Soft brake pedal

[keel]

My 1990 Ranger XLT has a soft brake pedal. It still brakes fine and is able to lock up the front tires, the pedal just has a lot more travel than what I would consider to be normal before it is effective. No ABS light.

I recently replaced the front pads, front rubber hoses (the rubber part of the hoses were super cracked), and did a fluid flush to try and fix the pedal feel but didn't end up improving much. The brake shoes on the rear had plenty of material so I left them alone. Parking brake also works fine.

I did notice when I was bleeding the rears that the fluid was barely trickling out and it took forever to flush them out. The surface of the brake shoes and the inside of the drums were also covered in dust so I don't think they are coming on properly otherwise they would be wiped clean during braking.

Based on my research it seems like the RABS module or the master cylinder are bad but I want to know what you guys think.

 

[SenorNoob]

Sounds plausible. I know the RABS is commonly replaced with a piece of line. Could do that for testing to see what you have going on even if you want to keep the module.

 

[keel]

Sounds plausible. I know the RABS is commonly replaced with a piece of line. Could do that for testing to see what you have going on even if you want to keep the module.

Sounds like one of those "temporary" fixes that end up becoming permanent... I may just try that.

 

[Ranger850]

I would start with a rear brake adjustment

 

[keel]

I forgot to mention that I did adjust the shoes outward if that is what you mean. Got them set up so that they are just barely touching the drum.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I forgot to mention that I did adjust the shoes outward if that is what you mean. Got them set up so that they are just barely touching the drum.

You dont hear any hissing from the firewall/booster area do ya?

Might could also be a bad master cylinder

 

[svtcards]

You dont hear any hissing from the firewall/booster area do ya?

Might could also be a bad master cylinder

If it were a bad master wouldn't it be leaking fluid a tad? I would think a hiss from booster area would be a bad booster? Maybe not