Lamenting about brakes... (1 Viewer)

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Sep 18, 2010
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Urbandale, Iowa
So I put my 77 FJ40 in storage two weeks ago. Maybe this is my payback for kicking "old greenie" out of the garage.

I have a boat storage unit 3 miles from my home. With a little rearranging I was able to get the 40 in there so all our vehicles would be inside this winter.

This is where the story begins. A long story. Its been a year of brakes and brake lines, wheel bearings, ebrake and the list goes on....for my 97 FZJ80. I rebuilt the entire brake system this summer.

Since I was feeling so good about brakes I decided to put fresh brake fluid in my 40 since it had been about 5 years since the last time. So with the help of my 8 year old and two 6 year olds we got the job done.

Summer turns into fall and the day before I am ready to put old greenie away I notice some paint missing on my frame near the steering box. So I pop the hood and see the rear reservoir low and its dripping out my proportioning valve (converted to rear discs). I shrug and top it off and drive it the 3 miles to storage and put him away.

Then this last Saturday I decide to check on things and start the truck and let it run awhile. So when I lift up the garage door what do I see...a puddle of fluid surrounding my front driver tire. My first thought was my axle seal decided to let loose. Then I smelled the fluid. Wasn't gear oil. Popped the hood. Front brake reservoir at 50% . Fawk.

This will be the third front Napa caliper I will have put on since I finished my restoration in 2014. Oh...and they don't have a record of me getting the caliper from them. So much for the lifetime warranty. I asked if they had me in their system from ordering the rear brake calipers this summer. They looked. Nope. I said. Well. I bought new rotors and calipers from this store but the warranty is garbage unless you save the reciept for a lifetime.

So getting on with my day i can get past having to purchase yet another caliper. And reinstall and bleed it in the dead of winter in my shed far from all my tools. So I'm gathering supplies to take over to the shed preparing for the job. New proportioning valve. Fluid. Brake cleaner, towels. Jack. Jack stand. So I run some things over today and now the brake reservoir is almost dry.

My question is. Do you all think I will need to bench bleed the master again if she runs dry? I was reluctant to put more fluid in seeing how much leaked out just in the past 24 hours. The temps have really dropped here in the past 72 hours. I suspect that might have something to do with it.

Anyway. We have a love hate with these machines. Today...I'm not happy with Napa and the aftermarket proportioning valve.

Oh and old greenie is telling me to rebuild his smog pump. I guess it just never ends. And I put every new part on this truck in 2014.

Aluminum radiator looks to be manifesting something too. Just about ready to buy a new toyota one. But I went with the cool four core aluminum one.

Ok. Rant over. I'm going to drink a beer and get over it. I still love my landcruiser.
 
I am not an expert, but have been struggling big time to bleed brakes on my 67 but converted with a 75 master cylinder, and everyone says its a pain in fj40s to bleed them. So if it ran dry I would bench bleed to take it off the list of reasons why you cant bleed them. Good Luck
 
If it happens again I'm 100% getting factory remanufactured. So far they have lasted just a couple years. Heck. I've barely got 4000 miles on the truck since I restored it. Its crazy.
 
My question is. Do you all think I will need to bench bleed the master again if she runs dry?

If it runs (drains) completely dry, then yes, there will be air in the master cylinder. But you can bypass having to bench-bleed the master by doing a reverse-bleed on the brakes, where you push fluid up from the wheel cylinders. You'll need something like a Phoenix Systems tool or a Mighty-vac or similar to do that.
 

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