OK. Another update. Bled the brakes tonight the old fashioned way. I added some teflon tape to the valves on the back. This stopped them from sucking air and I got a few air bubbles out of the rear left. All others bled great, no bubbles. The result ... brakes still not responding right, pedal still soft, and brake light still on. I did a test where I got going 25 and slammed on the brake hard. My front right is the only wheel that will lock up.

It does stop better, but still not good. Also, I noticed that the e-brake does not engage at all. I press it to the floor, and I get nothing. That made me remember that last summer I left it on once, and drove for 30 miles with it on (till the smoke made me realize something was wrong). Could it be that I screwed up my rear brakes from that and this is what my problem is?

 

E brake to the floor could be rear brake adjustment, I'd pull the drums to inspect and if they look ok re check the adjustment.

 

check the rubber lines , all of them,, they crack
both the trans and to the brake booster

 

As Bashby stated chech the drums, and shoes. If they are ok, then proceed to readjusting. Once the hub, and tire is back on turn the adjuster to seat both shoes against the hub so the wheel does not turn, then back it off about 1 turn (less shoe travel, also helps with pedal travel) keep in mind slight drag only after seating shoes. Repeat for the other wheel. Sounds like you still have air in the left front line to the wheel. Your anti lock light most likely means there is still air in the system. ABS has a valve if not centered is 1 it will trigger the light, and sounds like shut off your rear brakes.
Some things about the good ole days I miss
Good luck

 

Update: After bleeding the brakes many times and not seeing any results ... I got sick of working on the truck and took it into my favorite mechanic today. He called. Said that the vacuum pump was barely working ($50 total to replace that). He then said that the brakes still don't work well. He said the master cylender is okay, but that the booster is not. He ordered a new booster and will replace tomorrow. (150 total to replace that). I'm hoping that after that, my braking woes will be over. Here's to hoping that does it.

 

Wow a bad booster can't cause the brakes to need to be pumped up, you can unhook it and still have the pedal at the top. The only thing that can cause the pedal to be low is it is taking too much fluid to put the brakes against the drum, either improperly adjusted or too much wear in the drums.

 

OK. Update. (I'm very excited, especially cuz I'm not doing the work).

Vacuum pump replaced. The truck now has functioning vent/ac when starting the truck at idle. YAY!

Brake booster replaced. Mechanic said the old one was leaking, that was why the pedal was sloppy. When you press down, the booster was leaking. Replaced today, and all was working good.

Went to adjust the e-brake for me, and found chaos (no doubt from an incident 2 years ago where I drove for 20 minutes with e-brake engaged. Had a heavy horse trailer and I thought the engine was just being gutless. Smoking brakes informed me I was an idiot). Rear left had one shoe where the brake material had crumbled off the brake shoe. Metal shoe with studs was all that was there. Rear right had a small differential leak, making the entire brake assembly a gooey mess. Both brakes had a problem where the brake adjustment cable had come unhooked, and been ruined by grinding on the shoes. Found some on ebay and should have them to the mechanic tuesday.

I'm very excited!!! Feels like I'll be getting a new truck back.

 

Truck brakes like a dream I would have never thought the booster would be the problem. When I got the truck, I drove 10 feet and then locked it up. I'm not used to having brakes that engage as soon as the pedal is touched. I'm very happy!!!

 

Enjoy stopping power! Now just remember to release the E brake.....

 

The pedal wasn't sitting low. It was sitting high, right where it was supposed to be. When you pushed on it, it went almost all the way to the floor with no resistance. Then, at the very bottom, if you pushed REALLY HARD it would stop. That was how it was acting. My mechanic said it was due to an air leak in the booster.

 

LOL! That's for sure ADT! I don't really use it, and I did that one time. I think if I used it all the time I'd be in the habbit of releasing it. Also, it doesn't help that my steering column is not adjustable, and where I sit, the steering wheel blocks the brake light that shows on the dash.

 

That sounds like the proportining valve tripped,(setting the brake light off) due to the rear shoes being so out of adjustment. That alone would give you the amount of free travel with the little bit of pedal at the end.

 

My turn boys. Just finished replacing both rear brake assemblies. New drums, shoes all springs and clips and new slave cylinders on both rears. Replaced RABS unit with a rebuilt one from Rockauto. Used a vacuum bleeder to remove all old fluid and air from system, adjusted rear shoes up good and still really soft pedal. goes right to the floor if you push on it for a few seconds. Master cylinder is only 4-5 years old according to the previous owner but brakes have never been good since I've owned the truck. Will bench bleeding the master help even though its been in the truck for a while? Should I just replace the master and make it a whole new system?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated as this has been ongoing for a while now and is really starting to be a pain.
Cheers, Frank