At the end of October I was up on a friend’s property wheeling and exploring. After the weekend I noticed my brakes were really weak. Now the brakes on my truck have never been stellar, but they’ve always been adequate. Obviously something was wrong.
When the weather warmed up and we got a few nice days in a row, I went to work on the system. I started with the rear drums. Things were pretty messy in there. I cleaned and lubed everything from the bellcranks to the auto adjusters and everything in between. Every moving part got a nice coating of moly grease. Put on new shoes, adjusted to my specs and called it good. I also took up the slack in the hand brake cable that had been bothering me for a while.
On to the fronts. I removed each caliper, pulled out all 4 pistons (which all had some corrosion on them) and cleaned the inside of the cylinder walls with a nylon bristle brush on the end of a Dremel tool. The pistons got a bit of light wire wheeling finished with a quick buff to remove any corrosion and leave a nice smooth finish. I had ordered a caliper rebuild kit so all new parts and gaskets were standing by. Everything got a nice coating of moly grease and the pistons now move smoothly and firmly. Fronts got new shims and new EBC Greenstuff pads. While I was into the front, I tightened up the driver’s side wheel bearings a bit because they were ever so slightly loose.
Then I had a look at the LSPV. It’s a very simple valve. The connecting rod pushes on a spring loaded piston and opens and closes the port to the rear brakes. Unfortunately, mine had become a pile of corrosion and rust. I spent some quality time hitting all the parts with Kroil and finally I was able to remove the rubber boot and connecting rod assembly. The LSPV side of the rod mount was seized and not allowing any movement of the piston. After cleaning, wire wheeling, replacing parts (yes, I ordered an LSPV rebuild kit too) and a liberal moly grease application, it was all working as it should.
Then I went through 5 pints of brake fluid (1 for each corner and 1 for the LSPV) using the Snapple bottle method. That’s when you run a small length of tubing into a Snapple bottle and crack open 1 bleeder at a time. I placed a scrap of 2x4 under the brake pedal to avoid going to the floor, and I went at it. Started at the RR, RL, FR, FL, LSPV. Now when I did the LSPV I made sure to bleed it with the valve fully open and fully closed. Then I did the rears again with the LSPV fully open. I did this because a large amount of black crap fluid came out of the LSPV and I didn’t want any of that in the system.
After a highway drive to bed in everything, the pedal is remarkably firmer and the truck really stops now. Much more controlled and a pleasure to drive. Hooray.
When the weather warmed up and we got a few nice days in a row, I went to work on the system. I started with the rear drums. Things were pretty messy in there. I cleaned and lubed everything from the bellcranks to the auto adjusters and everything in between. Every moving part got a nice coating of moly grease. Put on new shoes, adjusted to my specs and called it good. I also took up the slack in the hand brake cable that had been bothering me for a while.
On to the fronts. I removed each caliper, pulled out all 4 pistons (which all had some corrosion on them) and cleaned the inside of the cylinder walls with a nylon bristle brush on the end of a Dremel tool. The pistons got a bit of light wire wheeling finished with a quick buff to remove any corrosion and leave a nice smooth finish. I had ordered a caliper rebuild kit so all new parts and gaskets were standing by. Everything got a nice coating of moly grease and the pistons now move smoothly and firmly. Fronts got new shims and new EBC Greenstuff pads. While I was into the front, I tightened up the driver’s side wheel bearings a bit because they were ever so slightly loose.
Then I had a look at the LSPV. It’s a very simple valve. The connecting rod pushes on a spring loaded piston and opens and closes the port to the rear brakes. Unfortunately, mine had become a pile of corrosion and rust. I spent some quality time hitting all the parts with Kroil and finally I was able to remove the rubber boot and connecting rod assembly. The LSPV side of the rod mount was seized and not allowing any movement of the piston. After cleaning, wire wheeling, replacing parts (yes, I ordered an LSPV rebuild kit too) and a liberal moly grease application, it was all working as it should.
Then I went through 5 pints of brake fluid (1 for each corner and 1 for the LSPV) using the Snapple bottle method. That’s when you run a small length of tubing into a Snapple bottle and crack open 1 bleeder at a time. I placed a scrap of 2x4 under the brake pedal to avoid going to the floor, and I went at it. Started at the RR, RL, FR, FL, LSPV. Now when I did the LSPV I made sure to bleed it with the valve fully open and fully closed. Then I did the rears again with the LSPV fully open. I did this because a large amount of black crap fluid came out of the LSPV and I didn’t want any of that in the system.
After a highway drive to bed in everything, the pedal is remarkably firmer and the truck really stops now. Much more controlled and a pleasure to drive. Hooray.
