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HELP!!(brake problems)

jfabert

jfabert

1/2 ton status
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Dec 1, 2004
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South Ogden, Utah
Ok, my rear brakes have never worked very well sence I have had the truck. They dont have much stopping power. Front worked great, I had to replace the front pads and after that the brakes dont work as well as before I replaced them. After that I have replaced the master cilinder, distribution block 2x, all the springs, adjusters and shoes in the rear and blead the hell outa them. Now they work even worse. The more work I do on them they seem to get worse. What should I do. Im going to order up a set of braded brake lines next sence they do need replaced also. Its an 87 k5 by the way. Could it be my booster sence that is about all I havent replaced?
 
All The Booster Does Is Assist You In Pressing The Brake Pedal (more Or Less). Have You Adjusted The Rear Brakes? If They Are Not Properly Adjusted The Cylinder Have To Much Travel And The Pedal Will Pretty Much Go Almost To The Floor.
 
I did when I replaced every thing. My pedal has alwase almost gone to the floor. After I replaced everything the e-brake dont have as much power eather as before. Maybe I am doing it wrong. I adjust them out until they have a little bit of contact with the drum, right?
 
The way I adjust my rears is turn the adjuster until I can't fit the drum on, then back it off until I can. That works every time for me.

The e-brake cable adjustment is seperate of the actual fluid portion of the braking system, you tighten up the cable to make it hold better. (obviously the ebrake shares the same hardware as the fluid portion of the brakes)
 
Thats basically the way I do it when adjusting them. I was looking at the e-brake cables and thought the way to adjust it was where the two cables come together just in front of the rear drivers tire, the cable for the passanger side has a bold on the end. Is this the spot to tighten it up at? My other truck is a 82 so a few of the brake parts are alittle difrent so im not use to this one yet.
 
i agree. ure e-brake not working well is a sign that it out of adjustment. has nothing to do with fliud. u can adjust them through the back till u hear and feel them rubbing. that will also make brakes go to floor more then they should.

dumb q, when u bled brakes, did u clean the sludge out of the bottom of resevoir? and didnt suck any air in? sorry had to ask
 
Roz said:
i agree. ure e-brake not working well is a sign that it out of adjustment. has nothing to do with fliud. u can adjust them through the back till u hear and feel them rubbing. that will also make brakes go to floor more then they should.

dumb q, when u bled brakes, did u clean the sludge out of the bottom of resevoir? and didnt suck any air in? sorry had to ask
Click to expand...

I put a new master brake cilinder in. Bench bled it before and have bled them after I installed it. (no sludge) Have bled them another time after that when I replaced both wheel cilinders, Forgot to add them to my list or replaced parts.
 
Anyone have some more ideas. Could it be the 35" tires too and the drums just dont have enough to stop them easly? I need some help cause I need to have them fixed before winter so I wont have to park it during the winter.
 
did u try adjusting the brake from the drum? u can acess it from pulling the oval boot off of back plate and use screwdriver to push th3e cog so brakes are snug
 
btw, mine is stock and original im sure, i have 35's and i stop fast. back gets a little squirrelly though.

i take my pads off every so often (usually after muddin) and clean out riviots and sandpaper pads and drum/disk. keeps em effecient IMO
 
have u tried backing up and pumping brakes? that is how they norm. adj. but if they are way out they wont adj well
 
when your adjusting the adjuster on the drums, you want to tighten it all the way out with the drum on so you know the shoes are centered and back them off so you hear just a little scraping sound. you will need a long skinny object to push the clicker thing back off the adjuster so you will be able to turn it back. also, if you have new shoes, you need to make sure your drums are smooth tlike glass or get them turned and make sure you brake them in properly for best performance.
 
Mine dont have the hole punched out in the backing plate. Im going to do this because when I got new adjuster hardware they came with the plugs for it. Maybe Ill get them turned because I have a little lip on the edge of the drum so I have to have the shoes pulled in a little to get the drum on.
 
Roz said:
have u tried backing up and pumping brakes? that is how they norm. adj. but if they are way out they wont adj well
Click to expand...

Yea I have done that, about half a mile trying to see if it would help, and it didnt do much.
 
Last edited:
PsychoticDeadGuy said:
when your adjusting the adjuster on the drums, you want to tighten it all the way out with the drum on so you know the shoes are centered and back them off so you hear just a little scraping sound. you will need a long skinny object to push the clicker thing back off the adjuster so you will be able to turn it back. also, if you have new shoes, you need to make sure your drums are smooth tlike glass or get them turned and make sure you brake them in properly for best performance.
Click to expand...

Brake them in?? How should one do that?
 
get up to about 15-20 mph and slowly apply brakes...25-30 and slowly brake...do this in incremints and let your brakes cool enough so they actually seat good. dont just go you and do 100mph and slam on your brakes. i havent really had much of a problem with lifted trucks and not braking them in its mostly stock size tires and a smooth drivetrain that you can tell. even if you dont brake them in properly they will end up being fine. i just work with quite a few street racer cars that need to be able to run from the peeps that are chasing them if there driving illegaly...such as 5.0 mustangs and camaros and maybe a few imports.
 
Thanx everyone for the help! I think I need to take it to a shop and have them power blead them hopefully that will do it sence I have replaced EVERYTHING!
 
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