I did the brake cylinder swap on my 97 4x4 but have an issue with the ABS now. When the rears start to lock the ABS kicks in and releases the brakes but reapplying becomes an issue (no rear brakes) unless I take my foot off the pedal and push again. This has also happened to a friend's truck who is a Dodge mechanic and the only fix he can come up with is disabling the rear ABS.

Any thoughts on this? I need to change the shoes but that shouldn't be the cause of this problem.

 

hi
i have the larger cyl with rear abs and mine works perfectly .

maby some air still in lines if it was ok before the change over ?

 

I had no problems on my 01 when I did it. I went almost 150k before the VP44 went out, and we traded it in.

 

I have seen, partialy applied park prakes cause this, (siezed p-brake cable) the rear set up is a self-energizing brake system, if brakes are not adjusted properly it will allow them to "lock up" which forces the ABS to try to "unlock" them.

both cases I encountered, I had to remove the drums and ensure the p-brake arm was fully released, in both instances the p-brake cables were replaced edventually as they were not allowing the p-brake cable arm to fully release,

also any grease/oil on the shoes no matter how slight will cause grabby brakes

 

I'm going to put new shoes on and give it another bleed then see where it is at. Next week the front brakes get a new lease on life with new calipers, lines, Power Slot rotors and pads and the suspension gets changed to a Carli Starter system. Looking forward to the improvements and I'll post whether I solved the ABS problem.

 

My 00 went smoothly but braking was only marginally better. T guess the originals were working as they are supposed to.

 

Make sure the rear shoes are adjusted properly- known problem that when out of adjustment the RWAL system (Kelsey Hayes) can't apply the brakes and sort of freaks out resulting in no rear brakes. Happens in normal driving when the adjusters seize or are not used from driving style.
Has happened to me on a coupe of occasions- always during a panic stop too! Adjusting the rear brakes (make sure to come to a complete stop in reverse or there is no adjustment done) aggressively usually frees them up and solves the issue.

 

boy are you gonna be happy with the carli suspension, so happy Ill bet you will forget all about your brakes!!!!!

 

Yes I am really looking forward to the new suspension.

I have done the brake adjustment but will give it a try again. One thing that is common on my truck and my friend's (both have the same issue) is that we both have the rear brake weight proportioning valve removed. Question is whether there are 2 different brake system proportioning valves, one for trucks equipped with this and one without. I was told the trucks came both ways. If there is a difference I'm wondering if this could be a factor.

 

Some of our trucks rear brakes will not adjust automatically you need to do it with the adjusters at the wheel.

Floyd

 

The weight proportioning valve may be a factor- I have heard about trucks that had them but never seen a 2500 with one, only 3500's. front proportioning valve may be in fact different . I would check with the local dealer about part numbers for the front valve based on the rear valve being there or not.

From the 1996 parts manual on my desk- the ABS block (Valve Assy, pressure limit) is part 5200 7312 (the one with the 2 solinoids in it) for all trucks.

the differential metering valve block is
5200 8271 for 94-95 1500 models,
8784 for 96 1500,
8274 for 94 2500/3500 2 & 4wd
8786 for 1995/96 2500/3500

There is no listing or illustration for the weight valve in this book (Sept 1996 edition)

 

The rear brake issue is pretty much gone now. My guess is installing the Power Slot cryo rotors (old ones were toast) and new Hawk pads helped to balance out the system. I also just put on new shoes in the rear and the truck is stopping better than it ever has. There is way more control, feel and confidence now combined with less front end dive because the rears are actually working.

On the topic of the Carli Starter System.....Oh my God!!!! I can't believe the difference. I wish I knew driving the truck could be this fun, comfortable, responsive and just plain awesome before! I needed to do this years ago. My friend that did the suspension install could not believe how good everything worked and how plush the rear end is now. Speed bumps I used to have to inch my way over I can now hit at 60+km/h. I just had the Thuren adjustable track bar installed and the steering is now super tight. I knew this was going to make a difference but I didn't realize just how much.

A recap of what I did:
Carli Starter System (includes Bilstein 5100s)
Thuren adj track bar (this thing is a beast and will outlive the rest of the suspension)
Power Slot cryo rotors
Hawk Pads
1 ton brake cylinders
HD brake shoes

I have to thank Wally at Off Road Warehouse for hooking me up with most everything I needed to do this.

 

that suspension totally changes the truck, makes it feel like a different beast!

another happy carli customer!!