Johnny Reb Posted March 30, 2020 Report Posted March 30, 2020 Having a hard time bleeding the brakes. Installed new shoes, cylinders and master. Have done several times on my Chevy truck, but no luck on the Dodge????? Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted March 30, 2020 Report Posted March 30, 2020 And what year is your Dodge...? What all was redone on your brakes? Quote
Tooljunkie Posted March 30, 2020 Report Posted March 30, 2020 Cant be done without a helper. gravity bleeding wont work if master is below floor. i made a device to hold pedal down,as a replacement for helper. Its has worked for me. Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted March 30, 2020 Report Posted March 30, 2020 (edited) If the major adjustment wasn't done or done right the pedal will feel rubbery, soft and low. Shoes really should be arced to each drum to do the job right . This for quick easy major adjustment. Shoes won't need wear in. High firm pedal feel. Edited March 30, 2020 by Dodgeb4ya 1 Quote
Johnny Reb Posted March 30, 2020 Author Report Posted March 30, 2020 15 hours ago, Dodgeb4ya said: And what year is your Dodge...? What all was redone on your brakes? 1950 Dodge B2B New shoes New cylinders New Master Cylinder Quote
Johnny Reb Posted March 30, 2020 Author Report Posted March 30, 2020 10 hours ago, Tooljunkie said: Cant be done without a helper. gravity bleeding wont work if master is below floor. i made a device to hold pedal down,as a replacement for helper. Its has worked for me. TY....have been using helper and bottle with tube as well. Quote
Johnny Reb Posted March 30, 2020 Author Report Posted March 30, 2020 4 hours ago, Dodgeb4ya said: If the major adjustment wasn't done or done right the pedal will feel rubbery, soft and low. Shoes really should be arced to each drum to do the job right . This for quick easy major adjustment. Shoes won't need wear in. High firm pedal feel. What major adjustment are you referring too?? Quote
TodFitch Posted March 30, 2020 Report Posted March 30, 2020 1 hour ago, Johnny Reb said: What major adjustment are you referring too?? the "heel" of the shoe has a round hole that fits over an eccentric bold. That bolt can be loosened and then rotated to move the heel of the shoe up and down as well as in and out. That motion is the "major adjustment". There is a cam that contacts the brake show about halfway between the heel pivot point and the brake cylinder. That is your "minor adjustment". Getting a copy of a service manual for your vehicle would be a good thing. These are not complicated vehicles but there are a number of items on them that are significantly different from modern vehicles so there can be a little bit of a learning curve. 2 Quote
Johnny Reb Posted March 31, 2020 Author Report Posted March 31, 2020 3 hours ago, TodFitch said: the "heel" of the shoe has a round hole that fits over an eccentric bold. That bolt can be loosened and then rotated to move the heel of the shoe up and down as well as in and out. That motion is the "major adjustment". There is a cam that contacts the brake show about halfway between the heel pivot point and the brake cylinder. That is your "minor adjustment". Getting a copy of a service manual for your vehicle would be a good thing. These are not complicated vehicles but there are a number of items on them that are significantly different from modern vehicles so there can be a little bit of a learning curve. Quote
Johnny Reb Posted March 31, 2020 Author Report Posted March 31, 2020 I know all that, what does that have to do with bleeding the brakes...???? Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted March 31, 2020 Report Posted March 31, 2020 These MoPar Lockheed brakes require bleeding dual front or dual rear wheel cylinders...bleed the lowers before the uppers. Your shop manual you should have shows all this info. Start out at the right rear as typical on to the lr, rf then lf. Retracting the cam shoe adjustment speeds up bleeding. Don't forget to re-adjust the minor shoe cam adjustment after bleeding. You might already know all this. BUT... Bleeding the brakes is done of course when you can get no more air out of the bleeders in most all cases. You won't get all the air out with a faulty M/cyl. , no M/cyl push rod free play, leaky lines or improper bleeding procedure. I assume you bled the system correctly and all the air is out. But still...The pedal is still spongy and too low...!!!! You MUST make sure each shoe lining contacts/matches the drum surface from heel to toe. Nearly 100% If the linings don't match the drum surface 100%...have the shoes arc'd to match each size brake drum. IT'S IMPORTANT! A Lockheed brake job must. Search on ways to do this. After the linings have been fitted/matched to each brake drum you do the "Major" brake adjustment. Search on how to do this...gauge required or chalk. It's now done and you should have a nice high firm brake pedal. 1 Quote
Young Ed Posted March 31, 2020 Report Posted March 31, 2020 10 hours ago, Johnny Reb said: I know all that, what does that have to do with bleeding the brakes...???? If you don't get that adjustment correct the brakes will still feel like they have air in them no matter how good you did on bleeding them. 1 Quote
Johnny Reb Posted April 4, 2020 Author Report Posted April 4, 2020 On 3/30/2020 at 11:27 AM, Dodgeb4ya said: If the major adjustment wasn't done or done right the pedal will feel rubbery, soft and low. Shoes really should be arced to each drum to do the job right . This for quick easy major adjustment. Shoes won't need wear in. High firm pedal feel. You were 100% correct.....TY Quote
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