1987 Ranger really high brake pedal

[Daniel Black]

I've got an '87 Ranger with manual brakes and the pedal is very high. With some engine upgrades and no choke I sometimes have the need to heel/toe it at stop lights and it's impossible. The brake pedal is 10" higher than the gas pedal and only goes down about 2" at full brake. It's probably 2" higher than the clutch pedal. Is this normal? The brakes work fine. I have an '86 with power brakes and the pedal goes down right beside the gas pedal. I have noticed I can pick the brake pedal up to the dash with my foot and let it fall back down. The pushrod doesn't have any adjustment, it just hooks to the pedal and shoves into the master cylinder. I highly dought someone swapped it to manual brakes as the truck has no PS,no A/C, not even a radio, so it's definitely a base model. Anyone ever heard of this?

 

[Mike Tonon]

I've got an '87 Ranger with manual brakes and the pedal is very high. With some engine upgrades and no choke I sometimes have the need to heel/toe it at stop lights and it's impossible. The brake pedal is 10" higher than the gas pedal and only goes down about 2" at full brake. It's probably 2" higher than the clutch pedal. Is this normal? The brakes work fine. I have an '86 with power brakes and the pedal goes down right beside the gas pedal. I have noticed I can pick the brake pedal up to the dash with my foot and let it fall back down. The pushrod doesn't have any adjustment, it just hooks to the pedal and shoves into the master cylinder. I highly dought someone swapped it to manual brakes as the truck has no PS,no A/C, not even a radio, so it's definitely a base model. Anyone ever heard of this?

I’ve never heard of manual brakes on a Ranger. Can you post some pictures?

 

[fangotango306]

Ive had 2 1st gens with manual brakes. Both of mine were close to even with the clutch. Maybe 1/2" higher. IIRC the pushrod for power brake booster is longer. Maybe someone has replaced with mix and matched parts?

 

[Daniel Black]

I didn't think that someone might've changed the pushrod. I'll try to compare it to my PB truck. Could rear brake adjustment or a sticking parking brake make the pedal high? I stopped using the parking brake because it kept sticking but the back brakes are still pretty tight. Im waiting on it to warm up so i can measure the drums and order everything i need to redo the rear brakes. Also, the rear end has been swapped in out of a newer Ranger. The rear has a plug for ABS but my truck doesnt have it. Could that cause any issues?

 

[Denisefwd93]

Actually Rangers have a very low gas pedal because the cable stretches. There is a wire tie fix to make up for the stretch in the cable,

 

[fangotango306]

No. Maladjusted or sticking breaks will have no affect on pedal placement. And the rear swap with abs will have nothing to do with your manual master cylinder. Im not sure on this one but the pedal box from a the early manual brake trucks may have been different too. For some reason i think the pivot was in a different location to allow more leverage. Ill do some digging in my parts horde to see what i can find.

 

[fangotango306]

Actually Rangers have a very low gas pedal because the cable stretches. There is a wire tie fix to make up for the stretch in the cable,

X10 on this too

 

[Daniel Black]

The throttle cable is new. I broke the stock one when I was routing the cable for the Esslinger intake that needs to pull from the other side. The pivots seems to be higher up on the MB pedal than it is on my '86 with PB. And the pushrod seems to be the same but I didn't remove it to measure.

 

[Mike Tonon]

How do manual brakes compare to power brakes? Do you have to stand on them to get the vehicle to stop?

 

[Daniel Black]

You don't really have to stand on the manual brakes. It might take a little more effort but it stops the same as power brakes. Plus the manual truck has a firm brake pedal. My power brake '86 has all new braking system and it still has a soft, squishy pedal. I hate that. It's like comparing a linkage and Z-bar clutch to a hydraulic clutch. A little more effort but it feels like you're doing something.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

How do manual brakes compare to power brakes? Do you have to stand on them to get the vehicle to stop?

I had a 79 F150 with manual brakes, honestly i almoat prefer them over power. There much eaiser to "modulate" on an icy road and really unless you got the legs of an 90yr old bedridden person, you should have no trouble stopping

 

[Uncle Gump]

Rusty... you are old school to the core man. I am too... to a point. Give me power brakes and EFI on my driver everyday of the week.

If you wanna know the difference in feel between power and non power brakes? Go pull and plug the vacuum line on your brake booster and take a spin in it. That would be an extreme example... but you will get the idea in a big hurry.

 

[Denisefwd93]

I don't know, but I assume manual brakes would have a larger piston master cylinder maybe someone that actually knows could answer that.

Ah! https://www.onallcylinders.com/2013/10/15/tech-brake-master-cylinder-faqs/

 

[Mike Tonon]

If I ever build my 83-84 Ranger Perkins base model, short bed, I’ll incorporate manual brakes into the build! �� keep it nice and simple... and lightest weight possible.

I’m thinking:

-Light tan top, down to the body line where the handles are and gloss black under that. To make the cab somewhat bearable in the summer, with no A/C. Plus, the tops of the bed sides won’t show scratches and dents as much being tan, compared to black. And won’t be quite as hot in the summer, if you have to put your hands on it.

-Scrap the stock air filter and duct work for a cone filter mounted directly onto the intake. Maybe fabricate a shield for underneath it, to prevent hot air from going directly up into the intake.

-build a dash bezel out of a 1x10 piece of lumber.

-wood or imitation wood and aluminum or stainless trim bed bottom.

-brushed aluminum rear sliding window, possibly a cargo light.

-chrome grill, windshield surround and handles. Black metal mirrors, bumpers and stock hub caps with 15” steel stock silver rims. Custom metal Ranger fender emblems (looking original, but not peppering like the original chrome plastic ones).

-maybe the 5-speed over the 4-speed.

 

[Daniel Black]

It's hard to get an idea from a picture of how high the pedal is but I can take my foot off the gas and easily fit it under The brake. The pedal is almost as high in my PB truck but that pedal goes down a long way when you put the brakes on. Something is different with the master cylinder, I was gonna buy a new one but my local parts stores only have power brake masters.