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Power brakes dont feel right...any suggestions?

13K views 80 replies 11 participants last post by  chevyrestore 
#1 ·
Hey guys. Got a 59 chevy truck with the classic performance power brake conversion on the frame (not up on the firewall).

My situation is the brakes work great but they always feel too hard, best way to describe it is when I hit the brake pedal the truck slows down but much slower than it should and the pedal is rock hard.

If I do a panic stop I can NEVER lock up the wheels, sometimes under a panic stop the pedal goes down just more than 1/2 way and is rock hard but the truck keeps going.

Is this a problem with the type of pad or a lack of vacuum or pushrod adjustment or what?

15-18" vacuum at idle, autozone semi-metallic pads, new brake fluid. Running the classic performance proportioning valve as well.

Thanks for any advise.
 
#59 ·
The next question is how much flow of brake fluid you get from each caliper when you are bleeding the brakes. Do you get about the same volume of fluid at each bleeder screw when you are bleeding them?

If all that looks good, jack up the truck and get all four wheels off the ground. With the engine off, have a helper apply the brakes until you can't turn the front tires by hand and then have your helper hold the pedal in that position. Then go an try to turn the rears and see what happens. If the rear wheels will still turn, have your helper press harder to see if they can lock them up. Sometimes I will take off the tires and use a bar to turn the wheels. If the calipers are way out of adjustment it will show up with this simple test.

If the rear tires lock up first we can address that issue too.

Did you try locking up the brakes in gravel?

Let me know what you find...
 
#60 ·
hard pedal

I had a single sticking piston in a 4 caliper willwood front disk system recently that created a hard pedal and lack of clamp pressure ... I decided to rebuild the calipers with willwood seal kit and reassembly lube. The hard pedal problem disappeared as did the static brake drag I was getting.
If you havn't allready solved your problem, jack up the car and see if you have a wheel that wont spin when the brakes are not being applied.

If you find one, you have found a sticking piston or two or more....rebuild ( cheap and easy if the caliper has rebuild kit ... mine was 16$ for two calipers and assembly lube from willwood) or replace the calipers altogether.

Experts would insist you do both sides to keep things even...no matter which route you go...so I did...figuring if one side was sticking, the other was soon to follow so...why not.

Bo-peep 68 camaro 396BB.
 
#61 ·
Ok I borrowed a booster adjustment depth tool, I guess I still had it out a little too much, adjusted it as per the tool and test drove, when I SLAM on the brakes it throws me forward more but still no wheels locking up.

The only other thing I had time to do was throw a one person bleeder bottle on the rears, looks like there a good squirt out of there but not a lot of fluid in that squirt.

What would cause that? Its like if someone was holding the pedal and I cracked the bleeder it would squirt out but not as much fluid as what the fronts would have.
 
#62 ·
I have seen this many times. If the fluid at the front calipers is running clear you are probably good there. As for the rear not flowing as much fluid, there still might be air trapped in the system, or you haven't moved the rear caliper pistons out enough to allow much fluid in the calipers.

With a helper pumping the pedal, start bleeding the rears right at the outlet of the master cylinder, then at the outlet of the combination valve, and then back at the wheels. See if that helps.

Also, activate the parking brake levers on the rear calipers and see if the parking brake mechanism moves the pads.

Lastly, test the brakes as I have described in an earlier post while the truck is jacked up off the ground.

Andy
 
#63 ·
the truck has been bled atleast 5 times, should have gotten all the air out, should I bleed AGAIN at the MC? I recently replaced the line going from the PROP valve to the MC and rebled twice again, same amount of fluid coming out.

I pulled the e-brake lever and its just a pure mechanical piston that pushes the pads out and no way affects the piston on the caliper. Ill try the thing with the brake pedal and spinning the wheel when I get a helper out here. Im by myself most of the time.
 
#66 ·
Well, if you replace them, at least you can take that questionable part out of the equation.
They may, and are most probably good, but if your flow is shy at the rear??? put new ones, then you know for certain that they got full flow and you won't have to touch em for a while. Maybe you can take one off at a time and check them, but just as easy to put a new one back on,can't be that expensive, plus, then they're new!
I only had one on my truck, cost about twelve bucks.
You can test by have the rear up on stands, then have a helper apply the brakes normal/hard for a bit, release the pedal, and your rear wheels should be instantly 'free'. If they still got some resistance still, then the flex lines could be partially blocked.

Hope this helps

Duke
 
#68 ·
Mate, you got me there,

I live in Australia

Just make sure that any flexible lines are not blocked - free flowing

All I'm saying is that they can become blocked 'progressively ' over time!!

You should be sure that they are flowing as they should, and not restricted through 'swelling' and closing the 'hole' off......

I'm not familiar with your particular application , just be certain that your flexible lines are in good condition!!

