Brakes driving me insane

Hi everyone, first post here so expect me to be dumb.

Just got a 97 K1500, 4x4, Dana 44E front axle, 16" combined suspension and body lift, 5.7 350.

Anyways, so I did all the expected routine maintenance items (oil change, spark plugs, distributor cap, couple of sensors and valves) and I got to bleeding and replacing the brake fluid.

That was a dumb move.

Bled fine, put new fluid in, all of a sudden no pedal! So I bleed again. And again. And again.

After about 9 bleeds, I realize I'm not getting anywhere.

So, doing what any reasonable person would do, I try to bleed the ABS. Did that 6 times, no dice. So I pulled it and plumbed in a Wilwood proportioning valve, bled another couple times, still no pedal. Great.

Bought a new master cylinder, bench bled it, put that in. No change.

Figured, what the hell, burning money on this anyway, got a new booster and put that in. Nope.

Figured, oh jeez, maybe it's the drum cylinders? So, I swapped those out. Also, no.

So, yeah, I'm here now feeling dumber than a sack of pebbles and 2 months in to a "project" that should've taken an afternoon.

Anyone got any recommendations as to what I can do? Considering an upgrade to a GMT800 master (if anyone has a link to a good one, please send it, I'll probably buy it) and a new booster (the Chinese one I bought broke).

Also, HOW DO I GET TO THE ADJUSTERS IN THE DRUMS? THEY'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DRUM!

Pic related, gonna take the body lift off soon

Sticky calipers? Shoes not adjusted? Take the drums off and adjust the shoes so there’s some resistance. Put some grease on the backing plate bosses so the shoes can move easily. Are the hoses from the hard line to the calipers new or old? Is the rear drop hose new or old? You’ve got air somewhere.

I went through this albeit I don’t have a SAS, and it ended up being mostly caused by the shoes not being adjusted.

You have to take the drums off to adjust them.

Are you getting clean, clear, bubble free fluid at all 4 corners? What bleed procedure are you doing?

After the last few bleeds, yes, the fluid is bubble free.

fancyTBI said:

Sticky calipers? Shoes not adjusted? Take the drums off and adjust the shoes so there’s some resistance. Put some grease on the backing plate bosses so the shoes can move easily. Are the hoses from the hard line to the calipers new or old? Is the rear drop hose new or old? You’ve got air somewhere.

I went through this albeit I don’t have a SAS, and it ended up being mostly caused by the shoes not being adjusted.

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Hoses are all old, I think? Third or fourth hand vehicle.

Can I adjust the drums by backing up and hitting the e-brake? My drums are behind some spacer adapters that are held together with locktite, they are a nightmare to get off.

Do you recommend replacing all of the flex hose lines and bleeding again?

Orpedcrow said:

You have to take the drums off to adjust them.

Are you getting clean, clear, bubble free fluid at all 4 corners? What bleed procedure are you doing?

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Passenger rear, driver rear, passenger front, driver front. Was using a vacuum bleeder for a while but I figured out if I just pumped, put a breaker bar in between the pedal and the driver's seat, it would do the job.

good read here regarding rears..Schurkey's knowledge always worth noting.

fwiw....I was pretty impressed with just gravity bleeding my 93....

ArthelWatson said:

Hoses are all old, I think? Third or fourth hand vehicle.

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They collapse internally and fail, thus restricting fluid flow. Are they cracked or worn? If you can source them, I’d replace.

ArthelWatson said:

After the last few bleeds, yes, the fluid is bubble free.

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Sounds like shoes…

ArthelWatson said:

Can I adjust the drums by backing up and hitting the e-brake? My drums are behind some spacer adapters that are held together with locktite, they are a nightmare to get off

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Technically you adjust the shoes. And if your drums are behind a spacer that’s held on with loctite that doesn’t sound ideal for maintenance. Can you eliminate that?

Welcome to the forum from Oregon.

Your second sentence says 16" combined lift but the picture tells me 6".

It took you 9 brake bleed attempts to figure out you were not getting anywhere. I always figure that out on attempt 7 or 8.

You got an extra bag of money that I can have. You have definitely fired the parts cannon at this lifted truck.

I have always had problems with trucks with those hoods.

I wish you luck and this is an enjoyable read.

ArthelWatson said:

Anyone got any recommendations as to what I can do? Considering an upgrade to a GMT800 master (if anyone has a link to a good one, please send it, I'll probably buy it)

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No, on the gmt 800 master, it turns into it's own disaster of mis-matched components.

This whole exercise was a good lesson of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it till it is"