It sounds like you are in the world of manual brakes on an old pickup. Unless you have a vacuum booster and then I would check it to see if it is getting adequate vacuum. Without the booster, these brakes can take a fair effort to get them to catch in an emergency situation. As long as it DOES catch with the extra effort. If it just going to the floor and still rolling, then you have something out of whack. If not, then I would recomend going to the junk yard and find a power booster that you can put on. There have been many posts about this that you can search for guidance.

 

Stupid question! How exactly do you gravity bleed brakes? Can the rear be done this way?

 

all you do is pump up the brakes. then take the cap off the master cylinder. then just open up one bleeder at a time. let it run out for like one min or so. close the bleeder then go to the next one. after your done make sure you check the fluid and put the cap back on. GL
Scotty

 

2tone73,
I am not sure if there is an official procedure, but what I did was just crack open (maybe half turn at most) the bleeder valve at the caliper and let it dribble until no more air bubbles came out. One thing I would suggest which I didn't do, is to get some clear plastic tubing so you can watch the fliud easier, and not dribble the brake fuild all over your caliper. I would assume this would work on both front and rear wheels as long as they were below the master cylinder. I was telling a buddy of mine about this after I had done it, and he said it was the same way he bled his new brakes on his 69 vette on both the front and the rear. I have not tried it on my rears yet though.

Sean

 

yes you can do it on the rears as well I forgot to put that in there in my previous post. GL

 

Ok thanks for the advice. Let me get this down. When I pump the pedal do I just release it or does it have to be held down like a two person job? And should my truck be running when I do this? I just changed the pads on the front after they went all the way to the rivets with no warning. I somewhat bled the front, with the truck running I opened the bleeder screw(1 at a time) and pumped 3 times(messy). The truck stops well when its warmed up. But when its cold I hit the brakes and back wheels skid for the first 2 or 3 minutes. I think I need shoes also but not ready for that task(dana 60).

 

I did not pump the brakes, I did this by myself with the engine cold and off. All I did was make sure I had fluid in the MC, and crack open one caliper bleeder at a time and let it drip for ~5 min, until the bubbles were gone.

I too had worn the pads down to the rivets, one had the pad material completely gone. I had to replace the rotors, calipers, and pads.

Sean

 

when I gravity bleed brakes. I pump up the brakes a few times, then rlease it. take the cap off the MC and open one bleeder at a time. Starting at the rear right and working my way to the front left last. Open the bleeder till it stops bubbling. Just make sure you dont run out of brake fluid. and put the cap back on before you start using the brakes again. You can do this with the engine off and cold. GL

 

Unfortunately this procedure isn't the one recommended by the manufacturer.

Which is a safety issue.

The pin on the PV has to be pulled to do the front.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=20542&width=0

 

Hey, I am just telling you what worked for me. Every time I have bled my brakes in accordance with how the factory said to do it, they have been mushy. They are rock solid now, and I can lock up 35" Swampers on dry pavement with stock brakes if I want to. I would say this way works just fine, and on that note too, just because the factory says to do something one way, that doesn't mean it’s the only way that will work. Just my 2 cents, take it or leave it, that your prerogative.

Sean

 

I just got done bleeding my brakes on my 79 and wondered if anyone could tell me how to figure out if my proportioning valve is bad? All the lines are new expect at front wheels. The rear brakes lock and the brake warning light comes on under hard braking. Another thing when I replaced my brake lines from my master cylinder to my PV I did'nt coil the lines just below the MC. Will this affect anything?

 

First thing first...If the caliper or a wheel cylinder (if not equiped with front disks) is locked up you will have a mighty pull in the wheel when you brake and that is no if and or buts. If the cylinder (rear) is locked it is harder to tell because there will be no pull at all. I normally go find a dirt road and lock em up if I suspect that a cylinder is locked up. If you have four skid marks, you probably, but not for sure, have all four working. You can always pull the rears apart and see if the cylinder is moving with a helper. I normally do this with the drums on. If the helps puts the brakes on and you can't turn the drums at all, then your cylinder is working. Some trucks have a stout posi unit in the back so one brake could lock up both rear drums. Take em apart if you are concerned. You certainly can bleed the brakes the way you mentioned if you have all day, but the one man brake bleed kits costs only about 6 bucks at napa here in AK. It saves time and normally you will have better and much faster results. By the way, why are you bleeding the brakes? They shouldn't require that unless you have opened up the system. If you have not, I suggest looking for leaks. If there are no leaks, you have not opened the system, then I would look carefully at that old master cylinder.

T.R. Bauer

 

The coiled lines from the factory are so that when the cab flexes away from the frame (and they do flex a bit) there is room so they don't break or get kinked. As far as the rear lock up, I bet you have some gear oil on the rear shoes. It is likely in that old 60 that the seals are shot. They lock very easily when they have oil on them. It sounds like if you want your brakes to work right, it is time to change them all. By the way, the rear brakes on the 60 are really easy to do. The seals are not hard either. As far as your brake light it is possible that you need to center your pv. It is probably all rusted together which will make this nearly impossible. Buy a new one it would be worth the investment. There is nothing like stopping.

T.R. Bauer

 

I guess I should explain better.. the problem I'm having is that there is a strong hydrolic resistance when pressing the brakes down before they engage. It's easy to push them down slowly, but if you push hard the resistance is high. This means if you romp on the pedal it will take a 1/3rd a second or so for the brakes to engage.

I have a power vacuum booster on my truck.. it's a 79 f250 CC. I pulled the vacuum line off while it was running and there was a good "woosh". I also tried holding the pedal down while it was off and then starting it up and it did depress further once started. Maybe the booster is dying?

 

sounds like a booster to me.