[ariff]

So from looking at several other posts I know I am not the only one who has had this problem.. When braking my 69 (all drum) pulls very badly to the right.. Which leads be to think of bad adjustment on the left side. Ok so here is what I have done to try to eliminate the problem with no success.
1. replaced all soft lines and bleed brakes starting furthest to closest.
2. replaced all hardware and inspected wheel cylinders for any leakage and what not. Looks good. (but I am not a brake expert)
3.replaced all front end suspension including strut rod bushings. (did this last year)
4. replaced proportioning valve and had mechanic professionally flush system.
5. tried to get self adjusters to work by reverse brake then forward brake.
6 tried adjusting manually had car up on jacks spin wheels apply brakes, they both stop at same time. Did this on both front and rear.
I am running out of ideas.. I also looked at the pads and drums. They appeared to be in good shape, but have not replaced pads or turned drums. Any help would be great. I really like to drive her, but this makes the car unsafe and a pain to drive. Thanks guys..

 

[Sportsroof1970]

hmmm, that's a tough one. You might want to verify that all of the brake shoe return springs are there on both sides, or that both sides at least have the same amount of springs in the same places. You might try putting new wheel cylinders on the front (both sides). Also, I would think it's pretty important to have equal linings, drum thickness, and drum surface quality on both sides to ensure one side isn't more efficient than the other and giving a pull. Make sure your wheel bearings are torqued properly, too.

On my car, before I went the Granada disc route, I had constant pulling issues. I think it was in part due to my heavily grooved backing plates. I think one side would push the shoes into the drum at a weird angle, because of the way the shoes got stuck in the grooves, which let the other side stop better, and gave me a pull. After driving I could literally tell the difference in heat by placing my hand on each front rim. The driver side rim felt normal (which is still pretty damn hot), but the other rim was blistering hot after just normal driving.

good luck with it. I think the key with drums is to have everything EXACTLY the same to reduce the chances of the pulling stuff. I found out that you should always replace in pairs to keep it balanced.

EDIT:
When I go to adjust my brakes by braking in reverse, I pick a wide open parking lot behind a store or something, and drive in reverse and repeatedly brake, sometimes with a little gas, to keep the momentum up.... This can work wonders if the by hand adjustments weren't too close in the first place.

 

[cousin_jd]

I agree with previous post about replacing front wheel cylinders. I had a similiar problem, the left front w/c was froze up and would not function at all.
Good luck and let us know what you find. Jim

 

[johnpro]

I would think it's pretty important to have equal linings, drum thickness, and drum surface quality on both sides to ensure one side isn't more efficient than the other and giving a pull

Stole the words right out of my mouth. My daughter's '69 coupe has always had a pulling problem since the day we bought it, although it has factory front disks. Last weekend, I got fed up and replaced both rotors, all the pads, and rebuilt the calipers. Went out and test drove it and pulled to a stop light with no hands on the steering wheel at all from 45mph.

Ariff , you're probably never going to get rid of the pull until you replace both front drums at the same time.

 

[SacBill]

I had this problem once after replacing the wheel cylinders, took a second look, and realized that I had put the brake shoes on backwards on one wheel! IIRC, the larger one goes towards the front of the car, and the smaller one to the back.

I would have sworn that I put them on right, but I got one of them backwards. It's a simple thing to doublecheck, if you're checking everything else.

Good luck!