brake rotors - how complicated ??

[ScottinTexas]

starting to wonder if I bit of more than we can chew,

we tried to bleed the brakes after replacing a rear wheel cylinder,
rears bled fine,
front driver bleeder wouldn't loosen, moved on,
passenger bleeder loosened but pedal was extremely stiff and no fluid would come out,
closed it up and figured it was a problem for a different day, it didn't have any difficulty braking,

looking at the rotors, the truck had sat for about a week in not humid conditions,

resize rotor driver.jpg

resize rotor passenger.jpg

I was guessing we weren't having much braking from the front with the condition of the rotors,

I thought we would go ahead and start somewhat fresh and replace the front hoses, calipers, pads and rotors,

I didn't realize at first but do now that we'll have to remove the lock ring/spindle nut and pull the hub/rotor as one unit, I've watched ten youtubes and read multiple articles,

Do you think splitting the hub from the rotor will be a difficult job in the driveway with a basic set of tools ?

should we forget the rotors and just go with new caliper/hoses ?

[Yeller]

It is doable to pull the rotors with basic tools, however you will need a few special tools. Of course lots of tutorials on youtube.
- Spindle nut socket
- Pick set
- brass drift
- large hammer
- block of wood
- repack the wheel bearings, they are out so you will need hub seals as well, they get destroyed pull the inner bearing.

That being said, from the pics the rotors look to be in good condition, no signs of wear, no rust pitting, and don't appear to have been turned previously. If the brakes did not pulse with signs of having warped rotors or drums, I would just do the hoses and calipers. I'd even be hesitant on the calipers, you can purchase new bleeders as long as you can remove them and get fluid through them, or if you cannot turn the hub by and after applying and releasing the brakes. If any of those things then do the calipers too. Also not knowing the age or condition I would pack the wheel bearings and replace them if they have signs of corrosion.

[tgreese]

Note reman calipers for these are not expensive (same as many Chevys), and the reman ones seem reliable. It should not be terribly expensive to fit new calipers, pads and hoses. The calipers will include working bleeders, and be all clean and such. Brakes are not the right place to go cheap.

Any time you open the brake system, you should bleed it all around. Flushing the fluid is good too - old fluid picks up moisture from the air and will corrode the cylinders and plumbing from the inside. I would not hesitate to fit all new cylinders (both rears, new calipers, new master) on any new-old car of mine.

[Stuka]

It can be hard to tell from photos, but those rotors dont look bad to me. Its normal for them to flash rust if they sit in wet conditions. Even on brand new vehicles. They all goes away soon as you try to stop.

The calipers can be replaced without replacing the pads or rotors if need be.

It seems strange to me that you said the pedal got really hard when you tried to bleed one corner.

[ScottinTexas]

We drove it about 10 miles last night, it's so nice to not worry about it stalling / not starting now that the ign. module is fixed,

I pulled the wheels off when we got home and 90% of that rust is gone, there is a very slight resistance when you spin the hubs by hand,

I think after the suggestions, we're only going to change the caliper/pads and hoses, I'll leave the rotors for another day since it involves the the bearings and I just don't have the heart for that fight at the moment,

picking up the parts Sat. morning and hopefully working on it Sunday,

It seems strange to me that you said the pedal got really hard when you tried to bleed one corner.

It was only the second time we had bled brakes so there's no telling, it was the end of a long day and after the other bleeder was frozen we just called it quits,

[will e]

grab some 'speed bleeders'. Really makes it a lot easier to bleed the brakes.

[ScottinTexas]

well the new calipers and lines only took 7 weeks, waiting for her to get motivated, truck for 5 weeks until she finally asked to drive it, I reminded her the new front half of the headliner fell down and needed to be fixed because we never installed the overhead console and the brake light was still on,

we quickly fixed the overhead console and liner, reminded her brake pressure may be failing and we enjoyed a nice 30 min ride by the lake,

then came home and parked it again for two weeks, we finally had a 3 cool days in the 80's so I said "now's the time for the calipers", we did one side that took about 2 hours, stopping/ starting/ thinking since it was our first time and ended in the dark, sat for 3 more days and when it finally hit 100 again I determined we were going to get it completed and off the jack stands in the driveway, other side only took 30 minutes, I really like this "I'm going to get a glass of water, you do this part" process, I need to get her involved in my Ford IDI !

we bled the brake lines ( nice to be able to finally bleed the fronts), the brake light is still on but we're going to test drive it one evening, if it doesn't go off we'll probably be replacing the master cylinder,

[Stuka]

the brake light is still on but we're going to test drive it one evening, if it doesn't go off we'll probably be replacing the master cylinder,

Pretty sure the brake light is in reference to the parking brake, meaning it thinks the parking brake is on. Possible the switch is faulty.

[tgreese]

Unless something changed since my '82 was built, the brake warning light is both the indicator that the parking brake is on, and a warning light for the brake hydraulics.

The contact for the parking brake is on the brake pedal assembly. I recall you can unplug it from the pedal and turn off that feature as a test.

The hydraulic system has a switch that detects any pressure difference between the front and rear brakes. This would happen if one of the wheel cylinders or a caliper seal had failed. It also detects failure of the master cylinder.

Pretty sure you need to reset that switch back to neutral if you open either the front or rear hydraulic circuit. Should be discussion in the TSM.

[ScottinTexas]

the brake light is still on but we're going to test drive it one evening, if it doesn't go off we'll probably be replacing the master cylinder,

Pretty sure the brake light is in reference to the parking brake, meaning it thinks the parking brake is on. Possible the switch is faulty.

that light can also be activated by a switch on the brake proportioning valve on the frame, ( if I'm wrong please tell me ! )

we had a rear wheel cylinder go out and lost fluid causing the light to come on, replaced and refilled and the light went off,

[ScottinTexas]

Unless something changed since my '82 was built, the brake warning light is both the indicator that the parking brake is on, and a warning light for the brake hydraulics.

The contact for the parking brake is on the brake pedal assembly. I recall you can unplug it from the pedal and turn off that feature as a test.

The hydraulic system has a switch that detects any pressure difference between the front and rear brakes. This would happen if one of the wheel cylinders or a caliper seal had failed. It also detects failure of the master cylinder.

Pretty sure you need to reset that switch back to neutral if you open either the front or rear hydraulic circuit. Should be discussion in the TSM.

thanks, I'll try to look at the TSM for resetting the proportioning valve,

[Dr.Bob]

Perhaps a little late to the party, but for future reference, this is a job you can do in your driveway with nothing but hand-tools.

Here is a video on the disassembly:

https://youtu.be/PjMAzTg5H_0

and here is a video on the assembly:

https://youtu.be/jvMJBz01KYw

[ScottinTexas]

Pretty sure you need to reset that switch back to neutral if you open either the front or rear hydraulic circuit. Should be discussion in the TSM.

Read through the TSM last night and it didn't say anything about adjusting/servicing the proportioning valve,

some trucks have a proportioning valve on the rear for ride height that needs to be adjusted,



Thanks Dr Bob for the video's (especially the vacuum hoses) I understand much better by watching the process

[letank]

Pretty sure you need to reset that switch back to neutral if you open either the front or rear hydraulic circuit. Should be discussion in the TSM.

Read through the TSM last night and it didn't say anything about adjusting/servicing the proportioning valve,

some trucks have a proportioning valve on the rear for ride height that needs to be adjusted,

IIRC the ref to the prop valve in the TSM is to push or pull the pin -depending on the prop valve- to properly bleed the brakes...