Brakes went out, why?

[szilkj]

Hey everyone, long story short I had the pleasure of testing out my 35 inch tires avoiding hitting a car since my brakes went out. So a couple things, the brakes were feeling a little bit spongey since I got the car back in March. Me being a millennial and all just assumed it was old af and not to care about it. SO - I care about it now, ALOT. My question is how would you proceed in diagnosing the issue? I am going to attempt bleeding the brakes if there is anything left to bleed, look for leaks and if there are leaks replace some lines? Need some guidance while I wait for my 68 ford bronco companion guide.

In advanced I really appreciate everyone commenting on this thread and helping me out.

 

[Timmy390]

I would check the master cylinder to see if it has fluid. MC's have a tendency to leak in the rear and not easily seen,

Tim

 

[szilkj]

I would check the master cylinder to see if it has fluid. MC's have a tendency to leak in the rear and not easily seen,

Tim

Yeah, I will do that once I get home. After unintentionally off roading I just took a break from the truck. I heard that DOT 3/4 is the appropriate fluid that is required, any input?

 

[Timmy390]

Dot 3 is what I use

Tim

 

[SteveL]

No need for high end brake fluid. If you're gonna bleed em start with bleeding the master cylinder. Most part stores sell a cheap kit to do it. Then hook the brake lines up and do the lines out to each corner. Start with the rear, passenger side first. Then the front, passenger side first. If there are any leaks fix em first.

 

[Broncobowsher]

If it is out of fluid, look for something wet. The fluid goes somewhere. Just adding fluid won't fix the issue, it will happen again. Find what leaked and fix it. It can be pretty obvious at times, or it can be tricky. Master cylinders can leak into the cab or into a vacuum booster where you may not see it. A wheel cylinder can dump it into the drum which might be filled with enough brake dust to absorb it. Lost brake fluid doesn't just vanish.

 

[bax]

Have you been getting along with the wife / girlfriend lately? Just putting it out there.

 

[CopperBronco]

As they all said, inspect for leaks everywhere… apply heavy pressure to brake pedal… look for leaks again…

Other ideas… bench bleed your master cylinder, then reinstall and rebleed your brakes. If your anal retentive get a master cylinder bleeding syringe/plunger to make sure you get all the air out of MC…

Consider installing speed bleeders on your calipers to not let air back in while bleeding

Look into Motive’s pressure bleeder you attach to master cylinder and bleed… you can bleed by yourself without a friend pumping the pedal.

James Duff Bronco garage on YouTube has great videos on how to do a few of these things… like bench bleeding…

Pedal should not be soft ever on properly maintained brakes.

Also if you have drums people often install the shoes backward, even seen two front drum pads on one side and brake wasn’t even engaging as they hadn’t been adjusted properly. So inspect those as well.

Also consider heat from headers or not enough space between exhaust boiling you fluid… or water getting in… might be worth flushing whole system and while pressurized check for leaks. Hope this helps. Best of luck!

 

[DirtDonk]

There’s also the possibility that, if this is a disc brake conversion, then perhaps it’s the GM brake set up that needs the knuckles ground for clearance.
Sometimes the installers don’t grind enough material and the brakes will work fine at first, but as the pads wear the calipers will start running interference with the knuckle casting.
Check out what type of front brakes you have, and report back.

 

[ba123]

+1 on the wetness check. Check all your fittings to make sure they are tight before adding any fluid and since there isn't any, you might as well loosen them all and retighten if they're stainless to make sure they are all seated properly (but do this AFTER you find the actual leak so you don't make any new wet spots first).

+1 on the motive bleeder. Years ago, before those were around, I made one out of a pressure sprayer. I leant it to someone and they never brought it back and by that time, these were around. I've used it a ton on different cars and it is the best thing ever.

 

[Apogee]

Tell us what you have and then we can go from there. Disc/drum or drum/drum? Factory Ford disc or aftermarket GM conversion? Manual or power brakes? In general, brake systems are relatively simple, but incredibly important systems that must function properly.