i recently converted my 1965 ford f100 to disc brakes. for some reason i put the wilwood proportioning valve on the lines going to the front brakes. I'm assuming it should have went to the rear. what will this cause since i did it wrong. it stops fine, better than before, why does it matter

 

Here's the deal. Since you have very little weight on the rear wheels, relatively speaking, they will more readily lock up under moderate to hard braking. Disc's require a little more line pressure than drums because drums are somewhat self applying. Those 3 things combined will mean that you should suffer from more rear wheel lockup, especially if you upgraded to a power brake setup. The prop valve is like a pressure regulator, it limits the amount of pressure to the rear brakes so that you can hammer the brakes but the rears will only see a certain amount of pressure while the front gets maximum pressure. By installing the prop valve in the front you are reducing their efficency to match the rear instead of the other way around. Under normal light braking there will probably be no differance in either configuration.
I did not install one when I upgraded my '65 F250, and yes the rears will lock up more easily than before, however I tow quite a bit and that allows both front and rear to deliver maximum braking since the additional weight on the rear prevents them from locking up.
Switch it around.
The nice thing about the Wilwood valve is that it is adjustable, allowing you to tune your brakes, so to speak. I'm just too lazy/cheap to install one!

 

before i installed the proportioning valve my front brakes were locked up all the time, they would seldom release, it got to the point that they always were dragging. in torn a transmission up because of it.

are you the one that answer my first post about the proportion valve placement? i looked at this weekend and relized i had it backwards.

 

You need to shorten the adjustabe rod between the MC and the booster. Try about 3 turns in. Road test and check if the front brakes are hot.

 

i did that too, but nothing helped. once i put the proportioning valve in i was good to go. never has happened again, my concern is that if i change the proportioning valve to the back brakes will it start to drag again.

 

For not a lot of bucks you can install a Ford combination valve designed for disk/drum brake systems. This way you are not second guessing adjustments and the combination valve holds residual pressure on the rear drums so that they are applied with the disks. I'd almost bet that you are only using front brakes.

 

i could put an inline residual pressure unit in place if i wanted to mimic that

 

For the life of me I cannot see how the valve would "fix" your front brakes from dragging. Are you using Ford parts or aftermarket? Dual reservoir or single? Do you have a power booster or just manual? It sounds like an adjustment like William referred to. Or, you haven't bled the master cylinder well enough, they can be trying at times. I have always bench bled mine and found that works the best, you know you have all the air out, and you know you bottom the piston out in the cylinder. This may seem obvious, and don't mean to question your intelligence, but are you sure you have the lines hooked up correctly to the MC? The front brake lines go to the rear reservior, and the rear brakes to the smaller front reservior.

 

i used ford parts with the exception of the proportioning valve (wilwood). my master cylinder is dual and it is a power boosted. i bench bled the system several times, i tried everything, i went threw 3 master cylinders thinking that maybe i got a bad one, some were leaking after i installed them so i was justified on one or two of them. this was an ongoing problem for like two years. i only drove it like 1000 miles during that time. i shortened the rod several times with no progress, then finally i put the proportioning valve on and that solved my problems. but now i think i may have put it on the wrong side. it stops fine i just was wondering how much better it would stop if i put it where it should go.

 

Next time it rains, go to a parking lot with a buddy. Drive by and apply the brakes. Have your buddy determine if the fronts lock up early and that the rears also lock up. If everything locks up and the brakes are comfortable to you I'd say that that is good enough. You can install a residual pressure valve in the lines to the rear drums say 6 pounds. Your adjustable valve will accomplish the same thing once it is in the right circuit. Just for grins, replace the rubber lines. I'd still recommed a combination valve.

 

zebra- Do you have a disc/drum MC? Once again looking at simple solutions. The residual pressure valve is different from the proprotioning valve. The residual valve is in the MC outlet for the rear brakes, the front brake outlet with discs does not(should not) have the residual valve. The prop valve reduces, or more correctly, limits the pressure to the rear brakes under heavy or rapid brake application, it should not reduce pressure under normal brake application. The proportioning valve is for the rear brakes ONLY, it DOES NOT belong in the front brake circuit.

I agree with William, you should locate a Ford combination (metering, proprtioning and warning light) valve and install in in your braking system. Also I have had an internal failure in a rubber brake hose that caused dragging front brakes, so replacing the front and rear rubber hoses would be a wise decision.

 

i will move the proportioning valve to the rear lines, i already have in plumbed so beautifully for the wilwood valve that i have to mess up what i have. I was just so glad the brakes quit dragging that i could have cared less at that time whether it was hooked up right, but now it makes me think.


also does anyone know where i can pick up a 3 speed column power steering for a decent price.

 

i already have IT plumbed so beautifully for the wilwood valve that i HATE to mess up what i have.