My 99 Ram 1500 V-8 over the past month or so has lost almost all of the brake pedal and when I try to stop goes almost all the way to the floor. Has new pads and rear shoes. If I pump the brakes I have good brake pedal. Thought it might be the master cylinder and changed it today but no help.
Someone said it might be the brake booster. Any ides and comments appreciated.
Thanks

 

do you have a bad line? specifically between the gas tank and frame?

 

I would try replacing the check valve on the booster first before I spent the big $$$ on a new brake booster. It's the hard plastic piece the hose from the intake manifold attaches to on the booster. Sometimes they can be a bear to get out but just keep twisting and pulling and it will come out. You can pick one up at about parts store.

Spraying a little WD40 around the rubber while twisting and pulling on the check valve will help. Good luck.

 

Not a booster problem. If the brakes pump up, and work normally for a bit, you either have the rears out of adjustment, (simple fix....) or, a leak in the system somewhere. Evidently, not that bad of a leak though. Look for evidence of fluid on the side of the gas tank, and also on the back side of the tires.

 

as i was reading your post and you said they get better with pump up, i was thinking master cylinder.

but assuming you bled everything properly and the new master cylinder made no difference... what about calipers and wheel cylinders? if their seals are a little weak, they'll "pump up"

did you adjust your rears up snug ? the proportioning valve won't clamp down the fronts until you get some rear pressure.

 

Are you still have this issue...I have the same issues..can't find any fixes..just people guessing...I did tighten my intake manifold bolts
seem to fix it for about 6months now its back...going to change my intake gaskets..tomorrow

 

I would suggest you start a thread in the section designated for your model truck. This is a 14 year old thread. Start by describing what your problem is and we can go from there.

 

No pedal after replacing front pads and calipers, master cylinder and booster vacuum check valve, rear shoes, slave cylinders and fluid lines.
Parking brake cable was rusted and useless, 86'ed the bracket.can't:
a. Get enough pedal to bleed the lines
b. get the rear shoes to align with the top pivot point or the cylinder adapters.
​​​​c. move the shoes in or out manually after loosening or tightening the adjuster

I ordered the shoes that the AutoZone app recommended, 11 inch. But after looking at the Mopar catalog, I'm finding there is a 13" version that was also used in '97. Based on the wonky fashion the 11" shoes fit, I'm pretty sure this is my issue. However, I cannot find a part number for the 13" shoes.
Feedback, please??

 

All I am showing is 11 inch. The heavier trucks got the larger brakes. Can you post a pic of what things look like? (partially assembled please....)

 

I looked at Rockauto.com and didn't find any alternate rear brake shoes, however, you can download the parts manual for your year truck here and have a look to see if indeed there are different brake shoes for your year truck here - https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...s-manuals.html

The factory part numbers should be available here and will likely cross over to any aftermarket brake shoes that might be available. Good luck..

Lastly, if you haven't fixed the parking brake cable, you will need to fix it to properly replace your rear brake shoes. The parking brake cables are still available in the aftermarket along with parking brake hardware.