Ok, running out of options here and trying to figure out exactly what is going on with my brakes. Here are some of the specifics...

'98 Dakota Sport - 5.2L 4WD Manual - Rear ABS - 100K Miles - Original Owner been in Ohio all of its life - No significant upgrades

Long history short-
Jan 08 - Original Master Cylinder bit it, replaced with reman from AdvanceAuto

Dec 08 - Master Cylinder eats it again, all of my brake fluid disappears, but can't find where. Turns out it was being sucked into the vacuum booster whenever it got below freezing. Lifetime warranty on the reman. gets me another one which installs fine.

Two weeks later - Driving down the road, press the brakes and the brake warning lights go off and the performance is horrendous. Pressing the pedal once is more of a suggestion to stop rather that actually doing it. Finally get a chance to replace it yesterday and go with a new master cylinder this time. I now have bled it three times, flushing at least 1 liter of brake fluid through the system, probably closer to two. The brakes work, but barely.

I have looked in most places but have found no leaks in the system. Most of the lines "look" okay, but the truck is more than 10 years old. Anyone have any ideas on what the problem could be? Could the ABS be causing some of these issues? I'm thinking I'm going to go ahead and replace all of the brake lines, hard and flexible, but haven't found any options other than some sort of stock OEM from my quick searches. Suggestions for brake lines and other potential problems would be greatly appreciated. I know my son is ready to go out and play in the mud puddles and so am I.

Derek

 

How about power bleeding it?
My replaced the master cylinder on my wife's car a while back and bled and bled the brakes and still got barely any pressure. It must have gotten an air pocket in the system somewhere that I couldn't get out. The shop I took it to took care of that the the brakes worked perfectly again.

 

I bled the brakes using both the traditional method and a MityVac. After driving it a little, the brakes are working better. Better still after I turned in over 400 lbs. of scrap metal that were sitting in the back. However, I am still not satisfied with the feel of the brake pedal. I've been trying to locate some nice SS flex lines, but the Dodge Dakota "uniqueness" factor seems to be kicking in. The pads and rotors are reasonably new and I think my quest for performance would be better served by replacing/upgrading the lines as they have never been done. Any suggestions on a place to get something decent besides OEM brake lines?

Derek

 

..... viper brakes.....