I've got some serious brake issues in my 82 f150, that I need to fix before I let my cousin drive, when she's got her temps... My uncle's got a 2004 mountineere, and no other vehicle. I've got an 89 Oldsmobile to drive around in (toronado trofeo ) This truck is worth about 2k, tops... I'll be letting her drive it for 6 months, with my aunts/uncle sitting next to her, then giving her the option to buy it cheaply from me...

There's no way I'm letting my 15 year old cousin drive a truck with bad brakes...

Symptoms are as follows.

The back brakes dont bleed (or work) all of the time. They "mabey" work 1 in 5 times. The frount right caliper is catchy, if the trucks been sitting for a while, it will lock that caliper only when trying to stop from less then 10mph. The brakes squeek horriably in reverse, it's drum noise, but only in reverse. They do squeek pretty bad when stopping also, again, 4 out of 5 times...

The caliper wont lock up if i'm going more then 10mph, but it's still got a touchy pedal. It DOES stop fine from more then 10mph. doesnt vear to one side. The brakes do not drag, if I'm in nutral, it will roll freely.

So far, it's got mostly everything new (within a year)

New (used) proportioning valve. New master cylinder. New frount hard lines. New rubber lines. New calipers. New frount pads. New rear hard lines. New rear wheel cylinders. New spring kit. New pads. And, the drums were new within a year... Frount rotors look good.

Any ideas, suggestions, questions or comments?

Tks alot, I really appreciate it
~Nate

 

Front rotors need to be turned if you replaced the pads already. Master Cylinder may still have moisture in it from the last brake fluid (wasn't bled properly and still had some of the old fluid in the lines...and you STILL have small air bubbles in the fluid) Basically if you need to STOP, the Brakes have to work right. You or the person that is driving could save yourself or someone's life, your brakes depend on it.
The fitting that won't turn right are clogged up with rust or other dirt. They will need to be either replaced or cleaned out and the system has to be flushed with new fluid completely. If you don't want to mess with doing the labor, take it to a good brake shop that knows how to do it right....

 

If it's been less than a year and you had it done, take it back. If you did the work, let me know and I'll tell you what needs to be done.

 

I dropped about $300 in parts into the brakes, and god knows how much labor...

My uncle helped me (alot), it wasnt a shop that did it, it was us, around this time last year


Had it up on the schools lift, and it needs new tie rod ends, and shocks... But, whatever, it's NOT getting new shocks unless they break.


Tks for the help, I appreciate it
~Nate

 

I drove it a little bit today, and except for a few minites after I started it up, it braked fine.

It did NOT have a grabby caliper up frount, it's just the rears squeeked like death in reverse...


I think she's done with class december 20th..... Friday before Christmas.
So, depending on when the DMV's open, this needs to be done before then.


She's a pretty good driver, so it's all go as far as her passing her TEMPS test...


~Nate

 

If my truck sits for a while and it's been wet out I'll get a grabby wheel, but once the brakes heatup they're fine. Try and drive it for a little and see what happens.

Did you cut the rotors / drums when you changed the brakes? If so, did you put a non-directional finish on them?

Also were the brakes broke in? You need to do some high effort stops so the brakes get hot, you'll smell them, then drive easy and try not to use the brakes so they cool, then park it for 24hrs. Make sure the rears are adjusted up correctly before you start.

Make sure the caliper mounts are clean and lighly lubed up. I like a dab of anti-sieze.

I'm not sure how fords work when you empty the master, but on my Chevelle there's a valve that needs to be recentered when you run out of fluid. If you don't recenter it, you can't bleed the brakes right. When I lost a caliper on my truck and front brakes all I had to do was replace the caliper and bleed it out.

 

Yes, Fords have a proportioning valve with a check ball. When there's a loss of pressure/problem it is what causes the brake light to come on. There's a specific procedure for centering it but, I've done many brake jobs and never had to do it before. If the brake light goes out, it's centered.

 

What type of adjustments have you made to the brakes?

 

There isnt a brake light on, unless the parking brake is on (o yeah, new parking brake cables also)


We adjusted it so that the drum has an extreamly minimal drag, and then did few reverse stops. I made sure to put the adjusters on the correct sides. There were no other adjustments that I made.

The pads were unfortionatly the cheapest NAPA pads, because grampa still owned the truck at the time.

~Nate

 

Double check the rear wheel cylinders. I've seen a bunch of them that were frozen up over the years and even had a few myself.

Did the truck sit for a while? Has driving it cured any problems?

I'll assume the drums were new, I think that's what you said. Take them apart and hose them down with some brake clean. Could be contamination that's making them squeak.

 

yep, it sat for about 6 months between when the brakes got finished, and when I got my lisance.......... When I had my temps, it was sitting at his house............

I'm doing brakes on the olds next weekend... I'll put the truck up on stands, spray everything down with brake cleaner, and see where that gets me... AFTER i get my olds taken care of

~Nate

 

You could check on loaded rotors for it. They would come with rotors, pads, calipers, everything like new, no messing around, no cleaning, no sticking, just good.

 

Thats a good idea! No hassle brakes. attach and bleed!

 

I am almost positive Napa will have the fronts but I'm not sure you can get them for the back. Just use good shoes and all new everything else, bleed and no problem.

 

so, what you're basicly saying is that I wasted $300 in parts, because I dont drive the truck enough? It sat for 6 months, got used as a daily driver for 4 months, and has been sitting for another 2? months...


Damn it all, this sucks.

Havent had the time to do anything to it, I'll see what's up with it sometime next week, during basic auto.


I'd preffer her to drive this pig around, knowing that it has good brakes on it, then letting her very cheap dad buy her a car, on short notice.


damn damn damn, this sucks.

when I pull the rotors off, what should I be looking specificly for? BTW, they looked good when we did pads on it, no telling how they are now...

tks for the help, I really appreciate it
~Nate