[jimfulco]

I just discovered something that makes one-man brake bleeding easier. It's an adjustable cargo holding bar (pn 33077, usually ~$8 on sale) from Harbor Freight. I ran it from the brake pedal, through the steering wheel, to the upper rear corner of the door jamb, and twist-adjusted it (like a tie rod) until it held the pedal down firmly. It's cheaper than Speed Bleeders (& one size fits all), and it beats the snot out of a boat paddle wedged into the seat.

[v8eater]

I like the Speed Bleeders that you can pick up at your local Auto Zone, Pep Boys, etc. Around $10 a pair. I have them on every vehicle(Nissan Maxima, Nissan Pick up, Firdbird, GN, and VW Rail). Keeps from worryng the wife. Just loop a piece of clear airline and watch for no bubbles.

Hope this helps some, James L.

[Silentlion_69]

how well do speed bleeders work? I was thinking about putting some on the vehicle that I may be getting

[v8eater]

Speed bleeder saved me from a lot of getting up and down during bleeding. I also didn't have to get someone to pump the brakes and worry if they where going to push the brake pedal to the floor. That is some that I would do on a older vehicle.
Working with speed bleeder is a snap: Slip a piece of clear tubing(usually aquiarum air tubing from Walmart) over the nipple, make sure it is long enough to loop it and see from where you are in the cab. place other end in a pint jar with a hole in lid big enough for the tube to catch fluid. Loosen the bleeder about a half turn, SLOWLY press brake pedal down to where you think you normally press during braking. Repeat til you see no more bubbles in loop. Do next wheel. I have a full lenght mirrow that I use to see the wheels on the passenger side. Brake fluid is fairly cheap, so I don't re-use what catches in pint jar unless my tractor or VW rail is low.

HTH, James L.

[Mike951]

Another product to consider is the Motive Pressure Bleeder. It does the work for you...All you have to do is open the bleeder valve

http://www.motiveproducts.com/

[FrankR]

I took a spare MC cap I had for my 66 Galaxie and drilled a hole in it and installed a valve stem. I fill the MC to the top then screw on the lid. You can use a bicycle pump and apply a little pressure then go around and loosen one bleeder at a time. Go back, relieve pressure on the valve stem, unscrew, top off fluid, repeat. This worked well when I had a lot of fluid to flush out. The speed bleeders work well too. You don't have to use tubing though except to keep from making a mess.

[Mike951]

What a great idea Frank! Wish I would have thought of it as I could have saved myself about $50.

[Freddy6667]

Probable about the easiest way I know to bleed brakes is to use a big old syringe and a clear hose. crack open the bleeder screw, attach hose to nipple and syringe, draw fluid through until no more bubbles, tighten bleeder screw and call it done.

ps. I said nipple

[poncho62]

Originally Posted by v8eater

I like the Speed Bleeders that you can pick up at your local Auto Zone, Pep Boys, etc. Around $10 a pair. I have them on every vehicle(Nissan Maxima, Nissan Pick up, Firdbird, GN, and VW Rail). Keeps from worryng the wife. Just loop a piece of clear airline and watch for no bubbles.

Hope this helps some, James L.

I see no difference from these to regular bleeders........explain the difference please.

[bet on black]

Originally Posted by poncho62

I see no difference from these to regular bleeders........explain the difference please.

those have a check valve in them. you can open them up and just pump the pedal until the caliper is bled then close. no repeated opening and closign required.

[willys36@aol.com]

Originally Posted by 1-ton of fun

those have a check valve in them. you can open them up and just pump the pedal until the caliper is bled then close. no repeated opening and closign required.

Plus they have a sealer on the threads so you don't draw air back into the wheel cylinder past them when you let off the pedal.

[Troadster]

I got one of these and have been real happy with it.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92474

[willys36@aol.com]

I have the expensive brand name plastic version - HF's metal version looks better! - but don't really like it for brake bleeding (great for other vacuum tests though). The tool works fine but when pulling on a wheel cylinder bleed valve, it pulls a constant stream of air bubbles so I can't tell when the fluid cleans up. I'm a speed bleeder fan myself.

[hotroddr]

I've got many bleeding tools, most proved to be messy, some expensive!. Have the Phoenix injector, never seemed to work well for me, gave up on it. Went to silicone fluid until I read about potential problems. I just used the Griots bleeder- a canister that you hook to your compressor to produce a vacuum. Open the bleeder, squeeze the handle, out comes the fluid into the canister. No mess! I like the idea of thread sealer- will try that next time. Personally, I'd rather spend $$$ than try to get my wife to help me bleed the brakes- tried that 25 years ago and learned my lesson! Bill

[spikedog]

I use a different approach for bleeding brakes. I have a Dave Brown Six Shooter model airplane (crank type) fuel pump, which can be purchased from Tower Hobbies for $9.99. The pump has a suction line and a filler line made from any clear tubing. I attach the filler line to the brake bleeder nipple and stick the suction line in a can of brake fluid. I use enough tubing so I can watch the empty master cylinder and turn the crank on the pump until fluid starts to flow and all bubbles disappear . In other words, I bleed the system backward from the wheel to the MC. If you have enough tubing, you can connect all the wheels in series and do all the wheels at once. This backward system works particularly well on hydraulic clutch systems and eliminates the need to pump any pedals. It also helps to have a hose clamp on the filler line so you don't lose all the fluid in the line when going from wheel to wheel. You also may have to remove some fluid from the MC as you proceed from wheel to wheel. Good luck.