Brakes Tightening Up? UPDATE

[slick]

So I've had this ongoing problem that pops up every once in a while and seems to have gotten worse lately. I have some play in my brake pedal, then I will be driving for a while and realize that "play" is gone. As I come to a rolling stop I can tell the brakes are slightly on because the truck comes to a halt. So I can go to my front drivers bleeder and bleed the pressure in the system. It seems that this is where my problem is coming from. If I bleed the others I don't get the force or amount of fluid out of them My thinking is there is either air in the system somewhere or possibly a broken spring in the front drivers? I haven't pulled the drum off, which I will probably do tomorrow, I was just looking for some input...

[MarsMonster]

I had the same problem after I converted by single resevior brake system over to a dual. I used a 1968 resevior on my 1966. As it turned out the plunger to pedal distance had changed. Not the best way to fix it, but for now I shimmed the brake resevior away from the firewall so that I would have more up pedal.

When your truck rolls to a stop, is it safe to assume that your pedal is gone as well? I mean do you have a really hard pedal?


Dave

[Hobcobble]

Have you tried shortening the length of your
pedal push rod? A guy named Jerry is having
some similar difficulty and has posted over
on Norm's site. You might want to read what
folks have suggested to him too
John

[LC]

LC from PA If front brakes are hanging up take of fthe rubber brake line mine had gone bad on the inside should be still able to get lines at NAPA also pull rear drum and clea n lude adjustor,s then adjust all4 whells to a slight drag then bled system this should give you brakes I know on my truck with manal brakes I always look adhead for enogh space to whoa the thing down

[MarsMonster]

Hi,

I have thought to shorten my push rod. I keep puting it off, because I have a power brake booster that I always think I will get around to installing.

The nice thing about my booster is that it has an adjustable rod. I have also thought about turning my non-adjustable push rod into an adustable rod by cuting it in the center and threading the two halfs, but I would have to be sure I did not loose any strength.

An adjustable push rod would be a nice item for someone to fabricate for us, so we can more easily convert from single to dual master.

Almost forgot to mention....
I already have new brakes, new rubber hoses, master cylindar, wheel cylindars you name it. And, yes the parts are still available. I got my hoses at Shucks here in Washington State. The hoses were hard to locate in the book but they were able to find them.

Dave

[MountainMoparRobin]

slick
is this the same one as before?
you say that bleeding the line releases the brake?
must have some kind of contamination in it
I would pull the drum before anything to see if the self adjuster is still hooked up after pulling the drum and re-adjusting the brakes and then if that still happens sounds like some foriegn matter, water, transmission fluid, or something got in the master cylinder by mistake, but that would affect both sides/so then I would be back to the adjuster

[slick]

I haven't had time to check it yet. If I get out and bleed the front left it free's everything up. When I get in and push the pedal down there is almost too much pedal like I need to tighten the brakes. I barely drove it down the street last weekend and they tightened up pretty bad again. Everything is new, so I'm kind of stumped. I think my first business will be to pull the drum and make sure we're good there. Maybe some sort of contamination is what's wrong. Oh well when I get the time I'll check it out and get to the bottom of this.

[Mopardude]

I would be willing to bet it is a very easy fix you need to take your brake master cylinder off and then you take the top off and the smallest drilled hole you see is going to be a there for pressure release you need to very carefully drill that hole out with a bit that is very very slightly bigger then the hole then be sure to blow it out with air and flush it out with some clean brake fluid. About 2 years ago I had the same trouble and after $900 worth of replacing part after part I figured it out and I have had no troubles since. Hope it helps, Cameron

[slick]

I'm going to check it this morning. Cameron is the pressure release hole just not big enough to release all the pressure in the system?

[MountainMoparRobin]

I doubt very seriously that it is not having the pressure release hole, primarly becuase when the parts are casted they are done many at time (batch) so it would have been found or a recall done, but from some experiance of doing something by accident, like adding the wrong fluid, it make the wheel cylinders expand when they come into contact, I accidently added power steering fluid to the MC in my 1978 LeBaron and drove for about 10 miles and the brakes locked completely up and it wouldn't move anywhere, even with the gas floored, this was in the middle of the turn lane, had to call tow truck, man was I pissed, no tools but also if your self adjuster isn't locked in, or in reverse, it will gradually make the brake shoes expand

[slick]

as of right now the brake drum is off and everything looks normal. looks like the front shoe seems to hang up a little and has a hard time returning. I pulled the wheel cylinder apart and everything seemed ok. I put everything back together and bled the hell out of them. They seem to be working fine now I think I still have a little air in the system though...

[Hobcobble]

as of right now the brake drum is off and everything looks normal. looks like the front shoe seems to hang up a little and has a hard time returning. I pulled the wheel cylinder apart and everything seemed ok. I put everything back together and bled the hell out of them. They seem to be working fine now I think I still have a little air in the system though...

Was there a burr or a wear groove on the backing plate that was causing the shoe[s] not to return?
John

[slick]

no burr..I will drive it this week and see what happens..

[slick]

I think I'm heading towards what Cameron mentioned above with the relief hole. Just seems it's not allowing the fluid to return

[gidis64]

Hi guys, I'm new on this web site, finished my truck a couple weeks ago ,but while I was waiting to find a bed I drove it around for awhile without the the bed ,and had the same problem ,Went to a man who was retired from the brake buisness.He told me that the pads was just a little to close to the drum. When they ride the drum they swell from temperture. and the more you drive it the worst they get. If you can get it home let them cool off overnight, Back the ones off in question with your brake wrench 5 times try it again,till they stop dragging and heating up.I know it sounds to simple but it working for me. Or maybe I just haven't drove it enough yet . When I got my truck back to the shop I jacked it up and try to guess how much on each wheel needed individually. Hopefully I got them closer to the right adjustment. If all else fails give it try. I hope to get my truck on the photo gallery here soon look for Gidis 64
Hope fully I've helped.

Thanks Tim

[slick]

So I pulled the master cylinder apart, cleaned it out, and drilled out the hole. Brakes are working perfect now. Don't know if it had crud in the return hole or drilling it out made it work better, but it's all good now. Thanks for everyones input

[MountainMoparRobin]

Learn something new everday