One wheel is harder to spin than the other

I jacked my truck up to take the wheels off, and i noticed that my driver wheel spins freely, but my passenger requires more force to spin it. Any idea what this could mean?

 

Often a dragging brake.

Is this front or rear?

 

Front. how do i fix that?

 

If you verify that's the problem, it may need a servicing of the caliper sliders to free them up, or it may need a new caliper.

Often you'll have a pull to one side if that is a dragging side, as it will grab quicker. Sometimes that wheel will be loaded with more brake dust than the other side.

When were the brakes last serviced?

When last replaced? (different than serviced)

It could be something else (like a bad wheel bearing) but it's always good to start simple.

 

If you are a 4x4, it could be a slight CV axle bind at full droop. If you raise that wheel a little bit, does it spin easier?

 

It doesnt pull, i just had it aligned as well. They test drove it and said the brakes were fine.

It was happening on my last CV axles and I just put new CVS in and its still happening so i don't think it's the cvs. It is 4x4

 

Just had this issue with another vehicle I own. Caliper was shot and not allowing part of the brake pad to fullly retract. Ended up replacing the caliper, rotor, and pads.

 

interesting, what do you mean by the caliper was shot? what did it look like? I'm trying to imagine how the caliper could effect the brake retracting

 

It could look like uneven brake pad wear (one pad worn out more then the other). A bad caliper would have a seized piston. You can always find a nice example on YouTube if you search for 1st gen Tacoma bad caliper.

 

^this

One piston was only somewhat retracted causing the brake pad to be in a permanent state against the rotor. The other piston functioned as normal for the most part. The pad had been worn down to where it looked like a wedge.

 

See the above post.

 

sounds good, thanks. I'll check that out!

 

FYI there are no relevant videos when I youtube that phrase

 

Thinking of tackling this soon as i think it's causing me a hit in gas millage.

Whats the proper course to diagnose it?

I'm thinking the problem is either

A.) a siezed caliper or
B.) a bad wheel bearing.

Caliper would be the easier fix. But i don't want to replace the caliper and have the problem exist if it's the wheel bearing

 

If it's the bearing, you could quickly and easily tell by grabbing the wheel at two ends and rocking it back and forth for play (12 and 6).

Caliper you'll notice especially if you try re-seating the pistons after pulling it off.

 

There was play 12-6 but that was the UBJ and I just replaced it, no play anymore, but there is some play if i do it at 3-9 still, could this still be the bearing? any other way to check caliper? or are you saying just to take the caliper off, and if it's hard to put back on (due to the pistons re-seating) then it's likely a problem with the caliper?

 

so when i brake the truck pulls to the right (same side as the problem wheel), im guessing this mean it’s the caliper? or could it be something else?

 

Sounds likely.

Have you pulled the wheels?

I'd inspect the brake pads and look for uneven wear, and go as far as pulling the caliper and see how hard it is to move back each piston.

Is that one side hot after driving, compared to the other? Smell any burning?

 

Last time I had a locked up caliper…
Was pulling hard to affected side….
To confirm
I used a laser temp thermometer and affected side was more than double the temp of the non affected side after 15m drive
I’m sure that a feel test will work as well
Just put some water on your hands so you don’t burn yourself