Thanks for all the help guys, I THINK I've got it figured out. I ran a vacuum test on the brake booster as outline in in service manual, and it held vacuum just fine. I think the bad test on the check valve by itself was due to cheap crappy fittings. Plus, I get solid pressure when the truck is off, and was only getting the spongy pedal while running. All other testing seemed to indicate that the master cylinder and booster were OK. I pulled the MC and there was no fluid leakage either.

So, after another round of bleeding, and still no change this morning, while I had the rear end up on jack stands, I decided to throw it into gear just for S&G and watched the wheels in my mirror, while lightly pressing the brakes, One wheel stopped and the other was spinning freely.

So.... seems that my stoopid self forgot to fully adjust the rears when I put everything back together.

That being said, the pedal still feels a bit loose, but that may just be my imagination since I took the truck for a road test and everything seemed fine.

 

Hee!

Sometimes the simplest things cause the biggest problems! *grins*

RwP

 

A somewhat quick, unorthodox way of checking if the adjusters are set properly, is to slightly set the emergency brake, then drive and try the brakes. If the brake pedal is up , then the brake adjusters are likely out of adjustment.
You said it is much better, but it may be your imagination but the pedal still seems a little loose. Not meaning to beat a dead horse, but when you bleed the brakes again, did you vacuum bleed or pressure bleed?

 

Yes well, the problem with that, is that my E-brake cables are rusted out/snapped... O_O
yet another set of parts on my short list.

I did not Vacuum or pressure bleed the last time. I put a hose in the bottom of a 32 oz bottle, filled the bottom with fluid to make sure the end of the hose stays covered. Attached the other end to the bleeder valve. Pumped enough fluid into the bottle to fill it at each wheel. Yes, I poured the fluid from the bottle back into the M/C, but I only did this because I knew I was already working with all new clean fluid.

Normally I would never reuse fluid like that, but as fresh and clean as this stuff was, I felt it was not a big deal.

After driving to work the past few nights, the brakes are indeed working fine, and I am confident that the looseness was indeed in my head.

 

Glad to here everything is ok now!! FWIW the rear anti-lock device? If it is the same as mine, it was mounted to the frame and had an arm that attached to the leaf spring? (sorry, its been a few years since I fooled with it)
Well mine was seized up. Couldn't find a new one anywhere. I bypassed it, and ran the brake line direct from the proportioning valve to the rear brake hose.
I have noticed that on a wet road the rear end will lock up quicker then it did before, but considering that the part is not available, I really didn't have any other choice.
Again, glad you got yours fixed.

 

On mine, the rear anti-lock device was directly under the Master Cylinder (kind of a blocky chunk of aluminum) There was nothing mounted to the frame for the rear brake line.

However, one problem I did run into at the rear axle was with the axle vent hose. The little nipple that holds down the metal distribution block was rusted to the old rear brake line block. After several attempts to remove it, the hex head was well rounded and I was no close to removing it. So in order to get the old line out of the way, I took a hack saw to the nipple and cut just the hex head off. This allowed me to remove the old rubber brake line off of the axle and easily unscrew the rest of the vent nipple from the axle. (was basically the shaft of a banjo bolt once the nipple end was hacked off)

Now, I couldn't find a replacement locally, So I drilled out and tapped some threads into the inside of the bolt. I took an old bleeder screw, drilled out the hole a little wider and threaded that into the remainder of the axle vent.

Problem solved...

 

That's not the rear anti-lock device, that's the weight-sensitive proportioning valve (reduces braking if you're partially loaded).

The unit is calibrated for specific combos - swapping to another one, according to the FSM, can cause rear brakes that don't, or that lock up too soon.

But you're right, if it's broken and NLA, you just have to go on.

RwP

 

Greetings Ya'll!

This noise heard when applying the brakes?

This may sound stupid, .... But "Hissing", & in my case "Whooshing" noise, when the brakes are applied.... That is Abnormal?

 

So this may be a stupid question, but I've always bled the brakes by pumping the pedal... have I been doing it wrong? I didn't know you needed a vacuum or pressure bleeder.

A question for the original poster:
For the steel brake lines, did you find a kit where they were already flared and pre-bent or did you do it yourself? I have to redo all my steel lines and having a kit would make it a lot faster

 

If loud enough, it is abnormal, and means the booster is failing.

And bad news, if the booster is failing, most times (I read once it was something like 83%, but that number is suspect due to my Olde Phart Memory(tm) ) it's the master cylinder leaking due to failing seals, and leaking brake fluid into the booster, which then rots the rubber out.

So plan on both.

Also if it is like my 1988, and the vacuum check valve is what plugs into the booster, get a new one of those in case it's shot too.

RwP