[boatbob2]

Heres a real redneck way 0f adjusting your brake shoes (im one)(and it works) take a 1x2 about 18 inches long.take 2 skinny nails,,grind the head off,nail one nail into board,put the end of board with the outside of nail touching the brake drum,mark other end of board where inside of drum is,put nail into mark,put board up to the inside of drum, the outside of nails should be touching drum 180 degrees apart, use the INSIDE of nails to adjust brake shoes,this will get you really close...

[Oilyrascal]

Thanks for the replies, I went out there adjusted the front brakes properly as close the book as I could manage, I also loosened the rear brakes just a bit so they would drag just a little bit, no point in having them drag too far because all that material is just going to come off going down the road and then I will be back to square one, got in the truck pushed the pedal down, rear brakes are locked up tight.

I could not move them, I am still pretty big and strong, front brakes not so good, locked down but not tight, maybe I have a bit of air still left somewhere?

Next I pumped the pedal 4 times and held it, all 4 wheels locked up tighter than I could have wished for.

The rear brakes need to be centered, now I understand what that means, this will not happen until its going down the road and the brakes are applied a few times, I will then be able to do a true adjustment.

Now I need to work on making it safe, I should not have to pump it at all to get the fronts to lock up.

Trucks got to be safe but maybe I am half way there, I plan to make some phone calls tomm and get some new ideas hopefully.

[Oilyrascal]

I bet it wont take you guys a million years to figure out what I just found in the front brake lines whilst cleaning up my tools. Ill give you a hint, drip drip drip.

For once this is a good thing!

[vinniekq2]

broken fitting,cracked line,nail,loose fitting,rust hole,rubber debris,water,air,other oil,,,,lol.give up

[Oilyrascal]

Originally Posted by vinniekq2

broken fitting,cracked line,nail,loose fitting,rust hole,rubber debris,water,air,other oil,,,,lol.give up

Leaky fitting in the front line, I am actually anxious to fix this one

[cobalt327]

Originally Posted by Oilyrascal

I noticed that if I pumped the pedal a bit the pedal would be higher and I am assmuming ( but did not verify ) that all 4 wheels would have been locked up at this point.

Thinking about re-bleeding, dont know if that will help, I was pretty thorough already with the bleeding, any advice to get more pedal room before it sinks would be helpful.

I guess maybe I am running out of pedal again because of there is just not enough room in the pedal to make up for the volume of fluid I need but I can keep working on that.

The system still has air in it. But I agree it's encouraging that you've now got pedal of some sort.

It'll take there being no air to have this set-up working correctly; there's no room for air being compressed taking up pedal travel. Once that's taken care of you should be back in business.

[Oilyrascal]

Originally Posted by cobalt327

The system still has air in it. But I agree it's encouraging that you've now got pedal of some sort.

It'll take there being no air to have this set-up working correctly; there's no room for air being compressed taking up pedal travel. Once that's taken care of you should be back in business.

I am sure the air is within that leaky line I found. Thanks

[seltec8]

80s F600 used a 1 3/4 hydraulic assist master if you still have problems. Axles were disc/drum or disc/disc with a 2 speed.

[Oilyrascal]

Originally Posted by seltec8

80s F600 used a 1 3/4 hydraulic assist master if you still have problems. Axles were disc/drum or disc/disc with a 2 speed.

Im going now to check on out, thanks

[Oilyrascal]

Originally Posted by seltec8

80s F600 used a 1 3/4 hydraulic assist master if you still have problems. Axles were disc/drum or disc/disc with a 2 speed.

The picture they show on-line was misleading in its mountining configuration, it shows a 2 holes pattern. The real deal is a 4 hole like a duramax configuration.

Thanks anyway though, I think I have about got this licked anyway, I plan to bleed them one final time tomm now that I have the leaking line straightened out and see where I stand.

[Frankinforesthill]

I must ask.
Why are you changing from brakes that worked to an unkown???
Why not repair the brakes to factory specs. and have brakes that are safe.

[Oilyrascal]

Originally Posted by Frankinforesthill

I must ask.
Why are you changing from brakes that worked to an unkown???
Why not repair the brakes to factory specs. and have brakes that are safe.

I have none of the original braking pieces.

[Oilyrascal]

Stupid question maybe but if I wanted more volume within my system why would I not step up to 5/16 brake line?

[Oilyrascal]

I repaired that leaking brake line yesterday and just now finished bleeding them, I have all 4 wheels locked up tight now, I am not happy with the amount of pedal travel though to do it, I would guess it to be about 3/4 of its full travel, of course on the second pump its right up nearer the top.

I do not think there is much else to do as far as bleeding, this is night and day to the first time I went thru this with the smaller bore master so I am pleased in general.

I am going to get it going now and hopefully drive it within the next couple of weeks and see what it does, I do not have any doubt that the truck will stop just fine, I may still have to look at the possibility of adapting a larger bore master cylinder to the booster I have now if this pedal travel is bugging me still.

I see no reason to scrap all of my hard work and head a different direction.

I do however accept that I really do need the larger bore master, it does make that much of a difference so lesson learned.

I cannot help but wonder though what would a smaller diam 3/16 line do, from what I have read putting a larger line say 5/16 will of course increase the volume which is what I want but that will also increase fluid expansion which would possibly lead to a mushy feeling within the brakes.

So what would happen if I went to a smaller brake line, I am thinking that once the line is filled ( with no air ) than it is filled and so possibly adding the addit. pressure to the line may benefit.

Its all speculation, like the saying goes technically a bumble bee cannot fly but I would like to hear your thoughts/speculations on this.

Thanks for all of your help/suggestions

[scholman]

Oilyrascal,

Adjust the brakes again. The back ones for sure. Adjust the front shoe then the back shoe. You should feel them grabbing the drum as you turn the wheel.

Just so you know changing the size of the lines will not raise the pressure in the system only the amount of pressure it takes the push on the pedal. Leave the lines alone and drive safely.

Scholman