pulls while braking

craig1104 · Post by **craig1104** » 14 Feb 2009, 14:16

When I hit the brakes my 04 XC90 pulls to the left. Two shops say the breaks are fine, one said it might be the lower control arm bushings. Has anyone hear of this?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 14 Feb 2009, 16:58

If the arm bushing is bad, it can pull but you'll also get vibrations, especially when coasting (without braking)...does this happen? Otherwise I would suspect a sticking caliper or a low tire on that side.

craig1104 · Post by **craig1104** » 14 Feb 2009, 21:47

Well, let me be precise; the vehicle swerves when the brake is applied. The steering wheel doesn't move or pull. other than than that the car operates just fine.

craig1104 · Post by **craig1104** » 15 Feb 2009, 08:39

We have replaced both tie rods, rotated and balanced the tires, and had an alignment done. The swerving has lessen a little but still exists. Any ideas? No noise or vibration, an the swerving occurs over 35 mph

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 15 Feb 2009, 09:24

It could be that the brake caliper on the "other side" is not working properly or is sticking open, thus you're pulling in on the other side- get both sides checked out..relube the caliper guide pins too. Actually, thinking through this a bit more, a sticking caliper in the back will also have an effect on how the front does, as well as a broken endlink back there. Someone is overlooking something...if they've just checked the front, this might be why.

jab1617 · Post by **jab1617** » 06 May 2009, 19:00

I have the exact same issue.

We just purchased a used 2005 Volvo XC90, V8 AWD, 60k miles about two months ago. The car seems to pull to the left while braking, more noticeably at higher speeds above 45 mph or so. You basically begin to depress the brake at those speeds and the car slightly pulls to the left. It is noticeable.

Being somewhat handy, I immediately thought it was a bad front caliper. So I bought two new front calipers and pads, bled the brakes, and I made sure I lubed up the guide pins well too. Rotors looked smooth but I did not get them turned. Took the car out for a test spin, still the same issue.

I thought maybe it was a bad rear brake problem. I replaced the rotors (they was not enough left to turn on them, bought brand new ones), and the pads, lubed up the guide pins once again. Calipers remained unchanged. Still the same problem! Car pulls to the left while braking. If you are traveling at near highway speeds and begin to depress brake to slow down, it pulls. If you stomp on the brakes, can't really tell if the car pulls or not, but it probably does.

Out of options, I took the car to a reputable import shop and explained all the symptoms, and listed what I've replaced. They looked over the car and said all the front control arm bushings looked OK, said all calipers were good. They confirmed the pulling problem, but said they couldn't find the cause of the problem after quite a bit of testing. They tested the brake fluid pressures at each corner, and they all came back normal. They were stumped, and were happy to charge me $300 to say they can't help me out.

So, I'm down to my final options.
I think it could still be a front left control arm bushing problem?
Or
Could it be a bad shock or suspension issue with the front left side?

craig1104 · Post by **craig1104** » 06 May 2009, 19:53

it was the control arm bushings in the rear, but we replaced both front and rear and that solved the problem. If the front are good, then just replace the rear. If the rear are bad that will force the front to swerve either left or right.

seansdad · Post by **seansdad** » 24 May 2009, 14:48

I had the same thing on my 2002 S80 T6. Went to three different shops, two sets of rotors and lots of man hours to find out the rear control arm bushings were bad.

green27614 · Post by **green27614** » 09 Jul 2009, 08:37

I see here where everyone has thought of the OBVIOUS causes of this symptom.
Has anyone thought of checking the master cylinder? or even the caliper hoses? Or the ABS system(assuming you have ABS).

These are often overlooked components that can cause this kind of symptom. I am leaning more towards the ABS system at this point being that there was a recall bulletin on some sort of wheel sensor a while back. If the ABS system uses this wheel sensor and it is bad then it could be sending bad signals back to the abs control module.
The master cylinder and hoses are also often overlooked. Now granted if you have a kinked hose you will feel a constant pull all the time. However, if you have an inner sleeve in the hose that has torn away you will only feel it when hydraulic pressure is applied in one direction. This kind of symptom can also occur if you have trash in the master cylinder- press the pedal trash gets push into the fluid stream let off the pedal trash gets sucked back out of the fluid stream.
Something to think about- might want to check out that wheel sensor recall. but have th master cylinder and the hoses checked first as they will be the least costly to have checked first than the ABS system.

tballjohn · Post by **tballjohn** » 01 Sep 2009, 00:56

Had very similar issues on my 2003 XC 90 T-6 with 103,000 miles. I had heavy shimmying on breaking at higher speeds. I too was told no thickness to turn rotors (typical with all the Volvo's I've had). I replaced with new rotors and that took car of it. But, while "under the hood", I also noticed all the front control arm bushings were bad. I replaced them all and had less clunking. However, now the car pulls to the left when braking. Turns out I was a bit too rough on the left ball joint and it now needs to be replaced. I unbolted it from the strut and loosened the control arm nut. However, I can't remove the ball joint from the strut housing. Tried banging it and prying it with a bar and the jack. No good. Any other ideas? Thanks all!