Yes pull the red cotter pin and slide the pusrod and brake light switch off as a unit. There are a couple plastic bushings that will come off with it. Pay attention to how those come off. You will drop them when disassembling.

 

Sweet. Thanks for the help bud. Really appreciate it

 

I think you guys may be jumping to conclusions on the booster leak. If the pedal is going to the floor, you WILL hear the hiss and your RPM's will change even on a good booster. Heck you can force this to happen just by rapidly depressing the brake pedal a bunch of times. If you want to test it, just put a handheld vacuum tester on it.

On the fluid, absolutely, yes, flush it all. All the good points have been hit there. That guys knows his stuff! Start from the furthest point and work forward, meaning RR, LR, RF, LF.. You'll use 2 quarts easy.

 

I bought two quarts today. I will try it tomorrow after work. How do I flush it good?

 

Brakes can be a PITA. You don't want to go in half-assed or without the right tools. YouTube and websites w/ manuals and forums like FTE make things a whole lot easier.

One thing to have on hand, is a set of line wrenches. They are sort of like open end, but wrap 3/4 around the nut instead of just half or the two faces like a regular open end wrench. Standard wrenches will bugger brake parts like bleeder screws and brake line nuts all the hell up.

I would plan on doing a complete brake inspection/job, with an eye towards the future, and avoiding duplication of effort as much as possible.

For example if you are planning on bleeding the entire system anyway, it would first be wise to replace all rubber hose front and rear, esp if they are more than 15 or 20 years old or getting there.

New brake spring hardware, inspect drums for cracks, wheel cylinders for leaks, clean and lube star wheel adjuster etc. Brake parts aren't outrageously expensive on the whole. Don't tell anybody.

You mentioned "slamming" on the brakes while in reverse to get the rear shoes to adjust. That really isn't (or shouldn't) be necessary. It's sort of automatic. Once they get corroded, forget it.

What is necessary is cleaning and inspection, lubrication and especially re-installing everything correctly and adjusting for drag with the wheel installed. If this isn't done they will never work right and you can back up to Albuquerque slamming brakes the whole way and they will never adjust.

 

Unless you feel like investing in a good vacuum bleeder or a pressure bleeder (or make your own pressure bleeder) it's just a very long brake bleeding session. You start furthest from the master cylinder, and keep bleeding until you get get new fluid out of it. Then move to the next furthest. Then the next, then the closest. It's simple, just time consuming.

Whatever you do, DO NOT let the master cylinder suck air.

 

^+1
Check the fluid level after maybe ten pumps and you will get a feel for when you need to top it off so it doesn't get too low. (bad, very bad if it does)


You can easily bleed a brake by yourself, it seems to have been covered here, but a tip I have that speeds things up is this:
take an empty two liter or 20oz bottle and poke a hole in the top big enough for 1/4 inch clear line. run the line to the bottom of the bottle and attach it to the bleeder making sure that it maintains an upward arch ABOVE the bleeder so any air bubbles will float up.


Now, crack the bleeder open (making sure brake fluid is topped off) and slowly pump the brakes several times (NOT pushing all the way to the floor is a good habit for older MS)
Top off the fluid and repeat until the fluid coming out is satisfactory/clean.


For the final few bleeds, use a jack handle of 2x4 cut to length to depress the brake pedal. tighten the bleeder and then use the 2x4 to put pressure on the brakes. then finally, crack open the bleeder for a split second and tighten it right back up. You will see/hear the fluid and any remaining air bubbles escape rapidly. repeat this process until no more air bubbles come out.
Repeat on the other tires in the order recommended by others.


This completely replaces all fluid and bleeds air in an efficient manner. Best of luck! and don't forget the rear anti-lock brake bleeder if so equipped...

 

Did it last night using a half full clear bottle. Worked fine till i did the front and had to use a 2x4 for the pedal as you said. But did good. However the brakes feel the same :/ im starting to lean towards the brake booster. If i push the brake pedal in once then let off and push it again then they work great.

 

I'm still going with blown master cylinder or leaking brake cylinder/caliper. If you don't see fluid leaking then the MC is bad. The booster does not care how many times you pump the pedal and would act the same way each and every time.

 

Wait, what have you replaced so far? Or have you only bled the brakes? ya, it takes a lot of time repeatedly climbing under the truck and back up to set the pedal under pressure, but it works.

When my master cylinder went out, I would be decelerating toward a stop light and have to pump the brakes multiple times to come to a stop. If I didn't pump the pedal would sink and feel dead, and no braking would be happening as I kept rolling toward endless minivans full of innocent little children.

I replaced that master cylinder ASAP, bled, and all was well.

I can't guarantee that's your issue, but it's worth a shot.

 

^ i agree, that would be the most logical next step, assuming nothing is leaking externally. I'd also pull the back tires off first and manually adjust the shoes and inspect them. It's really the only way to know they're actually adjusted.

Since it doesn't seem like it's been posted, to check/adjust your shoes, obviously first you take the wheel/tire off. Pull the drum off and inspect the shoes, the springs, the adjuster, wheel cylinder. If you don't know what you're looking at, post up some pics.

Beyond that, the drum should slide on and off with a very slight drag and a little effort. You don't want to have to force them on and pry them back off, but you should be able to get them on and off with just a little finesse and minimal jiggling. You want both drums to be similar.

 

When a booster goes bad, you lose power brakes, causing a rock hard pedal, NOT a soft pedal. Similar to having manual brakes. (No booster) If your RPMS change when hitting the brakes, you have another vacuum leak somewhere. But it CANNOT cause a soft pedal. A soft pedal is really only caused by air in the lines, a bad master cylinder, or poorly adjusted drum brakes. The whole "backing up and slamming the brakes" trick doesn't work, I don't care what anyone says. The auto adjuster inside works slowly over time and can only be adjusted a lot manually. Pull the drums, and adjust the shoes out until you feel a very slight drag when you put the drum back on and turn it by hand. Once again, a blown booster WILL NOT CAUSE A SOFT PEDAL. Air in the lines causes it because air can be compressed, where brake fluid cannot. A bad master cylinder cup seal will allow fluid to flow past it, causing a soft pedal. Poorly adjusted rear drums will cause a soft pedal because the wheel cylinders will travel too far, eventually causing a leak. Bad brake fluid will not cause a soft pedal if air isn't present, but it WILL corrode all the parts of the system in short time.

 

Right, so you would agree replacing the master cylinder is the next step? Checking the rear shoe adjustment should be done as well...

 

Alright guys im ganna inspect my rear drum shoes. If it checks out then im replacing the master cylinder

 

If the MC is the factory one, it's just good measure to replace it anyways.