soft brake pedal

jwillie · Post by **jwillie** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 10:10 pm

I own a 88 b2 and i recently traded out the stock front and rearend for the dana 35 and 8.8" from a 1990 ranger 4liter since doing so the brake peddle has been really soft. Does anyone out there know if the mastercylinders on these two rigs are different? If so would the ranger one make the brakes work better? Any info would be helpful thank you.

philf · Post by **philf** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 4:33 am

if you're using the ranger brakes, i'd use the ranger master cylinder also. would it be a problem to get that?

philf · Post by **philf** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 4:36 am

i don't know if they're different or not... but if the brake feel obviously changed after the swap it's either a different master cylinder, you sprang a leak, or an axle seal is bad. i almost got myself t-boned by an 18-wheeler because of an axle seal.

DBrown · Post by **DBrown** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 6:11 am

how did you bleed the brakes? you did bleed them right?

jwillie · Post by **jwillie** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:58 am

the master cylinder is easy to get as the ranger is sitting my yard, so I think I will try that next. So far there has been no signs of leakage and the brake fluid level has not changed.

ranger5.0 · Post by **ranger5.0** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:48 am

I would try to re bleed the system. I used a 1/2 ton master cylinder to run my 3/4 ton axles and the brakes work just fine. How close to the floor does the pedal come?

jwillie · Post by **jwillie** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 11:43 am

EBSteve said he would help me bleed the brakes again and if that doesn't work the ranger master cylinder will be going into the bronco next.

Flatlander · Post by **Flatlander** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:59 pm

I agree, your master should push those brakes no problem bleed them again if the problem doesn't go away pull the brakes apart there is something else going on.

Just a thought, do you have a vacum problem? How far to the floor do you get?

Bob Myers · Post by **Bob Myers** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 6:15 am

How did you bleed them? If Steve and you bleed them again and get no air, yet pedal still feels spongy then find someone who can power bleed them.

84_4x4 · Post by **84_4x4** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:47 pm

might need to bench bleed the master cylinder especially if you had it drained

greenmachine89 · Post by **greenmachine89** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:47 pm

One thing I have noticed is no one has asked about the adjustment of the rear brakes. Having those far out of adjustment would cause a low peddle. As for the master cylinder there is no differance between the bronco and the ranger, they have the same bore size and if your peddle was good before the swap then it should not be a cause for concern. If you did drain the master during the install there are many areas in the master and lines that can hold brake fluid. Bob is right power bleeding would help. You can also bleed your brakes with the engine off and then bleed with the engine running, the booster will help to push out any extra air if any out. Good luck

EBSTEVE · Post by **EBSTEVE** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 12:16 pm

I did move the adjusters all the way in when I put the brakes together. I did not help bleed them but I am sure they were bled correctly, but I am also sure they were not adjusted. jwillie was supposed to adjust them yesterday but I did not hear if it made a difference or not.

greenmachine89 wrote:One thing I have noticed is no one has asked about the adjustment of the rear brakes. Having those far out of adjustment would cause a low peddle.

jwillie · Post by **jwillie** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 6:10 pm

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I figured out what the problem was on friday night. I forgot to adjust the rear brakes after installation, once that was done the brakes worked great. So did the E brake which wasn't working prior to the brake adjustment.

84_4x4 · Post by **84_4x4** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 8:23 pm

that still dont make sence 80% of your braking is on front so those shoulda grab before went to floor

EBSTEVE · Post by **EBSTEVE** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 4:37 pm

Makes perfect sense, the rear wheel cylinders needed to move a long way before the shoes touched causing the pedal to travel further than was necessary causing the pedal to seem soft.