My brakes work right!

[agent orange]

Ive been fighting a battle with my brakes for quite some time, and finally have them working great. Heres a little backstory. I swapped in a T-100 master, 4 runner brakes, and a new residual valve. Brakes sucked, rears didnt do crap. Put in new rear brake cylinders, new shoes, adjusted brakes. I also moved the lspv all the way up in its adjustment to open the valve per the FSM. Better, but i couldnt lock them up with the pedal to the floor, i figured the M/C was just too big to develop enough pressure. Scary rolling backwards into tree experience on the trails, no fun.

So then after seeing some posts euclid made about relocating the axle end of the lspv arm up, i decided to give that a shot. I was gonna stack some half inch aluminum peices and use longer bolts, but that was expensive so i got some 1 1/2 inch steel tubular spacers and longer bolts. Not perfect, but there isnt that much force on the lspv arm and if it breaks its no biggie, ill just redo it better.

And by god, it made a huge difference! The truck stops way way better, the rears really seem to be working with the fronts to stop the truck. I still have a lot of adjustment to play with as far as the threaded rod that the arm attaches to so im gonna see if moving the arm higher makes it even better.

Sorry for the long post, but i rememebered a lot of 62 owners complaining about nagging brake problems and thought this might be something more people should look at if the standard bleeding/adjusting business doesnt work out.

-Matt

 

[chicago]

Hey Matt,
that is awsome news!
Im having a hard time visualizing what youre saying about the spacer on the LSPV. Im one of the guyz that is having problems with the breaks, so this sounds like it might be something that I want to try, since all else has failed.
Is there anyway you might be able to post up some pics on what you did?
Thanks for the post!

Chicago

 

[S&S1stCruzer]

Yes pics please!
I just did my rear brakes this weekend, and I'm not happy at all. I can't get them to lock up either. I replaced the wheel cylinders, new OEM shoes, and bleed rear both sides...didn't get any better results.

 

[agent orange]

My bad, my post was worded poorly. I fixed it now.

Where the arm of the lspv attaches to the axle, i put 1 1/2 inch spacers between the axle and the mounting plate of the threaded joint dealy.

Ill shoot some pics tommorow.

 

[lonelydriver]

are you able to lock up the brakes now? specifically the front?

 

[lonelydriver]

seems like this is a 62 only problem. I redid everything also, and can't lock up. Better work on those spacers.

 

[agent orange]

are you able to lock up the brakes now? specifically the front?

I havent given it a good try yet, the only time i was in a appropriate place to try it i had a load of furniture in the back, but it felt way better. The M/C is still probably a little too big but not much i can do about that.

Once my girl gets home and tells me where the cord for her camera is ill put up a pic of it. I was kinda hoping no one would ask, its a tad ghetto...

 

[chicago]

I havent given it a good try yet, the only time i was in a appropriate place to try it i had a load of furniture in the back, but it felt way better. The M/C is still probably a little too big but not much i can do about that.

Once my girl gets home and tells me where the cord for her camera is ill put up a pic of it. I was kinda hoping no one would ask, its a tad ghetto...

Are you KIDDING!? Ive been chasing this demon since I bought the rig! Ghetto or not, I want some pics so I can do it! I bet, mine will be more GHETTO than yours

Chicago

 

[S&S1stCruzer]

Damn I have 60 so i guess it won't solve my problems

 

[agent orange]

Ok here are some pics of what i did. In hindsight the bolts could be a touch longer, i had in my mind that the holes were blind, but they arent so i could have used a little longer bolt. Maybe some day ill spend 64 cents and fix it.

 

[chicago]

OK,
Got it now. Thanks for the post orange. Ill give it a shot.
BTW, what length rods are those?

Chicago

 

[agent orange]

They are inch and a half. It could probably be a bit taller, but thats as high as i felt comfortable going without using a more proper spacer.

You can see that ive got a good 3/4 inch of adjustment in the threaded portion left, im gonna extend that out all the way and see if it makes things better.

Im also considering taking some of the bend out of the rod, that would change the angle too.

 

[Cruzerman]

Owning a 60 and not a 62, I have to ask. What the heck is that I'm looking at?

 

[agent orange]

Its a load sensing proportioning valve (lspv). The idea is the little arm allows the proportioning valve to apply more pressure to the rear brakes when the suspension is compressed ie when the rear of the cruiser is loaded down. Its a good idea, but gets thrown off with lifts, which is the reason behind the spacers.


I didnt have a chance to lock the brakes up today, but i romped on them pretty good and i definitly feel like i could lock them up if i felt like it, especially with a little more tweaking of the lspv.

 

[Front Range 4x4]

Its a load sensing proportioning valve (lspv). The idea is the little arm allows the proportioning valve to apply more pressure to the rear brakes when the suspension is compressed ie when the rear of the cruiser is loaded down. Its a good idea, but gets thrown off with lifts, which is the reason behind the spacers.


I didnt have a chance to lock the brakes up today, but i romped on them pretty good and i definitly feel like i could lock them up if i felt like it, especially with a little more tweaking of the lspv.

Yes, I know how old this thread is.

My question is how is the proper amount of spacers determined for the LSPV on a 62?

 

[5280Hawk]

No such animal on a 60 right?

 

[Fromage]

No such animal on a 60 right?

Yep.

 

[sandcruiser]

Seems like you should space it up about as much as you lift the axle "down"...
I'd go with some square tubing vs. just using spacers... right?

But it seems like a decent solution!
I plan to do something similar on my new 80 once it is lifted.

 

[billmc]

Yes, I know how old this thread is.

My question is how is the proper amount of spacers determined for the LSPV on a 62?

Assuming your lspv was adjusted correctly in the first place, it should be equal to the amount of actual lift you've added to the rear suspension, so that the angle of the lspv valve arm remains the same.

Bill

 

[Front Range 4x4]

Assuming your lspv was adjusted correctly in the first place, it should be equal to the amount of actual lift you've added to the rear suspension, so that the angle of the lspv valve arm remains the same.

Bill

Sounds good but w/o sounding like a smartass, how does one go about determining where the truck sat to figure this amount to lift the LSPV?

I think it may be safe for many of us to assume it was adjusted when the truck was stock. I have OME heavies in the rear which presumably add some lift on their own. Then I added 4+ extended anti-inversion shackles (6-3/8" Pin to pin) with the OME.

Since the shackle should provide 3" lift and the OME something else(?) would 4" seem appropriate? Is this just trial and error? Does anyone have any tips on fine tuning the adjustment in conjunction with raising the LSPV? Anyone have a stock height to work from?

I'm really not trying to make this more difficult that it needs to be but would prefer to do it right and have good brakes!