Land Rover Repair: 1996 Disco brakes, flex line, seince

Question
QUESTION: John-
1996 Disco I, 177,000 miles. Disco started pulling hard left when I stood on the brakes. Not too bad when I brake gently. I bled the lines all the way around (in this order: RightRear, LR, RF, LF). I put in new pads. I rebuilt the front calipers with British Atlantic's rebuild kit (new pistons, new seals), replaced the front flex lines (I was avoiding the rear seince they are more rusted in place and seem to see less motion than the fronts)- seems to pull worse than ever. I replaced the reservoir/master cylinder assembly with a used one (I have a parts Disco) but no change.

I am out of ideas - anything you can suggest would be great - did I bleed incorrectly, do I have a screwed RF caliper that's not grabbing? Help!

ANSWER: We always bleed under pressure.  Did you do that?  If so, the next thing I'd do would be to swap the calipers and rotors.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Bleed under pressure - do you mean having someone stand on the brake pedal while opening the bleed fitting, the closing the bleed fitting and releasing brake pedal pressure - or do you mean some pressurization device that fits onto the reservoir backed with compresed air? I bled with the "push the pedal down" method, I didn't do a gravity bleed.

I will buy new calipers and rotors and try them next.

Could I have a failed rear flex line, or is this highly unlikely. If like most other cars, the RF and LR brakes are on the same circuit. If I split the inner flex-line liner, and am dumping pressure in between the inner and outer liner, would I notice the flex line swelling?

Thanks, John-

Greg

Answer
I can't say that you do or don't have a bad flex line.  It would be unusual if you did.  Either way, a rear line or caliper problem will not cause a really hard pull to either side.  If the truck dives really hard you have a problem in the front brakes or possibly the whole front axle is moving because of broken bushings or something like that.