For some reason my brake pedal seems limp. I remember back when I first got it the brakes were tight as could be. As soon as you pushed on the pedal like 1/4" it was stopping the truck. Well overtime the pedal kept moving further and further away. Last summer it went in for inspection and they replaced the rear wheel cylinders claiming they had a very small leak... Whatever so I paid for it to be done. Ever since then my brakes haven't been the same. It seems like I need to press my pedal down further and further than I think I should. I brought it back to the shop time after time and they eventually got fed up and over tightened the rear brakes so much that when I drove down the road... smoke came out of the wheel wells. Not cool! So... I drove back and they inspected the brake pads and claimed they were ok. Well... today I got the bright idea of replacing the rear brakes and drums so I did. I could apply the ebrake with medium pressure and put the truck in reverse and it would drive backwards. WTF, yeah so I replaced the brakes and drums. The ebrake is so much tighter now, It seems on occasion it wants to brake better... But what can I do to tighten up the pedal? I did the front brakes less than a year ago, but I do hear some squealing occassionally now. What do I have to do to get that firm pedal feel back?

 

Did you ever bleed the brakes? And if so, how did you do it?
I'll save the limp joke for later.

 

Yeah, I'd bleed clean fluid throughout the whole system. You might be surprised at how big of a difference it makes.

 

I didn't bleed the brakes because the shop who did the wheel cylinders blead them multiple times. (because I complained how I could put the pedal to the floor.) Brakes still dont seem solid so... yeah I guess the fluid is next. I bet I boiled that brake fluid after they cranked those rear shoes down so much and I overheated them. Main reason why I wanted to do the pads and drums. I wasn't sure if the fluid was the only thing that would fix the pedal. Haha, and thanks for holding off on the limp joke.

 

i would bleed the system myself to to be 100% sure
you could have a bubble in the master cylinders or a small leak in the lines

 

I bleed brakes using tubing that fits tight over the head of the bleed screw then forms an arc UP over the reardrum and into a catch container. Having the tubing arc UP as it leaves the bleeder keeps several inches of fluid above the bleeder so any air bubbles out of the fluid. I slowly push then slowly release the brake pedal several times then check the fluid level in the master cylinder and add as needed. If you have a helper, one can watch for bubbles and the other can pump the brake pedal.

 

Replace the rubber lines that connect to the calipers and wheel cylinders. They expand and stretch internally over time and you can't see it. To really firm them up, replace them with SS braided lines.

 

ha ha you have a limp problem no wonder you can't get laid

 

I vote to bleed the entire system using a helper (let's not go there! ).

If you have a spongy pedal, it's air in the system.