I have 10x2.5" drums in front and 9" drums in back. M/C is manual style. I have been having less than satisfactory braking (feels like air in lines- intermittantly pulls to the right and often feels like I am pressing through medium resistance for top half of pedal travel before it feels hard and brakes.)

So I figured it was probably a combination of the front right being adjusted tighter than the front left, and air in the lines too. I have new rubber lines, new wheel cyls, new master cyl, some new hard lines.

I evened the adjusters out, gravity bled the whole system, and then did it again corner by corner from farthest to closest to m/c with a helper pumping up the brakes.


What I noticed was that when bleeding the brakes, the front part of the master cylinder was the only fluid that drained out! does this mean that I have a bad m/c? Also alarming was the giant puddle under the front right drum when I gravity bled the system- I didn't think I opened it more than the other bleeders?

The fix I did seemed good for most of my trip home from where I worked on the car (35 miles, city and highway) but when I got near home the car started pulling hard right pretty consistantly. i'm ready to pull out my hair! I did everything but control arm bushings- I didn't notice any play in them when I pried at them when the knuckles shox and torsion bars were off a couple months ago. Could be wrong?

Also I noticed that both shoes were starting to crack- would this affect braking, or is it a symptom of another problem?

thanks for anybody with helpful suggestions.

Kevin in philly

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madam im adam

Cracked shoes usually mean that either they are getting too hot, possibly because they are adjusted to tightly, or they are made of inferior materials, or both. The rear chamber of the MC typically feeds the front brakes and the front chamber the rear brakes. If fluid appears to be drawn only from the front chamber it is probably leaking past the piston and being drawn into the rear chamber. A replacement or rebuild is probably in order.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.