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Freakn brakes

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12 V or 24 V???

servicing rear wheel bearings

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I bought my truck with what I felt were terrible brakes. I have replaced rotors, pads, shoes, and that made the pedal feel a little better, but still way to much travel. adjusted the rear shoes and emergency cables and such, which never would have worked without the adjustments. So i drove like that for months and yesterday decided I would fix it. The brake and abs lights never came on at anytime I drove it other then the self test it does.



I crawled under the truck and noticed a peeling of paint and a little damp spot where the master goes to the booster, so i changed it, first new one was bad, and caused the abs/brake light on, end of day one.

The lights went off the next morning for no reason other then it was the next day. So next master checked out good i bleed it and cap it off and stood on the pedal and did not fade at all, the first one just crapped out on that test. Got it all hook back to the truck and still no difference in pedal. And now I have the lights on again, and cannot get the dang light to blink when grounded out!

The abs light gets brighter but never flashes at all, on, off, on then grounded, off grounded then on, i tried everything.



I have checked the booster according to the manual and checks out fine, cannot figure out why the abs will not flash and tell me what is wrong with it? No more air anywhere, I will rebleed tomorrow as suggested before. I searched and read everything i could find here about the brakes last night. I understand the the rwal deal could cause some of this problem but I cannot get one for at least four days, I just would like to scrap the dang abs BS anyways, save time and headaches. But in a way I would like to keep it, but have a better pedal.



I have 1inch pedal travel before i even feels like the rod hits the piston, about 3 more inches of constant pressure then 2 inches of gaining pressure then final stops maybe 2 inches from being on the floor, with truck running. The same place the pedal stops with no booster help, but is a firmer pedal through the whole motion.

I seen what looks to be an adjustment on the rod coming out of the booster to take up the inital slack I might have to adjust, but doesnt this master have any preload??



Any other suggestions?

Need details on disconnecting, bypassing, plugging, replacing and costs, on the rwal, as it seems like the only thing I havent done yet.

Conversion to the hydro assist that was mentioned in a previous post by someone I cannot rememeber who? hutchew?

Any other ways to get good pedal, before this ends up in a chevy chassis?

Conversion to any other braking systems, disc, other manufactures, aftermarket replacements any and all?



Anything to give me pedal, I love the 02 2nd gen brakes, 2 in of pedal movement and your stopped!



jlast
 
Jlast, adjust that rod from the booster. Be careful though, because if you go too far, the brakes will not release properly. This cost me a set of rotors so I am speaking from experience here. (experience teaches you one thing, you made another mistake!:rolleyes: )



My brakes have always felt "soft", even when everything was brand new. The think the booster makes it feel that way. What does the pedal feel like after you apply the brakes 3 or 4 times with the engine off?
 
WARNING

Do not adjust the booster rod as much as you think there is play in the pedal!!! I suggest little adjustments then go for a drive to see if the brakes start dragging.



I adjusted it and felt I had really great/the best brakes for the first time. My pedal moved about 3 in and I was stopped. I drove about 5 blocks with no problems, went another 4 blocks with 45mph speed limit and dragging brakes like crazy. The approx 10 block walk to and fro to home for tools wasnt all that fun. Pack the tools needed to adjust the rod back!



There seems to be some play built in the booster between the rod to the brake pedal and the rod that goes to the master cylinder. But alittle adjustment should be a happy medium in my case between dragging and to much movement in the pedal.



I seen your waring Paccool, but thought I should just do it myself,LOL i didnt think I had gone to far with the adjustment but i did bigtime.



I am not looking to get away from the soft feel of the brakes as far as power vs no power assist, I am looking to get rid of what I feel is a huge amount of pedal travel and retain a somewhat confident change in stopping pressure in the pedal. What i had before was a huge movement with only the last 2in with increasing pressure with some confidence, but it felt like at any time it would just go the next 2 in and be on the floor with no brakes.



I am intersted in what others have for pedal travel or movement?

Inches measurements from the Canadians please, from at rest to a slow stop of vehicle, with power assist working?



Also still have those dang lights on, and still will not flash at me when grounding the connector? i can get them to click off about twice in the last two days of working on the brakes, i can hear the rwal in the back click then the lights go off. I havent bleed the brakes today will after I get done writing this, to see if there is air still.



jlast
 
Hey you can do what the Dodge dealer did to my truck and didnt tell me what they did... ... . UNPLUG the 14 way or however many way plug behind the glovebox that goes to the RWAL module or PCM or black box. Yep I was wondering why my ABS light didnt precheck after startup. Remove glovebox for something recently and it was unplugged, its been a few months since I was at the dealer. Way to go Dodge. Hey we fixed your ABS light, it doesnt come on no more hehe!!
 
BRAKES

HELLO, so your having fun with your brakes, lets try something , with your truck turned on ,bleed your master or brakes,pump up your brakes and have someone bleed them, very slowly and when your abs light goes out close what ever your bleeding,real fast,this may take a few trys,this may not work,but it has in the past,later joe
 
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