Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) proportioning valve

[Dick R]

need some advice , got a 98 with 102000 miles on it , checked the rear brake linning and I feel it has way to much linning for the miles on the truck , I believe the proportioning valve is holding back on the rear braking to much , has anyone lengthed the rod between the valve and the axel to boast the rear braking ? maybe 1/2 inch ? I pull a fifth wheel camper with a boat behind the camper and a little more braking would help , ( heck this is still the original linning in the rear ) anyone with experience on this ?

 

[bdcraig]

I gave up trying to adjust my rears along time ago. My 3500 still has the origanials on it and I pull a trailer all the time. They will become catchy and grab if it has been sitting in the rain but once they dry off no more brakes. I can adjust the pads out and drive it 40 miles and no more brakes. If you cure it please let me know. Extra brakes would be great with the loads I haul. I do have good trailer brakes but more is better in this case.



brian

 

[ttbird]

Don"t have a 3500 but tow a large boat around alot and since changing my rear slave cylinder to chevy's 1 3/16th the rear pads on my truck have started to wear more than the first 120,000 miles on the orginal rear pads. I may someday have to replace them. Bums me out after 13 years, but the truck does stop better than before. Do a search and you'll find more out about this upgrade. It's a direct bolt in.

 

[Dick R]

thanks for the replys seems like others have the same problem , I got the idea of making a longer rod after one end fell off what I did was to wire the proportioning lever on the far up position and after I did that I had rear brakes like never before , I didn't leave the lever in that position because if I had to stop fast the rear brakes would lock up so I got the idea of just making it longer to give better rear brakeing , I think maybe it will work , was just hoping someone else had tried this trick befor me .

 

[Ahopper]

id like to know too! i did the chevy slave cylinder upgrade too and it did make a bit of a difference id like it to be more though so if someone does figure it out let me know

 

[GDMRTN]

Yeah I had the same problem so I went to home depot an got a turnbuckle, hacked the ends off, shorten it to the shortest possible length, took the rod off the truck, measure turnbuckle, cut that amount out of the brake rod, weld the turnbuckle in and adjust to wherever it works nice. Fixed my problem. Towing heavy? lengthen it. Shorten when empty. etc etc.

 

[Dick R]

thanks for the tip I will try the turn buckle , how much longer have you been lengthening the rod for pulling heavy loads to make a difference in the rear brakes without getting into trouble with over brakeing ?

 

[Carle]

There is a TSB from Dodge to remove the entire unit. The TSB is TSB05-04-98. They replace the valve with a piece of hose.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Here's the TSB:



http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1998/05-04-98.htm

 

[GDMRTN]

Ha, I don't tow a lot so i don't adjust it. I have it set fairly easy so it don't lock up on empty driving. Just play with it and see what happens. Also, get a nut to thread on and lock the thing in place. For the reverse thread side I used a nylon nut and just threaded it on, forcing it to make it's own threads. On the tsb, that's only recommended for guys who are driving a loaded truck 75% of the time.

 

[Bseg]

I did the hose mod on my 97. It does tend to lock up the rear sometimes, especially when wet. Not sure if it really helped with making the fronts last longer.

 

[Ahopper]

Bseg: does it feel like it is braking better than befor?

 

[Dick R]

thanks , all the info is helping , but , has anyone had the plastic ends on the rod get so worn an end will not stay in place ? right now I have mine held in place with plastic ties ? I'm going to make a rod with an adjustable turnbuckle but I will need different ends any ideas on what to use ?

 

[Dick R]

proportioning valve mod

hay all , I have never had good rear brakes on my 98 , here is what I did and it works I have darn good rear brakes at last , took off the porporitioning rod and drilled out one end of the plastic fitting for a bolt , removed the proportioning valve lever & sawed off the ball socket and welded on a peice of strap steel so the lever will be in a more upward setting and drilled four holes for the bolt to be mounted in giving me four adjustment settings , I took it for a ride and found out I have mine set a little to aggressive so I will have to back it off one bolt hole , I braked hard and the rear brakes applied a little to hard ( never heard them squeel the tires before ) this fix worked for me maybe for someone else

 

[SKnapp]

this is my back breaker brake problem.

i've read all these forms but the problem i had was my brakes would lock up.

found a bad seal 80/90 oil

replaced/thoroughly cleaned/new pads/reserviced drums

drove a couple miles brakes would lock

took it apart several times.

one problem was drums were reserviced to coarse, so a friend at dodge dealer redid everything.

he also told me about the thing you guys are talking about, but mine has been removed,by previous owner.

pass side never quit draging until one day i had to really lock up brakes. it was ok for a week or2 and left side started to lock up. pulled it apart and this side started leaking 80/90

i recently put new(china crap) drums and new pads on and new seals

every thing is fine now today LOL

i do have the 1 ton wheel cyl. too

 

[Regcabguy]

Proportioning valve.

Here's the TSB:



http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1998/05-04-98.htm

I did this to my '99 back in 2000. It was the first time the truck felt like it actually had brakes. Finally,I had the EGR rear disc conversion done which geatly enhanced stopping power. The trade-off with that is severe wallet strain.

 

[Dick R]

just got back from a weekend camping trip pulling my 28ft 5er and I have to admit from experience that after I did the mod to the truck the rear brakes are working great it was worth the time it took to do the mods and I feel a lot more secure pulling .