Pulls to the left, brakes to the right

[Triton46]

My Explorer feels like a tug of war. Tonight on the way to eat, the car started pulling pretty good to the left after I slammed on brakes. When I would slow down normally, after this, the car would pull to the right as I braked. Then after the stop light it would pull to the left. I parked the car (by the way, I got a check engine half way there at about 5 miles into the trip), when we came out and left the car didnt pull to the right or left as much as they had, also the check engine light didnt come on. I just got a new O2 sensor, so I attibute the check engine to my FPR since I did smell gas when I got out. But what would cause the car to pull to the left and right...brakes?

 

[Triton46]

It gets weirder...on the way to work this morning it drove as straight as an arrow and braked straight also. Last night I had my girlfriend in the front and her mom in the back. I can only guess the weight difference on 9 year old shocks is what caused it to pull so severely.

 

[EB Bauer]

It sounds like you may have a sticky caliper. Say your left caliper is stuck in the brakeing position. This will cause some friction and make the car go to the left. Now the pads on the left side are going to get worn before you even notice this, so when you try and stop you have the good pad on the right that will pull it to the right. If all that makes sence. It's about 6:30 in the morning here and I am a bit asleep, the coffee hasn't kicked in yet. anyway I would have the calipers checked out first. hope that helps

 

[FMNavajo]

Triton46,
I believe EB Bauer hit the proverbial nail on the head, here's a procedure from the Explorer tips section you might want to check out.
http://www.4x4central.com/tips2.html#caliper

Hope this helps,
FM

 

[bluescat]

Calipers and Tires

My '94 Navajo had the same problem. When it still had the same problem after new rotors and calipers I took it to a local tire store that had the equipment to 'force balance' the wheels (which means they leave the wheels on to duplicate the real-world load). They ended up taking the tires off of all four wheels and reverse mounting them then taking the two worst ones with slipped belts inside and putting them on the rear wheels. It worked.