Let know how u go!

Duke
 
#70 ·
The valve in the master cylinder would be a residual pressure check valve which does not provide the same function as a proportioning valve.

The residual pressure check valve in a drum brake application keeps the return springs on the brake shoes from retracting the shoes away from the drum, and keeps the seal on the wheel cylinder pressed out against the bore.

As to the re-bleeding of the brakes, what I am attempting to determine is whether the amount of fluid coming out at the various points is constant. Example, good flow right at the MC, good flow at the output of the combination valve, poor at the calipers. It can help to determine problems.

Also, it isn't surprising to find air trapped in a brake system that has been thoroughly bled. It won't hurt to go through it again starting at the MC. If it is indeed thoroughly bled it won't take but a couple of pumps at each point to confirm it. Also, make sure you have a helper working the brake pedal and don't just depend on a vacuum bleeder or pressure bleeder alone.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that until your brakes are bedded in, you won't get maximum stopping performance. Also, unless you are moving pretty fast you may not get lock up on dry pavement when you have wide grippy tires. That is why trying them on gravel (if you can) or wet pavement is a good indicator of what is going on.
 
#71 ·
chevyrestore- Is there a combo valve on it? I recall somewhere you saying there was. Or an added-on proportioning valve? If you have a prop valve already in the system (in the combo valve not MC- so sorry), and have added another one, you have cut the pressure to the rear brakes too much.
 
#76 ·
So what they are telling you with these instructions is that you don't need a proportioning valve with disc/disc brakes? They make no mention of a residual pressure check valve which is in the area of 10lbs for drums and 2 lbs for discs. I would suspect that the 10lb valve is in the outlet fitting that is screwed into the combination valve. If you have a 10lb check valve on disc brakes, they will drag heavily. This modification does not make sense, and just reinforces my belief that stand alone check valves appropiate for the braking system, and an adjustable proportioning valve makes the most sense with a hot rod or custom car. One size fits all combination valves are a crap shoot if they will work properly.
 
#75 ·
In a defect-free world, no you shouldn't have to do anything.
The only other thing I had time to do was throw a one person bleeder bottle on the rears, looks like there a good squirt out of there but not a lot of fluid in that squirt.

What would cause that? Its like if someone was holding the pedal and I cracked the bleeder it would squirt out but not as much fluid as what the fronts would have.
This is what prompted me to bring this up. If nothing else cures the problem- I think you should look to be sure.

The last statement above could also be taken to mean there was insufficient volume as opposed to pressure. Like if the MC were a disc/drum unit, having less volume for the rear drum brake cylinders than a disc brake caliper requires.

Who knows- when all's said and done, you may just need a bigger booster.:pain:
 
#77 ·
No when it had disc drum setup I used the MC with an inline residual pressure valve to provide more pressure to the rears only. When I switched to disc disc all I did was remove the inline residual valve and add the disc disc proportioning valve. I called CPP and they said when I had drums it was set up right and now that it has disc disc its set up correctly also since I removed that residual valve and added the proportioning valve (non adjustable from CPP)
 
#78 ·
Dude, we need to talk. There is some confusion over parts and terminology here that we need to clear up. Don't take offense, there is much confusion regarding brake systems and their various components and what they all do.

First off, the residual pressure valve does not provide more pressure to the rear brakes. What residual pressure check valves do is hold pressure in the lines when your foot is off the pedal. That is why they are called "residual pressure" check valves. 10lbs for drums (always) and 2lbs for discs if your master cylinder is lower in the car than the calipers (keeps the pistons in the calipers from pushing fluid back to the master cylinder and moving the pads away from the rotors). If you have discs on an axle you need a 2lb residual pressure check valve in the line that feeds it (if your master cylinder is below the caliper level). If you have drum brakes you need a 10lb residual pressure check valve in the line that feeds that end of the car (always).

In a disc/drum master cylinder the 10lb residual pressure check valve is in the outlet of the master cylinder that gets plumbed to the drum brake equipped axle. It can be removed (usually) so that same master cylinder can be used for a car with disc/disc.

Aftermarket brake system manufacturers, in an effort to simplify their inventory only stock master cylinders for a disc/disc system. No check valves at all, just like yours. Consequently the check valves need to be added elsewhere in the system if they are required, along with a proportioning valve and a metering valve if they want to include them. They do that most typically by selling you what is known as a "combination valve". That is what you have plumbed near your master cylinder.

This is where several assumptions need to be made by the manufacturer of your brake kit. First off, they need to know if you have disc/drum or disc/disc, because that changes the proportioning and the metering requirements of the brake system. Secondly and most importantly they need to make a guess as to the weight of your car, the center of gravity location, tire size etc. This is where it gets ugly. The OEM manufacturers test each specific car with different combination valve settings until they get balanced braking that is safe for that car. Now, in your truck for example if you take out a small block and add a big block, and then change out the rear tires for monster Mickey Thompsons and then lower the suspension, you have just changed the braking balance for your car, and likely your combination valve is no longer going to provide balanced braking. One size does not fit all when it comes to combination valves.

