pulsing feeling in brakes and dragging brake - solved

[mcurcio1989]

Just a quick fyi, something to keep an eye out for. I was out of town for a week, home for a weekend, and then out for a week. When I got back in my car and hopped on the highway I felt what I thought was my out of balance tires but seeming worse than before (must have just gotten used to that). Nope it was definitely worse and making a rumbling sound now.

I got out check things and noticed nothing, rumbling actually seemed to go away but vibration was still there. Next day it did it again and this time I found that my front left wheel / brake were very hot. Then I noticed it grabbing quite a bit at stop lights. I took the caliper off thinking maybe the pads were binding on the caliper. I noticed the boot around the piston was torn. When I tried to compress the piston back in to make some room to slide it back it did not want to move. I didn't take it apart but I'm certain that the boot tore and the piston began to rust. Probably some time ago. After I replaced the caliper the vehicle is driving way smoother and with way more power. I also notice much less brake force. I think It just slowly crept up on me to where I didn't notice the problem until the car set a couple weeks and the rust got worse. I don't even know if my tires are actually out of balance it may have just been this. The weird thing is the brakes don't pulse now but when they got really warm they were. I don't get that.

Word to the wise - When you have your wheel off check these boots. AZ stocks a brake rebuild kit for 7 bucks a side that give you the piston seal and boot. In the future I will replace the boot if I see one torn.