2001 Ranger grinding while braking, brakes good

[DeemedAcceptable]

Good morning! I have a 2001 Ranger 4x4 and after driving a bit (about 5 miles or more) I get a bad grinding and pulling to the left while braking. All the brakes are good. Front pads and rotors are newer and meaty. No evidence of grinding on the rotors. Short distances, just a minor squeak. Any ideas? Cannot figure this out!! Back brakes are good too. About 125,000 miles on it. Thanks for any help!!

 

[franklin2]

Drive it about 5 miles or till it starts pulling, and then get out and feel the wheels. See if one of them is hotter than the others. If you find one, that caliper is sticking.

 

[DeemedAcceptable]

Thanks, I’ll give that a try, but not not sure about why it would be making a grinding noise, with no grinding evidence.

 

[franklin2]

Lets see if we can figure out the pulling, and that may lead to the grinding.

 

[Burnsy]

I have a 2001 2wd 3.0 does the same exact thing....rotors and pads are perfect/worn normal, have newer rear brakes....i cant figure it out...new calipers helped for a while, an alignment helped for a while.....my alignment didn't hold very well which led me to wonder if something is warped or bent beyond holding an alignment ,thus possibly being my problem, but what's grinding??? I've also thought that since i have new calipers,rotors,pads that maybe its a brake line not flowing properly TO a caliper, theres two cylinders for each caliper on mine.. maybe if one cylinder is coming and going in and out faster or slower than the other, the pad gets pushed unevenly and somehow wobbles into a position that it grinds against something ?? I see no grind marks though on ANYthing, it's really weird, makes me wonder about my rears but they are newer and good also.....only thing left maybe is wheel bearings, my thing happens when i have to brake somewhat fast, firmly, and comes near the/at the end of the stop.....maybe the bearings can handle everything but a quick firm stop? I have the new bearings, seals, grease, ready to go just need to get around to doing it, .....symptom hasn't happened in a few weeks.....

 

[rumblecloud]

Did someone say wheel bearings?

 

[Burnsy]

Did someone say wheel bearings?

I need to do em....ive replaced a few on my other trucks, never had quite this symptom, usually they were noisier in general, not just at the end of a long hard stop, but if that's what it is that's what it is....pretty easy job with the right tools

 

[rumblecloud]

Like @franklin2 said, check the hub temp at the end of a 5 mile drive. The hot one is a bearing or a dragging pad caused by a sticky piston.