What the manufacturer described in that instruction sheet was to take out the proportioning part of the combination valve, which will likely increase the line pressure to the rear brakes (because it is no longer proportioned, the port is now wide open to full master cylinder pressure). That will increase the rear braking pressure needed for disc brakes, but it may not give you a balanced brake system any more. Having the rear brakes lock up first is bad, unless you like spinning out when you have to do a panic stop in the rain. That is where I have a problem with what the paper describes. Also in their conversion instructions you still have a 10lb drum brake check valve on a car converted to discs. As I said, that will cause the pads to drag on the rotors.

With all that being said, I know that you have installed on your truck a disc/disc combination valve (according to your research and what the manufacturer stated). It should have proper proportioning and metering for whatever vehicle the parts manufacturer tested it on. It MAY not be correct for your particular truck. This is where your problem could be. Do you think your truck has the same braking characteristics as a Camaro with a disc/disc system for example? I don't think so...Do they sell the same combination valve for trucks and cars? Again, I don't know, but if the choice in their catalog is either disc/disc or disc/drum I would say that two part numbers cover all the kits they sell for every type of make and model. We all know that there are more than two configurations of cars or trucks on the street. That is why I say it is a crap-shoot if it will work okay when hard braking.

What I am trying to do by walking you through all these steps in your braking system is to validate what you have installed and that you have installed it properly. It is very challenging to do without seeing the vehicle.

What I suspect is wrong with your truck assuming all the rubber lines are good (they probably are not causing your problem). If your rubber hoses were failing the 1000 or so psi your are putting through them every time you push the pedal will make that very clear, and assuming that your brake pedal or master cylinder mount isn't flexing, and that the pedal linkage is travelling through the center of its stroke, the problem is probably the combination valve. I just didn't want you spending money to replace it without checking out everything else first.

If you get good flow out of the master cylinder and it is noticeably reduced out of the combination valve, I would look into replacing it. Not with another combination valve, but with a stand-alone 2lb check valve in both the front and rear lines, and an adjustable proportioning valve in the rear line. You could also add a stand-alone metering valve in the front line, but I have rarely found it necessary. After installing all those parts, adjust the proportioning valve for full rear brake pressure, re-bleed the brakes (you are probably pretty good at it by now) and then go for a drive someplace (like the gravel parking lot you need to find) and do some adjusting. I think you will find your brakes much improved.

I also need to mention that I wouldn't trust a Corvette master cylinder (which is what you have) with a 1 1/64" bore. They didn't come that way. I would likely replace it with a new unit that has a 1" bore when putting in the new valves.

I hope this helps to clear up some confusion when we all are talking back and forth about brakes.

Andy

As to all the other folks out there who are into this stuff, I know I made several assumptions in my description of aftermarket braking systems, and there is MUCH more detail we could cover. I am trying to get the point across and also be understandable. What I have described is a summary of my findings from years of experience working with OEM, aftermarket and custom brake systems.
 
#79 ·
Thanks for that writeup, I just misworded the sentence about the residual pressure valve, I knew it just help pressure and not provided additional pressure.

As soon as I can find a helper and some sunlight here ill check the flow at the various points and maybe find some loose roads or wet roads to test on.

The MC is definitely higher than the calipers but not a ton, sound like I should probably just get rid of this prop valve and put on an adjustable one and a couple residual valves as well. Ill let you guys know how it goes when I can get under there with a helper.

Thanks a million again!
 
#80 ·
Any updates on the progress? I have the same problem with the brake kit I put on my 1070 Mercedes. Mustang II front end to fit the Ford 4.6L V8, CPP brake kit and 7" dual diaphragm booster with 1 1/8" Corvette master cylinder.
Brake peadal is hard as a rock but can't stop for crap. Changed to EBC pads which helped but not enough. Considering going to 1" master cylinder and adjustable proportioning valve but was hoping to get a report back before I spent the money. By the way in a hard stop I have about 1000 PSI for the front calipers. Have not been able to measure pressure at the rear because I don't have an adapter for the Mercedes calipers on the rear axle.
So, any update?
 
#81 ·
its much much better due to the fact that the pushrod between the booster and master is adjusted correctly (the manufacturer swore it was good from the get go but apparently it wasnt). Still havent had time to follow the other guys' directions and get pressures or gravel test.

I can tell you how it is right now though its definitely good enough for a daily driver and im not afraid of panic stops anymore :)

Ive been slammed at work lately so I havent had a single second to crawl under there and get more info yet.
 
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