That doesn't sound good. I doubt these have ever been done in the 99k miles the truck has on it. I hope they don't break off. If they do what do you do? Should I put anti seeze on them and the new ones on the new caliper also?

 

Dammit. My eyes glazed over and I was skimming the rest of the responses.

 

Yes you should Anti-seize all the lines and bleeders and bolts that hold the caliper on. When they break off, you have to pull the wheel and take the Wheel cylinder out and try to get the little bastard out

 

I did that also, when i read your post, I was like... hmmm, wait...

I hate doing brakes, because I usually have to get my wife to help with the bleeding of the brakes. you can do it alone, but its a pain in the ****.

 

here's my .02
the plastic bag is just to catch fluid drip and reduce mess.
plan to completely flush the m/c and lines of all old fluid by bleeding after you are done. it will take between 1 and 2 qts.
spray the rear wheel cyl bleeders w/ pb blaster or wd40. then crack them open with a good socket. they will be fine - thats what they are for. if they do break, just replace them, they're only about $10-15. i'd just go ahead and do the rear shoes and cylinders too.
i bleed with the help of an assistant on the pedal, me on the bleeder, with a wrench and a piece of hose over the end to drain fluid into bucket. assitant pumps up pedal and holds. you open the bleeder and hold it open. pedal goes to floor and hold it there. you close bleeder. repeat many times. start at rear. refill fluid after ever 6 or 8 squirts. do not let m/c go empty.

 

Not that I'm aware of.

 

If they do break how hard is it to get the wheel cylinder off? I've never messed with drum brakes but have done several sets of disc brakes.

Also how do I make sure I get fluid to the front brakes? I was told to make sure they had fluid before I started trying to bleed the rear.

 

if you break the rear wheel cyl nipple , then you gotta take the rear drum off take the brake shoes off and there is 2 bolts holding the wheel cyl on.. bleeding the front is the same as the rear....brake dressing spay some on the pads...

 

This is a very simple job to do if you have a helper.

First, start work only on level ground. If not, air bubbles can possibly get trapped in high points of the system.

Second, make sure that you have plenty of extra brake fluid.

Third, start working with a full master cylinder, and constantly check to make sure your master cylinder doesn't go past the low mark. Keep it absolutely full until the max mark after you bleed each line.

Fourth, replace the parts your working on and either bleed the whole system, or just the front of the system. Remember though, if there's any leak in your brake system, the line where the leak was must be bled. Whenever you open your brake lines it's necessary to bleed the brakes to remove any possible air bubbles that may have gotten in, otherwise your likely to have braking problems.

Fifth, start working from the farthest point away from the master cylinder and work your way to the closest.

Sixth, find some long clear rubber tubes that fit tightly over the bleeder valve nipples in order to use them to capture any fluid that you'll drain from your brake system. By the way, on my 99 Ram the bleeder nipples aren't the same size on the front and back, so be sure that you have one universal tube for both front and back, or just two seperate tubes.

Seventh, have someone sit in the driver seat and while they're there, have that person pump the breaks 3 times and, on the third pump, have that person hold the pedal all the way down. Now slide that clear tube over the bleeder nipple and put the other end of the tube into a collection bucket or bottle. Crack open the line your starting on and let the fluid escape. Watch for any air bubbles that may come out. Close that line up once again to make airtight, and repeat the, pump pump, pump and hold, pumping process 2 more times. If any air bubbles were seen coming through that clear tube, continue the pumping process until your certain there is no air in the line. The goal is to get fresh clean fluid to come out the line without any air.

Eigth, Make sure the master cylinder is full as can be, and do all of this bleeding hooplah on every line your bleeding.

 

How do I make sure I have the bolt turned the right direction for the fluid to flow through it? It doesn't have a letter or anything on it like dirtbikes do. It had 3 lines on the head like a normal bolt does and it seems to be inbetween two of them but once you have the bolt in you can't tell which 2 it is.