Q: My car pulls/jerks to right when I slow down.

If this is happening without pressing the brake pedal, this may be a sign of worn out wheel bearings. A wheel bearing will usually fail due to pitting or small damage on the surface of the rollers or the bearing race. Both the surface of the rollers and the race is precision machined to tight tolerances and highly polished to allow the rollers to pass easily over the race with the addition of bearing grease for lubrication and cooling. Over time the bearing will wear slightly, allowing microscopic pieces of metal into the grease. Bearing noise can sound a lot like a brake pad dragging or grinding. It can also sound like whirring, whining or humming depending on how much sound deadening material your vehicle has in it. Bearing noise will always be dependent on vehicle speed meaning as you speed up or slow down the noise should change frequency or loudness. Cornering may affect the noise from a damaged front wheel bearing and is usually more pronounced as you make turns.

If your vehicle pulls to one side when you apply the brakes it typically means that you have a braking imbalance at one of the front wheels. This may be caused by a collapsed or faulty brake line or otherwise lack of hydraulic pressure getting to one of the brake calipers. When this happens, this means that one of the brake calipers is doing it’s job at normal or full capacity in terms of stopping power and the other is not. This will cause the vehicle to pull to the side that is working properly since this side is exerting more stopping power than the other side. I would recommend having an expert from Your Mechanic come to your home to diagnose your brake system to properly repair your brakes. I would suggest having a professional from Your Mechanic come to your location to diagnose and inspect your vehicle.