Help - Brakes engage when I turn left!

[geodude]

On my Carat when I turn left more than about half way to the stop the left caliper starts to engage and I get a clunk, clunk, clunk sound. Jacked up that wheel and I can do it by hand turn the wheel and it almost feels like the wheel is jamming on something, but nothing is there. It is worse if I press the brakes. Does not do this in a right turn. There is no visual evidence of anything wrong with that wheel, nothing broken, brake line looks ok, nothing catching on anything. Baffling!

1. What in the world could cause this?
2. Could that something have been caused while my tires were being replaced earlier?

I'm a bit stumped, can't seem to find anything talking about this particular problem. I'm wondering if the brake line is somehow bad and pinching when the wheel is turned left.

Any and all help appreciated.
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1988 GL Camper
1991 Multivan — the basket case

[IdahoDoug]

Sounds like a wheel bearing. Side load shoving loose bearing and letting rotor push against brake pad on one side. Clunking is side loaded crunchy bearings.

DougM
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1993 Toyota LandCruiser, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[rubbachicken]

that sounds likely

when i was having wheel bearing issues someone posted this way of adjusting them
{i cannot remember who it was }

Slight play with screwdriver end... but this is so subjective. I found this sequence somewhere and it has never let me down
tighten to 17-25 ft lbs
loosen 1/2 turn
tighten to 10-15 in lbs
peen nut
job done

try and adjust them and see if it makes a difference
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lucy our westy

lucy's BIG adventure

meet 'burni'

[geodude]

A jacked the wheel up again and did the wiggle test to see if the bearing were loose. Nothing, no discernible play in the wheel when yanked at various points on the rim. I am not surprised by this as the brake being applied feeling happened when the wheel was fully unloaded and the wheel simply turned to the left. I can't see there being enough deflection caused by that to make the brakes come on hard. With weight on the van and in motion yes, but wheel just hanging there?

Now here is the thing, the braking and clunking went away when I went out this second time. Only difference was the temperature had dropped from 102 or so to about 75 outside (we get big swings in temp here). Drove around and did a bunch of tight turns both left and right and nothing. Jacked the van up and spun the wheel, turned the wheel left and right, nothing, no binding, brake drag, or anything.

So could temperature be doing something here? Some part expanding and making clearances smaller, brake fluid, something else?

Could some bit of debris been left by the tire folks that happened to fall out?

Still baffled by this one.
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1988 GL Camper
1991 Multivan — the basket case

[2wdvanagon]

[randywebb]

do all 4 wheels - this is a maintenance check that should be done every year or two anyway
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1986 2.1L Westy 2wd Auto Trans.

[geodude]

The left front was definitely engaging. Spun the wheel when it was jacked up and it would engage when the steering was most of the way left. I also had my wife stand outside and listen as I turned past her and she said it was the left front making the clunk sound. So that is two indicators that it is that wheel.

When it cools off again I'll go wheel to wheel and double check everything, but right now it really looks like only the left front is doing anything.

If I don't figure anything else out I'll likely just replace the flex lines (they aren't that old, but cheap insurance) and bleed everything.
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1988 GL Camper
1991 Multivan — the basket case

[snowsyncro]

[Alaric.H]

Maybe bad brake hoses.

[geodude]

Replaced all four brake flex lines and bleed the brakes. Drove the van around and no more clunking. Even though the flex lines didn't look that old on the outside, once they were off you could tell they were pretty old.
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1988 GL Camper
1991 Multivan — the basket case

[geodude]

Spoke too soon. Took the van for a ride up into the foothills to enjoy the weather and get some ice cream. Well part way there while going around a reasonably tight left turn, bang, bang, bang. Same stupid problem you just need some speed now to make it happen. The sound happened with foot on or off the brake pedal and would start when you could feel a significant amount of weight getting transferred over to the right wheels. Then bump, bump, bump under my rear end (you could feel it through the seat and on the floor by my feet). The clunk / bang didn't happen on every left turn, just some. The brakes also squealed a few times when braking, but not every time, which is something they have not done previously.

I noticed the tire shop had put balancing weights on the inside of the rims. Not sure that could contribute, but need to investigate if they are possibly hitting somewhere. Probably not, but worth checking. Otherwise I'm back to square one on trying to figure this thing out.
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1988 GL Camper
1991 Multivan — the basket case

[IdahoDoug]

I still feel the brakes are a dead end. Are these stock wheels and stock tire size? If not, you may have some part of the body/inner fender trim interfering when you turn the wheel which turning the wheel up on a lift (tires extended well away from the interference) did not reveal. Or the weights hitting, though 3 seconds of examining a soft lead weight would show the marks on them.

Look for a tire touching something, or a wheel bearing issue. Wheel bearings don't always generate slack when they're distressed. A tight bearing with a broken race, or inner race can do weird things - run true straight but aide loads reveal an issue without the normal slack you can feel. Hub nut on properly torqued?

Weird one, for sure. Careful you're not "seeing" something you're expecting to see, but open to it being something unexpected. Like a hairline cracked rim face you didn't even see when you did the brakes. Swap this wheel into the other side yet?


DougM
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1993 Toyota LandCruiser, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[geodude]

And it turned out to be.... Drum roll please... A balance weight put on at the tire shop when I got the new tires. The stinking little thing comes about 1mm from the steering knuckle (hard to see the spot where it comes closest with the wheel on so maybe closer). When you mess with the wheel with the van jacked up you can't get it to hit, but there was a thin shinny mark on it and a corresponding little rub mark on the knuckle. Lightly tapped on it with a hammer to slightly push the lead away from the rub point and no more clunking. The clunking did seem to get less intense every time it happened so that was probably self machining going on with little bits of lead rubbed off each time it hit.

The old flex lines where causing the brakes to engage in hard turns, but not enough to be noticed while driving. The clunking balancing weight just got me looking around to find that starting to go bad. So one problem averted, the other solved.
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1988 GL Camper
1991 Multivan — the basket case

[IdahoDoug]

Cool. I was very curious about this one, and also the other thread where he has a whining sound he posted a sound file. Glad it was simple and that you got new brake soft lines in the deal!!
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1993 Toyota LandCruiser, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader