Hey guys got a prob not sure whats happening on my 89 f250. It's a 351w 4x4 converted to carb before i got it. When I push down the brake pedal it goes to the floor I can stop the truck but not until the pedal is almost to the floor. Pedal goes down when the truck is on and off. I do have a little more pressure when its off but still can push it down with 2 fingers. Help plz

 

check the brake fluid level. sounds like the braked need to be bled or possibly a leak?

 

no leak has had same fluid in it since it sat last year and had them bled when i replaced the rear brakes and parking brake last year which now also wont hold truck dont know why guess ill go rebleed them and see maybe the MC need to be replaced

 

could be the MC like you said.. i have the same year truck (MC was rebuilt or replaced) and all the brake lines were completely shot.. are yours original? re bleed them first, and as for the parking brake you may need to just tighten up the nut on the bracket thats underneath the cab on the driver side.

i took my truck into school to do the brakes and when they were all done my teacher drove it and thought the brakes were still soft. but i dont think they are, its just because of the booster. as long as the truck stops quick youre good (duh).... does your truck still have good stopping power?

on mine you can press the brake almost halfway and it does minimal braking but the rest of the way down its rock solid and i can lock up the tires no problem

 

honestly i dont know if they are original ill look tomorrow im gonna take the wheels off to clean them ill slide under and see what they look like i bought the truck for 450 last year and put about 2g's in the engine and whoever had it messed up alot of stuff bare wires from efi to carb swap no muffler reverse lights didnt work so just gonna have to check it all out if u have any tips for me hit me up first ford i've owned lol

 

if i slam the brakes it will go to bottom and lock up the tires it only has about 1 inch from slow down to stop but yes i can stop it well and it keeps good idle after i warm it up so im pretty sure its not a vac leak

 

First thing I would do is have the brakes flushed not bled. From what you say it sat for a year and then had some brake problems. Flushing the brakes completely removes all the air and possibly poisture. Brake fluid is like power steering fluid in that it is one of themost neglected fluids in any vehicle. If you read on it the boiuling point of brake fluid comes down with time as ambient air moisture is introduced into the system (every time you take the cap off you introduce moisture). If you have them flushed make sure they flush the anti lock brake valve.

 

do u know if i still have abs after the efi to carb swap im not sure how all that works since there is no computer

 

My $.02 worth....fluid flush never hurts then manually adjust the rear breaks ... then check out the E-brake & see if it's better. I had the same problem !!!

 

Follow your brake lines back from the master cylinder and if you have one you'll find it. It'll have a bleeder valve on it and everything. Before you start flushing I would buy a cheap turkey baster and suck all the fluid you can out of the master cylinder then start bleeding the right rear until you see the new fluid. That will be the londest one from there work your way towards the master cylinder.

You haven't by any chance messed with the front brakes have you? A common and quite funny mistake is to p[ut the calipers oin the wrong side in which case you can never bleed them all the way. Make sure if you have messed with them that the bleeder is on top.

 

Yup, mines like that only the last inch of the pedal has much pressure but it is strong

 

the front brakes are bad i get major wobble when i stop from high speed.. need to replace..they havnt been touched since i have owned it..it was from what i understand a city work truck back in the 90's..u can tell its been worked hard rear springs are saggy as crap.. needs a complete overhaul

 

If the parking brake wont hold you need to adjust the rears.
You are using a lot of pedal just to get the shoes out to the drum.

If the front rotors are warped they are pushing the calipers pistons back in too far.
Same thing. You use a lot of travel just to get the pads in contact with the rotors.

 

not sure if im right, but arent drum brakes self adjusting?

 

im not sure either but i think they are... even when i got new ones on they grab the same as before i live on the side of a hill in the mountains and my truck can hold at good incline..brakes do hold very well just not the parking brake..working on cleaning wheels today.. ill keep updated on what i figure out..i was laid off not to long ago so ive got plenty of time to screw with it