I have been experiencing a weird issue with my 2001 XJ8 when driving in the rain. When I apply the brakes whilst driving at speeds over 50mph, the car starts to go right, but the steering wheel is straight and there is no pull which would be associated with brakes. In fact, this issue does not occur whilst driving in dry conditions!

I was told when I purchased the vehicle that the lower ball joints and front wheel bearings were loose on both sides, so I recently had the front wheel bearings replaced, but the issue remains. Could this be attributed to the ball joints? I've never experienced anything like this before. I have no system errors/codes.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

It could very well be a frozen brake caliper or sliding pin and acts up when you get it wet; it's definitely the brake system on the left side if it pulls to the right.

 

So you were told the ball joints are shot, why not get the ball joints done and see what occurs - also +1 on checking the brakes.

 

Many things can cause this:

Tires may be mismatched and acting differently in the rain / The wheel could be moving because of the bad joint or it could be that one set of brake pads is not touching the rotor -- in the rain that brake will need to clear the water and it will cause the brakes to pull to the other side -- I have had that happen.

Check the calipers.

 

When the bearings were replaced the mechanic checked the calipers for the issue you mentioned and said they were fine. I will take a look again - thanks for the input.

 

Tires are new, ball joints are next on the list!