Another wierd brake problem + strange wheel wobble

[philzilla]

To activate the brakes i need to push down on the pedal inches more than normal. it feels like i have no brakes until they start to activate, and it is not smooth when it activates, its jerky and the brakes are week. The front brakes do not seem to be working well. The rear brakes lock up if i Push the pedal down hard enough, but the front do not. It is now scary to drive, this happened when i went out to the desert and the drive home was nerve racking to say the least.


Also, this isn't a brakes question( sorry ) but i thought it would be easier if i asked my other question in the same post,

On the way home i noticed my truck wouldn't stay straight, it kept wanting to go its own way.When i got home, i jacked both front wheels off the ground and noticed that i could wiggle my front left tire up and down left to right, If anyone has any advise for me on what is wrong i would greatly appreciate it, until i figure if its safe to drive, i don't have a ride.

Once again,
Thank Yu

 

[98greenrangerguy]

Sounds like your wheel bearings are shot. I definitely wouldn't drive that thing in its current condition.

 

[fordboi415]

the jerking your describing sounds like your rotors are warped due to excesive heat and braking, your front pads could be worn which could be causing your brakes to not work well, i would try bleeding all your brake lines, and as for the back locking up, bleeding them should take care of the locking up if not try adjusting them. the wobbling of your front wheel sounds like a wheel bearing, try moving the wheel left and right and if you feel any play your bearing need to be replaced, all vehicles are going to have up and down movement due to the ball joints

 

[MAKG]

I concur on the wheel bearings. It explains BOTH problems.

But what you need TODAY is a front end inspection to rule out other problems, especially balljoints.

This vehicle is VERY unsafe to drive. Some of the potential faults can cause a wheel to fall off.

 

[mikhail]

yeah, my wheel bearings were wobbly. i let them be for a while and my tire fell off the other day. im going to have to change the other side since its bad too, dont want that to happen again.

 

[philzilla]

PROBLEM FIXED, the retaining bolt had a retaining pin sheer off, which caused the plated to get loose, and that allowed the wheel bearings to get loose also,

as for the brake part. Because the wheel was like this / / the pads werent meeting up with the caliber right, e.i. lll/lll , anyway, its fixed now, thanks for all your help people

 

[Mark_88]

Did you replace the bearings?

Same thing happened to my truck and while driving the front end suddenly jerked to the right...I pulled over and the wheel was hanging on ONLY because the brake line didn't sheer...

The retaining nut and cotter pin were toast as well as the spindle due to the bearings being shot...I'd heard a squeaking just a few days prior to the wheel coming off and thought it was the brakes or something to do with the clutch...NOT! It was the actual wheel bearing being ground into the spindle...

Hopefully you caught it before any major damage to the spindle happened (not that it isn't easy to change the spindle) because this repair can easily add up to $$$ or even $$$$...

Good thing you decided not to drive it till you figured it out...

 

[philzilla]

Yea I had it looked at and the wheel bearings are still fine