Brake Cyliders
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Brake Cyliders
Hello,
My dad owns a '71 Ford F100. It had 201,000mi however it has a new engine, and new brakes. How ever we discovered we have a problem with the new brakes. They are very sensitive. In fact, the pedal for the brake even sticks out further than the gas and only budges about 2-3in. We have tried many things to fix the brakes and no luck. We got a tip from a friend that suggest we used the wrong size brake cylinders. He told us that ford back in these days had two different sizes. We would like to know if you might tip in on this theory of give any suggestions on how to we may fix the brakes.
My dad owns a '71 Ford F100. It had 201,000mi however it has a new engine, and new brakes. How ever we discovered we have a problem with the new brakes. They are very sensitive. In fact, the pedal for the brake even sticks out further than the gas and only budges about 2-3in. We have tried many things to fix the brakes and no luck. We got a tip from a friend that suggest we used the wrong size brake cylinders. He told us that ford back in these days had two different sizes. We would like to know if you might tip in on this theory of give any suggestions on how to we may fix the brakes.
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2006
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From: Central Florida
Sensitive brakes are one of the reasons I perfer ford. Your brake pedal shouldn't have to touch the floor board to stop you. It sounds right to me, but you could try a wheel cylinder that displaces more if you must change anything.
Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Pittsburgh,Pa.
The wheel cylinders won't have any affect on pedal height.It was normal for the 67-72 trucks to have the brake pedal higher than the gas pedal.Some of these did have very aggressive brakes.Does your truck have power brakes? What all have you done to the brake system? What components have you replaced?
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 1999
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From: Creedmoor, North Carolina
BigMike Sidelka Welcome to the 67-72 forum 
If you have just installed the disc brake upgrade, you will have to change the peddle to arm pivit location. You can do this by drilling a new hole in the arm 1 1/8" closer to the fire wall, or by a newer method that I have yet to see personal;ly that is done by adding 1" spacers behind the booster mounting bracket in the engine bay side of the firewall.
John
If you have just installed the disc brake upgrade, you will have to change the peddle to arm pivit location. You can do this by drilling a new hole in the arm 1 1/8" closer to the fire wall, or by a newer method that I have yet to see personal;ly that is done by adding 1" spacers behind the booster mounting bracket in the engine bay side of the firewall.
John
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Originally Posted by Redcat Diesel
The wheel cylinders won't have any affect on pedal height.It was normal for the 67-72 trucks to have the brake pedal higher than the gas pedal.Some of these did have very aggressive brakes.Does your truck have power brakes? What all have you done to the brake system? What components have you replaced?
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Originally Posted by NumberDummy
1971 F100 Brakes as original~~with or without power brakes.
11 X 3" Front Brake Shoes / Wheel Cylinders 1 1/8"
11 X 2 1/4" Rear Brake Shoes / Wheel cylinders 7/8"
11 X 3" Front Brake Shoes / Wheel Cylinders 1 1/8"
11 X 2 1/4" Rear Brake Shoes / Wheel cylinders 7/8"
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Posting Guru
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From: Pittsburgh,Pa.
Hey BigMike, the use of a master cylinder with a larger bore than the system was designed with could easily result in over aggressive brakes.The larger bore allows for increased hydraulic pressure with the same pedal effort.Something else to consider is there are many different grades and compounds of brake friction material on the market.Less expensive relined shoes tend to use softer friction material that is aggressive and wears fairly rapidly.The better grades of relined shoes normally use friction material that is a bit harder and not quite as aggressive. The end result is good stopping power and acceptable service life.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
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So you did a disk brake conversion, or you still have the drums? Either way, you want to make sure the master cylinder is matched to your brakes, not the truck. For example, disc brake fronts need a master cylinder for a truck with discs, drums need a master cylinder for front drums, make sense?
I believe you should be able to tell by taking the cap off the master cylinder. If both front and back reservoirs are the same size, it is for drums, if the front reservoir in the master cylinder is smaller (for the rear drums) it is for a truck with discs in the front.
Edit-- you could always put in-line adjustable proportioning valves like wilwood makes to fix it. Cheap and easy.
I believe you should be able to tell by taking the cap off the master cylinder. If both front and back reservoirs are the same size, it is for drums, if the front reservoir in the master cylinder is smaller (for the rear drums) it is for a truck with discs in the front.
Edit-- you could always put in-line adjustable proportioning valves like wilwood makes to fix it. Cheap and easy.
Senior User
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But they don't have an adjustable one. If the brakes are overly sensitive, it may be easiest to remove the factory proportioning valve and install an adjustable one in each line and "dial them in" to your satisfaction.
edit- that reminds me, you can't use the original proportioning valve anyway if you've switched from drums to disk, thanks John.
edit- that reminds me, you can't use the original proportioning valve anyway if you've switched from drums to disk, thanks John.
Last edited by moonley; Mar 25, 2007 at 08:30 AM.
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True that. BigMike, don't mean to confuse you, most of what I was referencing was assuming that you converted the fronts to disc, but looking at your post again it seems that you still have drums on all four, just changed out the cylinders??
Either way, if you try different cylinders and it is still to sensitive I would give the adjustable proportioning valves a shot, but that's just me. Good luck!
Either way, if you try different cylinders and it is still to sensitive I would give the adjustable proportioning valves a shot, but that's just me. Good luck!
Last edited by moonley; Mar 25, 2007 at 10:42 AM.