South Carolina BS thread under new MANAGEMENT and lives in SC

My brakes are getting soft. The 1st time I press down it's like my brakes don't engage.
Very soft than I pump them and the Taco starts to stop good. Adam just installed some new
pads last year. Any idea's of what I may need to do?

 

Now, that's scary.

 

Ordered tires!
Woohoo!!

Got the 19 lb 16x6.5 steelies. For my purposes, I just couldn’t justify prettier alloys that weigh 18-22 lb & cost 40-80 more per rim.
Only 1 was significantly lighter, 16 lb, & I was a bit worried “lightweight” (on rim itself) just may not be strong enough for a truck.
I’m gonna see about beatifying the steelies- center caps, rings?, or even old-school hubcaps- there is a couple Crown Vic/Grand Marq ones that may look appropriate & are 16” .... Then, there is the paint option.

 

Need to have the rear brake shoes adjusted up . I have to do mine every 5 months because the brakes get a soft peddle

 

Someone that needs a front fender or 2.

 

That’s a big ole hook

 

Might getting some glass up front for an LT setup

 

Speaking of which ....
I had two offers of a free one, but still don’t have one ...

 

free>$8

hahahahaha

 

Couple of possibilities, when Adam installed your new pads, did he bleed your brakes? Spongy pedal feel could be because of air/moisture in your brake lines. Did he also replace your rear brake shoes as well? If so, were they properly adjusted? Theres a small adjuster that looks like a star drive that you can use a small flat head screw driver to adjust. Youll have to take the rear tires off to make it easier to adjust. Keep tightening the adjuster through the small hole in your drum brake untill it just starts to make contact with your drum. Once your drum starts to get difficult to turn on the hub, back it off a quarter turn or approximately 1 to 2 clicks on the adjuster. That should set you square. Brakes aren't very difficult to do yourself with some common hand tools. Youll need a 25-150ft lb torque wrench to torque your front caliper (you might be ok with a smaller one, I'm not looking at the tech manual at the moment but it shouldn't be less than 25 foot pounds or greater than 150 ft pounds for the caliper mount bolts).

-J

 

Nope didn't bleed them because I never opened up the system .

 

We need to adjust the rear shoes some

 

Ah, so your the Adam from his post. I'm not one to typically question other mechanics but if we dont know when the last time the brakes were bled/flushed then a quick bleed might help with some of the pedal feel. This isnt for you per say but mainly for others that might be curious as to where I'm coming from. Compressing the piston to allow for the new pads to clearance the caliper may induse brake dust or contaminants that bypassed the piston boot into the brake caliper. Also, depending on the age of the brake fluid, most brake fluid will loose its full potential around 18 months which is around the time most brake fluid manufacturers recommend a complete flush.

Now, take me for example. I'm the pot calling the kettle black. My 2012 was bought brand new and I'm the original owner that hasn't flushed my own fluid yet. It's one of those things that is on my list to get done.

To get back to his issue, would a brake bleed/flush hurt? Not really. It's not that expensive to do either. I think I spent like 20$ for a liter of DOT3 brake fluid for my wife's car when I flushed her brakes. Another like 6 to 15$ on a brake bleed kit/hose, now her brakes are solid just like new. There could be some added costs of taking it to a shop, paying you, or doing it on his own. Should be a fun hour or so.

-J

 

You are correct with the brake fluid change/flush but are trucks are bad about rear shoes coming out of adjustment . I have to adjust mine like every 5-6 months

 

I haven't had a need to remove my rear drum, doesn't our drum have a self adjuster? If my memory serves me correctly, I though applying the parking brake a few times cranks the self adjuster.

-J