Brake booster going out!?
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Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Carson City, NV
Brake booster going out!?
82 F150, 4x4, 4spd, shortbed, 300 six
Hello guys, posting here today because the braking in my truck feels rather crappy!
I replaced my front pads & rotors the other year & have maybe drove the truck 200 miles since. Previous owner did all the rear brakes before I bought the truck and everything looks good back there. All brake lines appear to be in good condition, and I vacuum bled all four corners several months ago. I still have to have someone hit the brakes so I can check the hoses to see if they swell, but visually for now they appear to be in good shape.
Seems like I am really having to put my foot down hard to get this truck to stop in a manner that isn't nerve racking while I am out driving. Question for you guys is, how can you tell if your booster is failing? Are there any sure signs, whats the best way to go about checking? Thanks in advance!
Hello guys, posting here today because the braking in my truck feels rather crappy!
I replaced my front pads & rotors the other year & have maybe drove the truck 200 miles since. Previous owner did all the rear brakes before I bought the truck and everything looks good back there. All brake lines appear to be in good condition, and I vacuum bled all four corners several months ago. I still have to have someone hit the brakes so I can check the hoses to see if they swell, but visually for now they appear to be in good shape.
Seems like I am really having to put my foot down hard to get this truck to stop in a manner that isn't nerve racking while I am out driving. Question for you guys is, how can you tell if your booster is failing? Are there any sure signs, whats the best way to go about checking? Thanks in advance!
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From: Carson City, NV
Afternoon guys, got a chance to jack up the truck today, found that the front left caliper was sticking, see video below. Let the truck run for a minute, then turned it off and pulled the booster line, it had plenty of air that released. Replaced the caliper this afternoon, bled, now it's even worse, I don't know whats going on with it!
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Is there any obvious pull in either direction when applying the brakes?
When you replaced fluid did you purge system? Mixing Silcone and Dot3 can be problematic as I'm sure you know.
It could be an issue with the pressure differential valve, maybe not balancing the load as it should. Applying more rear brake than front, I don't think you'd notice any issue when bleeding the system.
After bleeding do you have good feel in the pedal?
I had a caliper years ago that didn't leak but wouldn't engage. So no fluid loss, just no braking. I clamped each rubber line and kept working the pedal, only opening one clamp at a time until I figured out my RF caliper didn't engage. I must have bled that thing 5 times before I figured it out.
A far stretch could be the pushrod at the booster. If its not correct length you could bottom out pedal and not have actuated enough brake to do the hard stop. Highly unlikely but still possible.
When you replaced fluid did you purge system? Mixing Silcone and Dot3 can be problematic as I'm sure you know.
It could be an issue with the pressure differential valve, maybe not balancing the load as it should. Applying more rear brake than front, I don't think you'd notice any issue when bleeding the system.
After bleeding do you have good feel in the pedal?
I had a caliper years ago that didn't leak but wouldn't engage. So no fluid loss, just no braking. I clamped each rubber line and kept working the pedal, only opening one clamp at a time until I figured out my RF caliper didn't engage. I must have bled that thing 5 times before I figured it out.
A far stretch could be the pushrod at the booster. If its not correct length you could bottom out pedal and not have actuated enough brake to do the hard stop. Highly unlikely but still possible.
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Logistics Pro
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From: Carson City, NV
Fluids were never mismatched, I replaced the brake hose along with the caliper. I got it all fixed this afternoon, the caliper that I purchased from autozone on sunday was indeed bad. I returned it and got one from advance, that appeared to be in much better condition visually, also it included hardware, the one from auto zone did not, and the one from advance was $5 bucks cheaper so that was nice to.
Installed it and it works as it should now. I still need to play with bleeding the brakes a bit more. I rebled both front calipers but the pedal still feels squishy.
Installed it and it works as it should now. I still need to play with bleeding the brakes a bit more. I rebled both front calipers but the pedal still feels squishy.
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Logistics Pro
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From: Carson City, NV
Thanks Jim, I'll do that within the next few days!
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Carson City, NV
Hey Jim, good call on the rear brakes! I went to adjust them and couldn't, the adjusters were totally frozen, freed the threaded part but could not free the little end cup. Got some new ones, $5 bucks a piece, put some anti-seize on them then put them on the truck, pedal feels great now! Stops really well, parking break works better, thanks again!
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