daily driver status:brake edition

[ocbaud]

the brakes on the truck were seriously lacking.

i had recently upgraded my mustangs brakes to the cobra kit with ebc redstuff pads.... those brakes rock a lot.


the truck still has factory brakes all around, but they were awful.
instead of getting the front rotors turned, i just bought new ones and ordered some hawk hp+ pads (didn't have the ebc's for my truck )

broke them in tonight and they are awesome, not cobra brake awesome, but still very good. before i couldn't even lock up the brakes if i tried, now its pretty easy to.


only problem here is pedal firmness...
if i lightly press the brake pedel, it feels as though it starts to brake a bit then as you press harder it feels like it lets off and then you keep going and it finally feels like it should.

it did this before and now after the new brakes. i may be used to driving a newer car though, so i dunno.

i've got ss front and rear lines and fresh fluid. the brakes are all bleed and there should not be any air in the lines, which is what i thought was the problem, so i bleed the whole system before this brake upgrade.


idears?

[Pyrotechnic]

I had a bad master cylinder that would nearly put me through the windshield if I just barely touched the pedal, then other times it would go right to the floor and I'd have to pump it to get brake pressure.

It was a fresh re manufactured MC. They failed to tell me that it was only about $3 more to get a brand new MC, which I proceeded to get when I returned the junk one.

[spinem]

bad master brake cyl, or booster or both. or bad supply off vacc to the booster???

[ocbaud]

vacuum is good along with the booster. as far as i know, if they start going bad, the pedal gets really hard to press, thats not the issue here AT ALL. the opposite in fact.


it starts braking awesome once you get half way through the pedal. before that, its really soft.

[James McClure]

Eric, try adjusting the rear brakes, they govern the pedal height via the master cyl. 33 years as a Chevy mechanic and I still don't quite understand how it works. You would think the fronts would grab right away as they do 70% of the brakeing. Proper adjustment is just tight enough so you can feel a SLIGHT drag when rotating the wheel by hand. Leave trans in neutral and use jack stands. Check your brake hoses, especially if it has a pull condition on apply OR release if the adjustment don't work out. Last move would be the master cyl. Let us know, Jim

[cableguy0]

Anything with drums in the rear will act the same way. My dads 97 dodge is real bad about it. If you dont adjust the rear every oil change or so the pedal gets weird. The chevies are exactly the same. My 77 wrecker was real bad about. pedal hit almost on the floor when the rear brakes were worn out.

[ocbaud]

well, i tried the reverse to adjust the drums and that didn't work(wasn't sure if it would) but i'm pretty positive it is the rear drums now.

i applied the parking brake at various levels and drove and braked and it made a noticeable difference in how it felt.

problem i have is that my backing plates do not have an adjustment hole in them what so ever.... :-/

[cableguy0]

Look at the backing plate very closely theres probably a knock out there. with any kind of ridge on the drum you will never get the shoes adjusted right and still get the drum to slide on.Chances are if they havent been touched in a long time everything is frozen and the adjuster isnt going to move anyhow. I would pull the drum off and see what you got going on. I'm sure a clean and adjust is in order. basically you will pull the adjuster out and get it freed up. Put never cease on the points where the shoe contacts the backing plate and also lube up the adjuster. while your in the look directly behind the adjuster for a pre-punched spot to know out the metal and insert a rubber plug that will allow you to adjust the brakes

[Big Port Jimmy 6]

Its in the drum face. Jay

Originally Posted by ocbaud

well, i tried the reverse to adjust the drums and that didn't work(wasn't sure if it would) but i'm pretty positive it is the rear drums now.

i applied the parking brake at various levels and drove and braked and it made a noticeable difference in how it felt.

problem i have is that my backing plates do not have an adjustment hole in them what so ever.... :-/