Okay, I need some help on this issue.
In the morning while braking, the pedal would be a little soft and as I apply more pressure they would suddenly grab quick and snap me and everything else forward. After that initial "morning" necksnap, the brakes would be fine for the rest of the day. It seemed only to happen after sitting allnight long. Then my gas mileage plummeted by 3-4 MPG and I realized I was dragging. So after searching the forum, I concluded that I would replace the the front rubber brakelines (mine were stamped mfg. 5/98) and flush/bleed the fluid so it would all be new. It is still doing the same thing but not just in the morning but all the time. I can pump the brake and get a pretty good pedal out of it, but for the most part it is soft to a point as pressure is applied and then it grabs all of a sudden like I am stomping on the pedal. Any suggestions or trouble shooting I can do??

 

the dragging could be a sticking brake caliper, is it pulling to one side or the other? if you have a dragging brake the one that is dragging should be hot compared to the others.

 

Hey shrp, thanks for weighing in.
Forgot to mention, when I replaced the front rubber lines, the dragging stopped.
It never did pull to one side or the other when it was dragging, although it felt like I was riding the brake. When put in gear it would not move forward or back without hitting the gas.
When I shot the infrared at them they read around 375 degrees, they both were within 5 degrees of each other.
So it rolls fine now. Just has that damn grab!

 

do you find that you get alot of dew at night? bc when wet mine do the same thing that yours do, you hit the brakes and the water acts like lubricant for a rev or two and then after its wiped off the pads grab, by this point you have applied more pressure than you normally would and feel like you slammed on the brakes.

 

Hey shrp, yeah I had a sebring that would do this and man the squeal it would make as the rust came off for nails on a chalk board. Anyway this is different than that, it stays like this all day it never goes away.

 

Just a thought. Do you think its possible that some bits of rubber came off the interior of the rubber hose when I changed em and they are now in the calipers?

 

i would say it is definitely possible, i can confirm or deny for sure, but it makes sense to me

 

Heres an update,

i replaced the rear rubber hose today as I read alot of probs come from that. the problem still exists.

Front brakes only until it catches and throws me forward as the rears engage.

The rears are 1 year old, all NAPA premium shoes drums and full replacement hardware with the self adjusting dowels.

One thing I did notice was after stripping the bleeder nut, I pulled the tire for better access to replace it with a new one and the drum came off very easy. I just replaced them a year ago I know but there was no resistance as if the wheel cylinder wasnt putting pressure on the shoes, which is strange because when I bled this wheel there was good pressure from the bleeder screw.

Any Ideas for my old mule would be greatly appreciated!

 

Being a year on the rear, a easy pull off isnt too surprising but next time try having someone step on the brake when you have the drum off to see if its working. People have so many ways to adjust their rear when replacing components but im more old school and using a brake tool, drum/tire on, i spin the tire and adjust till i feel a little drag then back it off a little. Did you bleed the whole system when you replaced?

 

Did you bleed the whole system when you replaced?[/quote]


I bled the rear system when I changed the new rear hose, however I will do it again and the whole system as I cant remember if I relieved the vacuum before I opened it up.

Thanks for chiming in