Frantic pumping on brake pedal

[RayLCC]

Before I tear into it I thought I'd ask what are all the things it might be. This F250 (given its broken down state we've jokingly nicknamed it "cream-puff") has no power brakes and drums all around. I took it on its first drive since I bought it and the brakes only seem to weakly grab in the last half-inch of the pedal travel before its floored. I found that by pumping the brake pedal three or more times I can build up decent pressure and it stops ok. ( I do realize that without discs or power brakes it won't stop like my Explorer. I just want it to have predictable brakes.) But it has to be pumped up before every stop. This makes for very adventurous driving. I checked the fluid, its full. I haven't looked at the brakes yet. What could be causing this. Could the brakes be that far out of adjustment? Thanks for any help you can offer.

[heep70]

I would first start by bleeding the brakes and at the same time look for leaks.

Have you notice that the fluid goes down in the master cylinder?

If bleeding fails to give you the right results. Then it is time to pull the drums and check the shoes and the wheel cylinders.

If everything is cool there then the o-rings in the MC are probably wasted. Time for a new MC.

Is the firewall wet around the MC? Check inside the cab and outside?

[67RED]

MAYBE YOU CAN adjust the brakes. mine brakes went down this past weekend. on the inside of the hub under the truck. there is a slot to adjust the brake on each wheel. best to raise the wheels off the ground. you will need a brake adjusting wrench. slide it in the slot.turn from the bottom up.turn wheel as you do this. as it tightens up the wheel will slow down. try to get the same on all four wheels.that will help a lot until you can get new brakes. hope this helps.

[FORDification]

The wise course of action would be to do both....before you take it back out on the road again. Check the brake shoes at all four corners and adjust/replace as necessary, then bleed the lines. Sounds to me like it's just air in the lines, but by checking/adjusting the shoes, at least you'll know where you stand in those areas.

[68F250]

You're gonna have fun checking the rear brakes on that Dana.

[RayLCC]

Great, thanks everyone. I'll get to checking the shoes when I get home. If they are like the rest of the truck, they probably need to be changed. The fun part about this is when I look back on it after the truck is restored, I'll wish I had video of my panic when I first stepped on the brake. That song Wolf Creek Pass by C.W. McCall comes to mind. Where Earl steps on the brake and it goes to the floor... And just kind of stays right there on the floor... Earl says its kinda like stepping on a plum.

[tubewatts]

Yeah, I had the same problem, it seemed as though there was air in the lines and no matter how I tried, I couldnt seem to bleed it enough....then it turns out it was all a matter of adjustment- needed new shoes and to adjust all the springs...the drum-only systems are very sensitive to slight mis-adjustments, in fact my rear auto-adjusters were removed sometime in the past and I can actually feel my brakes getting softer and softer over a couple of months to where they hit the floor, then a quick adjustments gets them rock-solid again....

[flyboy2610]

Here's something that may help you.
http://www.classictruckshop.com/brake_rebuild.asp

[RayLCC]

Here's something that may help you.
http://www.classictruckshop.com/brake_rebuild.asp

Cool! Thanks.

[flyboy2610]

You're welcome. Glad to help!

[RayLCC]

It's fixed. They were WAY out of adjustment. Thanks for the advice. Now all that has to be fixed is... everything.