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View Full Version : Soft Pedal - Help

Sevensecondsuv
03-26-2008, 09:18 PM
So my brake pedal is soft. It has strong brakes but the pedal is just too "sinky" before it does anything. Also, the back brakes lock up long before the front breaks are doing much of anything.

Here's the specs:
1990 Ford Ranger 2.3 4-cylinder reg cab 2wd. It originally came with the smallest diameter discs and drums offered for that year.

About 6 months ago the break lines started leaking front and rear. So I replaced all of them from the master cylinder to the wheels with 3/16 lines. I bypassed the RABS on the way to the rear axle tee. I did this at the same time I installed an 8.8 out of an explorer with 10" drums.

I have bled all lines a few times and I am 100% positive there is no air in the lines.

So what's my problem? Is it my master cylinder? Did putting bigger brakes on the back mess it all up? I think I'm going to go grab an MC with a booster off a 1st gen. explorer the next time I'm at the junk yard and see if that cures it. Anyone else ever had this problem?
metalmacguyver
03-26-2008, 09:55 PM
So this problem has been persistant since you re-did the brakes? If so my first thought is that the lines are mixed up on the master cylinder. IIRC, The bias between front and back is determined by the springs inside the master cylinder. If it is backwards then you would easily lock up the rears first.
Sevensecondsuv
03-26-2008, 10:16 PM
I'm pretty sure they're right but I'll check it against my exploder.
Sevensecondsuv
03-27-2008, 10:30 AM
The brake lines are hooked up to the master cylinder correctly. They're not reversed.
metalmacguyver
03-27-2008, 10:43 AM
Interesting....

Has this problem been persistant since you did the brakes?
Sevensecondsuv
03-27-2008, 07:28 PM
Yep.
Joshs93four-oh
03-27-2008, 08:06 PM
Are your rear brakes contaminated with gear oil or brake fluid? Maybe the rear brakes are out of adjustment.
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Sevensecondsuv
03-29-2008, 07:29 AM
That would explain the rear brakes locking up first but not the soft pedal. Anyways, I just set the rears up when I installed the axle. Maybe they're a little tight, but there's something else causing the soft pedal.