Manual Brake Pedal Feel/Effort

[f2502011]

Is there a way to reduce pedal effort/improve feel on manual brakes? I’ve bled them but no improvement. I drove a mustang with manual brakes recently and the effort required to get that to stop vs the Bronco was much less. It was much more responsive. Maybe this is normal I don’t know. Mustang does weigh less. Any tips besides going with power brakes?

 

[DirtDonk]

All stock drum brakes still?
What size tires? That makes a big difference.
But so does the condition and type of lining on the shoes.

Did you ever change the master cylinder to a different one? I wonder if you got a different size piston?
One way to reduce effort is to use a smaller master cylinder. But the trade-off is longer pedal travel.
It’s not automatically a bad thing, but has to be balanced correctly between power and travel.
Same for pedal/arm ratio.

 

[DirtDonk]

Another way to look at the smaller master cylinder piston, is to increase the size of the wheel cylinder piston.
Same deal on balance though.

 

[Broncobowsher]

There is also the brake pad material. I am not a fan of the "lifetime" brake pads. Generally hard, no feel. Power brakes can overcome that so most people accept them. A set of organtic pads may not last forever, but the feel can be a lot better.

What size tires are you running? That can make a lot of leverage which is hard to overcome. I bet that mustang had tiny little stock sized tires.

 

[f2502011]

All stock drum brakes still?
What size tires? That makes a big difference.
But so does the condition and type of lining on the shoes.

Did you ever change the master cylinder to a different one? I wonder if you got a different size piston?
One way to reduce effort is to use a smaller master cylinder. But the trade-off is longer pedal travel.
It’s not automatically a bad thing, but has to be balanced correctly between power and travel.
Same for pedal/arm ratio.

All stock new stuff running 31x10.5x15s. Yes the mustang was a 66 six cylinder with stock size tires and wheels.