Brake Imbalance

[roysuecan]

My right front tire always locks up first in a hard stop. Last winter I disassembled everything (front and rear), cleaned it all up, replaced the front pads and rear shoes and re-assembled. It all looked good (no leaks, all cylinders were OK (they were brass sleeved years ago when I replaced the seals).
I pulled it apart yesterday and noticed that the right side dragged more than the left when turning the tire by hand. The inner pad on the right side was worn more than the outer pad or the pads on the left, which were all about the same. The cylinders look like they did last year (good) and still no leaks.
I can't see what's causing the inner piston to drag, and I'm wondering if that's what's causing the braking to be biased to the right. The only other thing I can think of is the pin in the center of the cylinder that the piston presses into. It doesn't seem likely that it would be causing the inner pad to drag since the pins in both the inner and outer cylinders have about the same amount of axial play. What is the purpose of this pin? Any other ideas on things to check? I don't feel like replacing the seals is going to address this.
Thanks for your input.
Roy Cannon

[Bwk2000]

If the one side is dragging and one pad is wearing significantly more than the other, it is likely either a seized caliper piston or slide pins. Probably wouldn’t hurt to disassemble and rebuild it.

[DAC21]

No personal experience but a quick Google search indicates a wheel bearing going bad can cause pulling / uneven wear.

[spl310]

How tight were the pads? Some pads are slightly too wide and are tough to install and remove - that makes them drag.

[redroadster]

Also check the hoses carefully thats often what causes you described also
And a rotor warped or had a rough , burnt spot , low spot
Chevk bleeding the system if you are confident performing that

[roysuecan]

Thanks everyone for the input. My pads were very tight and I should have thought of that, thanks spl310. I took some material off and got them sliding freely and they both seem to have about the same amount of drag now. To try to confirm that the dragging pad was causing one tire to lock up first I'm going to use a torque wrench and check for a consistent reading on both sides with the pedal depressed.

[spl310]

Happy to help!

[C.Costine]

Check also to verify that your caliper is centered over the rotor. Stick a feeler gauge in on each side. They are shimmed from the factory and shims are easily dropped and lost.