so my front passenger brake is slightly engaged at all times, i.e. wheel is hard to turn when off the ground, pulls to the right when driving. but when the brake is applied while driving it pulls to the left a little. do i have to take it in, or can i just bang on the caliper with something?

it seems to me that the caliper is sticking, it dosent open all the way or close all the way... i havent removed it yet, i just want to knwo before i freeze my a$$ off for nothing tonight. anyone else have this problem? could there be dirt in the caliper, is my brake controller messed up?

You can try banging on it, or taking it off and cleaning it, but most likely your rotor is effed now anyway... :(

so what would YOU do?

Take off the caliper, clean it up, check the rotor and pads for wear, grease up the slides with some synthetic brake caliper grease (find it at any auto part store) and put it back together.

If your inner pad has been stuck for some time, you will probably have to replace your pads. If so, replace both sides, even if the other side doesn't look like it needs it.

Take off the caliper, clean it up, check the rotor and pads for wear, grease up the slides with some synthetic brake caliper grease (find it at any auto part store) and put it back together.

If your inner pad has been stuck for some time, you will probably have to replace your pads. If so, replace both sides, even if the other side doesn't look like it needs it.

Sorry about my post... THIS is the correct answer :)

if it was your brake controller the abs light would be on and you would be spending about 1500 to fix

DRAGGING BRAKES May create a steering pull and/or increased fuel consumption. Caused by weak or broken retracting springs on drum brakes, a jammed or corroded caliper piston, a floating caliper with badly corroded mounting pins or bushings (uneven pad wear between the inner and outer pads is a clue here), overextended drum brake self-adjusters or a sticky or frozen emergency brake cable.
BRAKES PULL TO ONE SIDE Caused by contaminated linings, misadjusted brakes, a bad wheel cylinder or caliper, dragging brakes on one side or loose wheel bearings. Can also be caused by a mismatch of friction materials side-to-side on the front brakes or differences in rotor thickness, type or condition.

Umm, yeah.

Or the channel that the pads ride in can be full of mud causing the pads not to...well...slide.