to start a forest fire burning all that cash.

pulling under braking could be something as simple as a frozen caliper on the opposite side.

When was the last time you had an alignment?

can you post a pic of your tires so we can look for abnormal tire wear?

Any knocking or banging when turning or going over bumps?

does the steering feel “loose” at all?

What’s your mileage?

“wheel cylinders” I’m assuming is wheel bearings?

do you have copies of the invoices so you can tell us exactly what work was done?

does it pull at certain speeds or all speeds?

does it pull in 2wd as well as 4wd?

also, welcome aboard.

 

I just purchased the truck and got a great deal for it and was told it needed a rack and pinion . the truck has sat up for a good bit . i ordered the part and mechanic put it in . the other parts were put in before i got it . before the rack and pinion the wheel felt like it took a min for it to actually turn when turning the wheel . and when driving it would pull quick and hard to left . now steering feels right but still pulls but now when braking .
when the front is jacked up is the strut supposed to rub or touch the coil over shock?

 

when you look at the tire or wheel it looks like its laying out some

 

no accident . i left out it has a 3 inch lift with 20 in tires and wheels

 

No. But you mentioned things that are more or less the same thing for our sake. Shock and strut are both acceptable terms for the front shocks. Coilovers is also an acceptable term for the front coil and strut assembly (though technically not accurate).

I think it needs an alignment after the new rack n pinion.

But I'm also concerned as to wtf is causing your coil and strut to hit eachother. That is if I'm understanding this right.

 

Ok. Now it's making more sense.

Do you know what kind of lift?
I bet the upper control arms are stock. That's affecting your alignment geometry, if so.

 

so you think the truck should be right after alligned? and sorry I dont know very much about vehicles but im trying and learning as im going,

 

dont know what kind just know 3 inch lift

 

We're going to need pics.

 

Maybe, but not if you have the original upper control arms and a 3 inch lift. You need off-road upper control arms for anything above 2 inches of lift.

... Unless it's a 3 inch body lift.

We need pics, bad. Other wise we're just pissin in the wind here. Turn your wheels all the way to one side and get a couple good pics of the problem area you mentioned

 

going to take pics now

 

Your description makes it sound like it wasn’t aligned properly after the rack and pinion install.

 

i

 

Exactly what I suspected. You got a cheap 3 inch hockey puck (plastic spacer) for a lift and stock upper control arms. You need to remove that lift and looks like the person lied to you about new shocks

Oh shit... Is that also a ball joint extention I see? Or perhaps a Trail Master (Disaster)?
Not sure. Never seen either on these trucks.


That hockey puck is 3 inches and it's likely giving you more like a 6 inch lift. And it looks like you have two spacers stacked on top of each other. That's very bad.

I imagine you also have a drop bracket in front for your lower control arms. Now we needs pics of the truck from the front, but down low.

 

thank you

 

Did you grab a photo of your rack while you were out there???

We should make sure that looks right too...

Edit: x2 on pulling out the spacer lift!!

 

The previous owner fucked this poor trucks suspension to hell. Take it back and get your money back. Kick the previous owners ass for me too.

 

If it has a drop bracket, the good news is you might be able to just remove the top smaller metal spacer on both sides of the truck and keep the larger plastic spacer for now. The bad news is you're going to need an alignment and those tires may not fit anymore in front

 

Yeah, that upper control arm is stock and stretched way past where it should be sitting. You’ll need need to address that before anything else. I’ll echo what these fine gentleman have already said and remove that upper spacer as step one.

 

This.

 

I'm not sure about if drop bracket lifts need off road UCAs or not. But it couldn't hurt the situation, just hurt her bank account a little more. haha

At least now days you can buy those cheap ass scamazon/ebay freedom off road UCAs. I wouldn't... But a lot of people do.
I chuckle when I see a truck with King, Fox or Icon coilovers and freedom UCAs.

 

I think I worded that badly. I meant that it was clearly a bad angle and to address that angle. The easiest way is to remove the lift. But if she’s got a 3” spacer lift already with another spacer on top of it she’s going to need control arms anyway I would imagine, even if she pulls the top spacer out.

and yeah suspension is one of those places I wouldn’t want to cheap out… suspension and brakes…

 

Looks like the Tuff Country 4.5" lift. Others on here have it installed and have zero problems (Edit: zero problems like OP describes). Although it looks like some dumbass threw a 2" strut spacer (that silver puck, OP) in above it, which ... if it were me, I'd get rid of.

For pics of what that setup looks like in the wild: https://www.tundras.com/threads/hi06silvers-unf-ck-my-tuff-country-lift-thread.90187/

You'll also see the same on this truck with a 3" body lift: https://www.tundras.com/threads/new-lifted-1gt-owner-need-advice.129014/

It's a bracket lift, as you'll see in both of those threads, one having a video walkaround. There's a lot of beef folks have with the knuckle spacer it uses, so much they only recommend Tuff Country's 5" lift which I believe comes with replacement knuckles.

That said, if this is legit, I don't think the lift is the cause here. I also don't necessarily think steering is the cause either, although knowing what that spacer could be doing to amplify things, something may very well be bent, and Cap'n B may be correct, rack install wasn't handled properly.

First thing I'd do is take it into a qualified offroad shop that can handle custom alignments. Verify the alignment is fine. You may want them to pull that puck, then replicate pulling 2" out of the rear, I'm assuming the previous owner probably used blocks in the back.

Next thing I'd be doing is evaluating the brakes. The fact this issue happens when you step on the brakes could indicate you've got a stuck brake caliper piston, or a soft brake line is collapsing.

 

Dammit, I just realized @s25hanh pulled the video. Ah well. Others on the forum have the same lift.

I don't think that's his truck though. I know he was trying to sell it, and he got it for pretty cheap.

 

My drivers front brake caliper has failed twice on me. Same both times, starts pulling to the left when braking. It’s probably not the steering, but picks of the rack still may be helpful.

 

Does the bottom spacer look crooked to anyone else? Or just an illusion?