Freeway sudden stop! - brakes didn't work - '69 f250

[alvald83]

I had a scary moment the other day coming home from work . Moving about 60 mph in traffic, my lane came to a stop very fast. I hit my brakes hard ('69 f250) and started to slow quickly, then i felt the feeling that i had no brakes at all. Is this just the feeling of these old brakes or is there something that can be done. My brakes seem to work fine otherwise. I do have front and rear drums. Any ideas? Al

[forrestbump]

Check the fluid level in your Master Cylinder... is it FULL? Any signs that brake fluid is leaking at each or any of the wheel cylinders? You'll see traces of wet fluid on the backing plates after your truck has sat for a while.

Any signs of fluid leaks throughout the entire hydraulic system? Check the condition of all the lines, junction blocks and brake hoses. You're looking for worn, leaking or crushed hard lines and frayed brake hoses.

Have you inspected your shoes and drums lately? Any signs of glazing (they'll look shiny)? How about wear... any signs of gouging or deep cuts in either the shoes or drums?

Hardware inside your brake drums intact, complete and NOT broken or missing?

These are the main components of your truck's braking system and should be throughly checked out BEFORE you take it out for another white knuckle drive.

I'd rather be the fastest stopper then the fastest goer.

[67 428 F250]

Hey Al, I have a 67 F250 4x2 that dad bought new in 67, and the breaks had always faded to soon especialy with a load. It was always a problem until a couple of months ago, I converted to power disk brakes from my 68 Camper Special.
Will

[fordman]

i vote for brake fade due to heat on the brakes shoes and them being drum brakes too. they just arent as good at stopping as disc brakes.

[Whateverman]

i vote for brake fade due to heat on the brakes shoes and them being drum brakes too. they just arent as good at stopping as disc brakes.

my 2 worst ever brake fade experiences - both with close to new drums,shoes,& hardware - :
ripping down a steep mt highway (Coquahalla Hwy) in early april , overloaded and doing 85 mph, downshifting & trying futily to slow down before the snowshed ( which is a big corner) get mud sprayed on the windshield by a passing tanker (and i'm out of washer fluid of course) and end up not only with zero brakes but going in to the corner blind -ended up passing the same tanker sideways sprintcar style
rolling down into Kamloops in the BC interior empty,missing a turnoff because of the hotties in a convertable that i was passing,ended up going down a LONG steep grade into town ( at about 35 mph) & smoked out the brakes, all i could do was hang on and blast the horn ,got cut off by a taxi & had to swerve up on the busy sidewalk,just missed a bus shelter and probably half the towns people ,then careened thru a gas station's landscaping ,whistled by the pumps and ended up in the garden next to the air & water hoses ( even with the water it took over 1/2 an hour to cool the brakes which were smoking and probably close to igniting ) - a cop saw the whole taxi episode and nailed the cabbie to the wall

[ford4x4fun]

I vote the heat build up from the stop as well... Drums just get hot.

I had a similar story with my 71 F100, except mine was caused by a sh!tty mechanic. They put a new master cylinder on my truck. Instead of putting on the correct adapters for the new master cylinder they switched the lines. Big bowl going to the back (drum) bakes, little bowl going to the front (disk) brakes. I had my motorcycle in the back and came around a blind corner on a KY creek road. I was only running about 40 MPH, there where 2 cars in front of me. The first one was making a left hand turn waiting on on coming traffic. Behind them was a van with a whole family in it. I remember the three little heads in the back seat like it happened 2 seconds ago. I touched my brakes, the back tires grabbed, and all I could do from there was downshift and drive. I missed the by about 6 inches, ran into a ditch smacked a boulder with my back PS tire. That through me into a cliff, that took my mirror, and caused damage on the PS of the truck. Popped back out of the ditch and coasted out of the road into a driveway. The guy in the Van cape whipping up behind me like he was pissed. My hands where shaking and I was feeling nauseous because I had come so close to killing a whole family. I was standing by the bed of my truck thinking I might have to punch some dude in the head for having road rage.

He ended up thanking me for pretty much sacrificing myself, and being quick enough to avoid everything. Saying it was the best oh sh!t driving he had ever seen, and kept thanking me for not hitting his family. I checked my truck out right there in the driveway, and after tracing the lines to the proportion valve I realized what the a-holes that worked on my truck had done. I nursed the truck into town, got the correct adapters and my brakes have been decent since than. I know it isn't really related to your problem but thought I would share!