Bull. The diff was inches with about an inch from floor without the hose - engine running of course. I'm not really the panicky sort. The hose popped off somehow by violently stopping from around 40 to naught in no more than a car length. One reason I like sticks. I don't clearly remember details of how much brake I used or how much I stall-stopped it. Been too many years. But then it was clear something was up after that & my master cylinder lost nothing of fluid & looked great. I'm not much of a leadfoot either driving up to a guy's bumper habitually unlike my dad, who usually maintains 8 to 12 inches bumper distance in traffic. Everybody will get those freak "panick" stops sooner or later. His back bumper SHOULD have been nearly flush with the back window.

 

O yeah, one more thing. I had to drive it a few more miles after the violent stop to get to work. No mistake of observation. & then drive it into the shop. Hook it back up & it was instantly perfect. Shove the theory into a nearby nuke plant. It's missing stuff.

 

It is not theory, it is fact. Obviously you are too closed minded to actually think for a minute and discover how a brake booster works. Going by your logic anyone who's engine stalls will have a pedal at the floor and no brakes. That simply is not true.

Also I find it really funny how I have moved numerous vehicles that didnt even have engines in them. Guess what? Crappy brakes because there was no vacuum assist, but the pedal was in its normal position. I was able to stop the vehicle just fine however it just required much more effort.

Just as the other gentleman mentioned, there IS a mechanical link between the pedal and the master cylinder. So even if the booster completely failed, the brakes would still function.

 

YOUR IGNORANCE ASTOUNDS ME.

How many bits of hard proof would someone need to provide before you wake up and realize you are WRONG. You are talking about 2 completely SEPARATE systems the just happen to work together. The hydraulics do all the or work to get the vehicle stopped, the vacuum just helps the old and the weak be able to push the pedal down.

Either way, you continue on living in your dream world, and the rest of us will soldier on in reality. I am glad that your delapitated brake system that is overreliant on vacuum pressure doesn't frequent any roads near me.

And DONE

Good Day

P.S. To the originator of the thread, good luck with your problem I hope you are able to figure it out. Check the hydraulic system over again and re-bleed if you find no leaks.

 

How is it ignorance to state facts as they happened? I'll grant, mechanically it was fine, just gave about a fraction of an inch travel from the floor. Gollee. Sleep on it or find a new job. I wouldn't want such a stubborn guy working on my rigs.

 

I am not a mechanic by trade, nor would I want to be. I wouldn't want to deal with THIS all day long.

As far as this Thread is concerned, lets get back to helping the original poster solve his problem. If he shares the same thoughts as you do, then he can replace the hose and check valve on his booster. And after that changes NOTHING he can come back and let someone else help him get to the REAL issue he is experiencing. Me and a few others trying to help out have given our suggestions already, he has a few things to check/try that should solve his issue.

Matt, you still think the world is flat don't you?

 

If "stubborn" is what you think I am being, then you probably wouldn't want anyone that knows what the hell they are talking about working on your heaps either.

By the way, I have built 4 different trucks ranging from 1979 to 1993 in years. All of the have great braking systems on them, and all 4 still have the FACTORY booster and vacuum line going to it. 2 of these trucks have 38's on them and they will lock all 4 tires with or without vacuum assist.

 

Boy, and Wendell thought I WAS being too serious in the"proud of my Ranger" thread...

 

Yeah, I hope all our trucks stay happy and the author's happy before this old coot cools off or starts to wonder where my original Ranger ended up to bring down my cred. Anyway, maybe there was something wrong inside the unit or designed differently for minimal weight truck or its engine. The truck's long gone & probably mixed in with a thousand other bits of steel by now. I'm done with this thread. I plan on riding my 29er rather aggressively through traffic tomorrow schedule permitting. Meaning taking my right-of-way with plenty of spirit & nervy style. Have a nice day everybody.

 

"WOW Matt", they jumped on you like white on rice. I also know how a bad power booster acts, the pedal just gets really hard to push as I've stated. However, thats no reason to start name calling, this forum is better than that. You maybe hard headed ha ha, but calling you ignorant is over the top. Your experience may have been more than the booster hose and you just didn't realize it at the time. At anyrate, I wish people would contol thier emotions a little better as not to hurt another members feelings.

 

I don't get it either. It was exactly as I said. I could not mistake it. As I said, I had to drive it for miles after that, hooked it back up & had no discernible problems with the brakes ever again with that truck. The only explanation would be a peculiar set of circumstances with that particular truck driven to the freakin' edge of sanity beyond any engineer's figures. Who knows? I will not willingly subject another to those circumstances if I can avoid them. Let you guys know if I do. Meantime, I can usually read the sitch long before it gets there. That was 1 in a million in snobbish Oakland County. I'm particularly watchful of anything even remotely snob-worthy after a few years working out there. I would suggest replacing any hose or grommet having gone through incidents like that or any noticable wear. Usually a leaky line or air in the system for these symptoms, which is why it took me so long to get there - about 20 minutes after looking for rusty bits.
I'm 35 & have been driving since I was 18. Stick shift for a bit more than 1/2 that I think.

 

I don't get it either. It was as I said. I had to drive it after that to get it to work for a few miles. Very tricky to do in a town of snobs for an afternoons job. I made no mistakes here beyond not seeing a car or 2 in front of the car I nearly rammed do something stupid. Maybe I pushed the little truck into a sitch nobody's ever encountered. Who knows? An insane scenario to pull off without smashing a car into putty to be sure. The motor mount was probably getting weak, but that's beside the points. I'll not subject another auto to such an event if it can avoided to satisfy anybody's pride including my own such that it is. If I do, I'll post a thread if hot-heads would resist this bit. It took me about 15 to 20 minutes to find the issue & never had any discernible brakes issues ever again for the couple of years driving that truck after that. If anybody sees a sad little white with red stripe 2.3L stick 88 Ranger XLT rotting away in junk yard around Mt Clemens or general area, play all you like. The master cylinder leaked & was rusting the booster & firewall after sitting another couple years here though.

 

Well it wound up being Thursday before i got back to checking out the brakes. It was air in the lines. after bleeding all 4 wheels good every thing works great. still don't know how the air got in. Thanks everybody Treeman//////////

 

Keep an eye on it! Last time that happened to me, I found out the rear tee had the driver's side line cracking after the spare came loose & rammed it. For that truck I just went back to keeping the spare up top. Usually worked better for me anyway. An easy fix, but the line has 2 different fitting sizes, so you'd need a double-flare kit to mod a generic.