Brake issue. Intermittent Low speed lock ups.

brapamaldi

Howdy,

My B2000 has started having brake issues. It doesn't happen all the time, but when I am slowing down and have the clutch dissengaged while pressing the brakes, occasionally one or more wheels will lock up. It's starting to scare drivers around me as I use commercial tyres which tend to squeal when locked up. Its almost like the brakes go from average power to super strength at random times.

In what order should I start investigating. The brakes work fine otherwise. I was thinking it may be a broken spring in the rear drums, but thought I'd ask for advice in advance in the case they all turn out to be ok.

MazdaMitch

brapamaldi Is it the REAR thats locking up? You didnt say exactly.
One wheel or both?
If it is, I would definitely investigate the rear, but pulling the drums and having a look.

Cusser

Also: have you ever replaced the flexible brake hoses? They can swell internally as they age.

brapamaldi

i havent been able to work out if its front or back to be honest. i did notice it pulled to one side, so seems its one side only. need to work out how to pinpoint which wheel is locking up .

i haven't replaced the brake hoses. was thinking about getting some braided lines at some point, maybe that point should be now, lol

MazdaMitch

If its pulling it could definitely be the front. The caliper could be sticking.

brapamaldi

MazdaMitch

yeah i have a feeling its the front as a rear wheel wouldnt pull to the side i wouldnt think.

main problem is that it is very intermittent. could be trouble free for days and then out of the blue it may happen one time or several and then no issues for a while.

otherwise it would be as simple as a quick drive on grass, press the pedal and ID which wheel is locking up making skid marks, lol.

will start checking it corner by corner till I can work out what the issue is.
thanks for the suggestions, gives me a few things too look into.

at worst i'll work it out, at best the whole brake system gets a rebuild.
probably not a bad idea on a 30+ year old car to be honest.

Axel-Breaker-Earl

One of your calipers in the front probably has rust inside the bore, and it is sticking. Typically it is the side that it is pulling to. You will need to rebuild it, or replace it.......if this is the case. If one of them is sticking, the caliper, rotor and wheel will become HOT during a short drive with a few stops mixed in.

Cusser

If the brake master cylinder or booster was replaced recently, it's possible that there's too little free play there if it wasn't adjusted correctly then.

brapamaldi

Cusser

only things replaced recently are the clutch slave and the clutch master.

kz6fittycent

Well I just had the same issue. My front left caliper just locked up yesterday and was causing me to swerve into the oncoming lane unless I REALLY eased into the brakes.

Anyhooz - just ordered both calipers, new rotors, pads, brake lines, and even all four shocks from RockAuto this morning. Unfortunately, parts won't be here until Friday. That sort of puts a hamper on running errands w/ my own truck this week.

Axel-Breaker-Earl

Mee too! But I already have one side done......Calipers, Pads, & Rotors all new.......on my friends truck that I swapped the engine into his auto trans truck. His rotors were rough......I broke both bleeders off on his old calipers, after heating several times with a torch......tried to find 2 decent calipers in all of my parts, and I do have several good LEFT's but the RIGHT ones were just as bad as his old ones.
So I just ordered all new!

kz6fittycent

Axel-Breaker-Earl I had one of those "might as well" kinds of moments w/ this - plus, I would rather rip the band-aid off with all the hair once w/ this. The rod bearing replacement taught me something about myself; I'm not getting any younger.

kz6fittycent

Got my new calipers in - painted w/ some VHT caliper paint. No, I don't like red calipers unless they're legit (e.g. Brembos or something). Anyway, still waiting for the other parts to show up. Just posting for fun.

Axel-Breaker-Earl

Which calipers did you get from RA? I wound up going with Amazon for my buddy's truck.....altogether was $121.00 for both......they got here quicker than RA (actually a day quicker than they were scheduled), and matched my timeline for getting them installed. I did get the RA Raybestos rotors and pads though.

It took me about 5-6 hours (not working fast at all though) just to clean all of the built up grime off of the wheel hubs, while trying to keep the debris out of the newer wheel bearings that a previous owner must have installed, or had installed. I did have to replace a damaged lug nut stud in the Driver's side.......along with the newer dust seal that was hammered in place by whoever did the previous work on this truck! The concentric "lugs" were also cut/ground off on these lugs at some point.......and you could see the results of the grinding wheel/disc on the rest of the lug studs!
Gotta love it!

kz6fittycent

Axel-Breaker-Earl Which calipers did you get from RA?

I got FVP14145032 & FVP14145031. I was curious about who "FVP" is, and after some research, found out they're Wagner. The choices for a factory replacement for BOTH sides was limited, and so was my budget, so I got them.

I looked at the ones on Amazon, too. However, these FVP's were $24.99 ($25.00 core) and $25.79 ($25.00 core) respectively. It seemed like a good deal and they appear to be good reman's, at least to my eyes.

kz6fittycent

Here's the whole order, in case you're curious about the other parts I got: