Both of my First Gens have decent brakes, but if I pump the pedal twice the pedal is higher, firmer and stops better.

First truck the pedal goes down a ways, if I double pump the pedal is perfect.

Second truck the brakes are pretty good and a good pedal, and now that I am in the habit of double pumping, those brakes work better yet. They were nothing to complain about at all and now I noticed they are better still.

First truck I would like to remedy as it needs to be double pumped to stop well.

What causes this? If I hold the pedal down it doesn't sink, brakes,lines and all hardware appear in good condition. I hate to throw a master at it to find it doesn't help, been there done that on a previous truck. Is that what is the problem?

 

You could have a little air that needs bled out or your master cylinder may be showing signs of wear. Bleed the brakes throughly first and see if that helps.

 

Most likely the rear shoes are out of adjustment. The 1st pump pushes the shoes outward to the drums and the 2nd pump (if done qwik enuff) applies the shoes to the drum. In short, try adjusting them and see if it improves, FWIW my truck does the same and a qwik adj takes care of it for a while.

 

I am gonna predict that you will find your problem is the ABS mess on the rear brakes.

I have NEVER driven one of these trucks in stock form that didn't do just about exactly what you described.

They will have passable brakes, yet nothing to brag about, until you hang a big trailer back there and then you find out just how ineffective they really are; this was true even way back when these trucks were brand-new.


The other suggestions should also be checked, as they are also likely culprits.

 

Forgot the rears, thanks guys!

 

When bleeding the brakes of our trucks, start with bleeding the ABS device at the rear of the fuel tank first. Then Rt/Rr, Lt/Rr, Rt/Frt, Lt/Frt.

 

Ok great replies that I will work on with second truck. I have one curveball to throw at yall though.... the truck that needs the help most has an EGR rear disk brake setup on it. No shoes to adjust, so now what? I hope I didn't stump ya though, I really wanna get it right ( new toy to me, workin out a couple bugs with it)

Also, PO told me it was an EGR kit. There are discs there for sure did EGR make such a kit, and if so where would one go about getting pads etc? Certainly not at a NAPA, or are they using service parts from another app.? i haven't hasd a chance yet to do any research on that, figured maybe someone could shed some light.

 

Is yours an EGR kit with the parking brake?



If so, and if my memory serves me correctly, it runs modified Ferd F250 front rotors with Cadillac Eldorado rear calipers.

If yours does not have the parking brake, they may be C10 truck front calipers.


Call the folks at http://www.egrbrakes.com/index-main.htm and describe what you have and I'm sure they'll set you straight.


I can't remember what pads my mess runs but I do know they are had over the counter no problem. ('76 ~ '78 Eldorado ?)

 

Most 8-lug rear disc conversions are based on Chevy C20 rotors and calipers on a fabricated hanger.

Those are the first I have seen that also incorporated a park-brake.


From what I hear, the factory rear-disc equipped trucks don't have a very dependable park-brake.

 

My truck has the same problem, what is this ABS thing? I really doubt my truck has abs, its as base model as they came! Also, I seem to need bleed mine every 6 months, but I cant find and leaks.

 

About 6 months ago I had the same problem. The fluid level was down. I figured the master was going bad. Changed the master and it fixed it. Now about 3 weeks ago Its doing the same thing as before. The first shot of brakes pedal goes to the floor and sometimes the brake light and ABS light comes on. Another pump and its good. The rear brake adjustment is what I was going to try. Maybe I just got some stuborn air in it before and now the same has happened.

 

BC, I have a working parking brake, so I am prolly setup in the same ballpark as you. With nothing to adjust there, did you have any issues like mine after the install?

New truck and it is too cold lately to be workin outside especially when I only get 30 minutes a day to try. I do have a garage, but the dang thing is too tall to fit in it(yet). David I know I'll get no pitty from ya regarding the outdoor arrangements..... you are the man, doin it on plywood and all.



I have had this problem a few times and sometimes I got it fixed (rarely) and other times no. I 've got a gasser doin the same and I adj. the rears and that didn't help. A former CTD truck I had, I replaced EVERY piece of the braking system on it and still only could ever get the lower half of the pedal to do the work. Thats why I am leery now at throwin parts at it. I figured with the rear diks I would have never had this issue. I will go thru all the motions though as it is new to me.

Any thing to do with the vacuum pump?? I figure no as poor vacuum would feel like an unassisted pedal?

I've bypassed the RWAL valve in the past, no luck. But I'll try anything if the weather cooperates.

 

OK, . . ..

Those calipers parking brake mechanisms work by way of an internal cam type deal. Because you're limited in the parking brake pedal's stroke applied to the cable, . . .. when the pads wear, there has to be a means of taking up the slack.

These calipers have what amounts to a ratcheting mechanism that does just that.

HOWEVER . .

It is very important that one tries to use the parking brake every now and then in order for the ratchet to do it's thing. Here's the deal . . .

- When using the parking brake, apply them as usual.
- When releasing the parking brake, it is important to simply pull the release handle and let the pedal snap back on it's own. Do not put your foot on the pedal so as to keep it from popping back loudly for example. Releasing the parking brake as such lets the ratcheting mechanism advance there by taking up the slack of the worn pads.

By not doing this, as the pads wear, more caliper piston stroke is needed to apply the rear brakes. This equates to more stroke at the pedal.

I don't have the install instructions in front of me right now, but I recall the initial set-up had one adjust things so that that parking brake lever only had to move about half way before things locked. I'll check when I get home.




Else, be aware that with the caliper's piston's larger bore as compared to the stock/OEM drum brake piston bore, there's gonna need to be more brake fluid moved to accomplish the same task. Without going to a master cylinder with a comparably larger bore, one is left with a bit more stroke at the pedal. (A different proportioning valve will not correct this). EGR told me to expect about a half inch more.

Hope this helps some.



Cold? Phht! It ain't got cold yet.

 

They all came with ABS on the rear, technically, RWAL (Rear Wheel Anti-Lock). There's a valve located on the frame, left side, above the axle called the RWAL Dump Valve. It has a bleeder fitting on it. When you bleed your brakes, bleed this first, then the wheel cylinders/calipers.

The RWAL control module is located behind the glove box. If your ABS light isn't coming on when you start the truck, it's probably unplugged.

If you can lock up the rear wheels on a wet road, your RWAL isn't working correctly and either something needs fixing or something's been unplugged.

 

where is the rwal dump located the 1 thats needs to be bled? i just did my front brakes i was thinkin about cleanin up the rears, fix the parking break and bleed them all. i was also wondering my abs and parking break light stay on.... any easy way to fix this?