Brakes after axle upgrade

[Hubnut]

I recently finished my K5's upgrade to 1 ton axles (14 bolt and Dana 60). The old axle brakes would stop the truck on a dime--very good. I've bled and bled and bled these upgraded axle brakes and the pedal still falls to 1/3 travel before it stops. It does hold there and is stong and stops the truck well. However, I don't recall the pedal fall with the old axles. Was this normal and I forgot or should the pedal be firm at the very top? It is vacuum assist. BTW, disc front and drum rear setup.

 

[Hubnut]

Addendum: The pedal falls 1/3 before stopping. It doesn't fall to within 1/3 of the max travel.

 

[sweetk30]

did you upgrade the master?

as the 1/2 ton calipers and wheel cylinders are much smaller than the masive 1ton parts. it takes a lot more fluid to fill them up and build pressure.

if you search there is good info on this. but i cant help much as i am all factory 1ton stuff.

 

[Hubnut]

negative on the master cylinder. I'll do a search. Thanks.

 

[BlackBourbon]

I just did 1ton swap on my burb and the brakes were buggin the hell out of me. I bled and bled and bled(which helped quite a bit) but still had to get way into the pedal before any braking. I used a big flathead and adjusted the rears through the backing plate and bada-bing, normal brakes. worth a shot.(unless you have rear discs)

I still have the 1/2ton master cylinder as well

 

[sweetk30]

yes good point lots of socalled auto adjusters just dont auto adjust.

make sure your rear brakes are up to spec. that can eat up a lot of pedel travle.

 

[USSkoval]

Similar situation with me (no D60), adjusted the rear drums (they're the big honkin ones) and BAM! Killer brakes once again.

 

[jonathon]

I've never messed with my drums, whats the procedure for adjusting them?

 

[dremu]

I've never messed with my drums, whats the procedure for adjusting them?

It involves buying a Chilton's or Hayne's Which will tell you that they are self-adjusting, but don't always. Supposedly you can back up a bit and whang on the brakes, as you would backing up your driveway, to adjust them. Which doesn't work.

Seriously, the idea is that you spin the star adjuster at the bottom until you get slight drag on the drums.

In practice, you take the star adjusters out and realize they're totally gunked up, soak them in PB Blaster or the like until they kind of move

The basic idea is to keep the shoes almost right up against the drum, floating like. As the shoes wear, the adjusters should spread them out.

-- A

 

[scrappyk5]

mine was the same way when I did the blazer. The pedal went down a bit till I adjusted the rear brakes. then all was good..

 

[BGKYK5]

The procedure for adjusting the rear drums is as follows:

1) toss them in the trash
2) swap in discs

 

[Chaddy]

The procedure for adjusting the rear drums is as follows:

1) toss them in the trash
2) swap in discs

Agreed.


And I never messed with the master, even with drums.

 

[Hubnut]

Thanks guys very much! I have the really wide shoes on the rear. I thought they were adjusted pretty good. I turned the star a good 5 revolutions. Brakes will put you through the windshield and they feel pretty tight.

 

[BlackBourbon]

Thanks guys very much! I have the really wide shoes on the rear. I thought they were adjusted pretty good. I turned the star a good 5 revolutions. Brakes will put you through the windshield and they feel pretty tight.

Be sure they're not too tight. If you have the rear jacked up, you should have a slight drag when you spin the wheel. It should still be able to spin.

 

[WJACKSON11X]

Where is the "Star Fitting" you guys are talking about? Is it accesible without removing drums or tires for that matter? A pic would be even better. I'm being lazy at the moment and don't feel lik crawling under the jimmy.

 

[Hubnut]

Oval hole at the bottom of the backing plate. Use a flashlight and look in the holes. You'll see the "wheel." Use a flat tipped screwdriver to rotate the wheel. It should only go one way--tighten.

 

[WJACKSON11X]

You da man, thanks!