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Idea to minimize rear brakes from locking up?


Ericalan350

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I have a 94' 2wd super cab 4.0 with 10" drums. I had a near miss this past weekend (wreck) due the street being a little wet and my having to slam on my brakes to not hit the two idiots trying to dart out in front of me. I just replaced all components of my front and rear brakes excluding the drum itself, brake booster and master cylinder. The ABS light did come on due to locking up the brakes and sliding (due to the road being wet) but went off the next time I cranked up the truck. I did take my truck to a mechanic that I trust and he said everything was done correctly and the brakes felt and looked fine. My question / thought is due to the truck having a 2" rake (lower in the front) would it make sense to level the truck so that if or when I have to hammer down on the brakes again, the truck would not "nose dive" causing the rears to lock up as quickly? I can say that when I replaced my shocks a year ago the braking was better (my shocks were shot). At this point I do not want to "lift" the truck but if it will improve or minimize the rears from locking up as fast I think it would be worth it. Any helpful advice or thoughts are appreciated!

Also, if anyone has done a leveling kit, what manufacturer did you go with and how tough of a job was it? Any helpful tips or hints would also be appreciated!

Thanks folks!
 


JOLENE_THE_RANGER

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I dont think the ride height of a truck has anything to do with the rear breaks locking up. you could plumb in an adjustable proportioning valve in the line to the rear brakes to reduce line pressure
 

Ericalan350

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I dont think the ride height of a truck has anything to do with the rear breaks locking up. you could plumb in an adjustable proportioning valve in the line to the rear brakes to reduce line pressure
Agreed with the height of the truck making a difference. My reason / thought was that if or when you hammer on the brakes to stop quick, the front dips down slightly allowing the rears to have a greater chance of locking. With leveling or putting a little stiffer spring in the front, it might be enough resistance (during a hard brake situation) to help or keep the rears planted to the ground better. After I replaced my long time needed shocks, I did notice there was less (what seemed to me) weight transfer / front end nose diving under hard braking. This is where my idea of leveling or going to a little bit stiffer spring spurred from.
 

Ranger850

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i see what your saying, about the weight transfer to the front, lightening the load and allowing the rears to lock up, BUT
why would you lift the front and not lower the rear? it is 2wd and that would lower you CoG. unless you're one if those ... people that out 33's on a 2wd.
 

Dirtman

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I'm not trying to be sarcastic here... but if you slam on your brakes on a wet road, they are gonna lock up. Changing the ride height or rake won't prevent that. I understand your thinking here and yes altering the suspension will effect braking to some degree but it sounds to me like your brakes are doing what they should. If anything I would switch to a better front rotor and pad combo next time you need to do maintenance so that the front brakes grab harder before the rears lock. Switching from basic autozone pads to EBC vented rotors and yellow stuff pads can make a huge difference in brake performance.
 

Ericalan350

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Sad thing is that I just put calipers and pads from Power Stop. They do bite down but not well as I had hoped for. I will keep that in mind for next time!
 

8thTon

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Vented rotors won't do anything to increase braking force, they're for cooling and pretty much useless on the street. A decent set of semi-metalic pads from anywhere will perform about the same on first application, as once again the differences have to do with heat/fade. Since this was a cold stop issue none of the heat related stuff matters.

Rear brakes on a truck are a big compromise given the vast weight variation, and the abs is intended to help that. Still, rear drums can behave inconsistently if they're not adjusted correctly. Drums self adjust when stopping in reverse, or when using the parking brake - use it every time you park. Also, since you just changed the shoes they may not be bedded in well yet.
 

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