OK guys,
Got em' fixed for real this time. I've logged 500 miles since the repair and they're f**king awesome! The truck stops at least 50% shorter than it ever has. In fact, it stops shorter than any vehicle I've ever driven. I'm thinking of calling Guiness...........almost threw me through the windsheild the first time I mashed on them. My buddy was with me, had an upset stomach that day and almost blew chunk it stopped so damn quick.
Here's what happened. The fittings on the lines from the master to combo valve and from combo to front brakes/RWAL hydraulics were shot (prior owner overtightened?), so when I installed the new combo valve the fittings wrecked the flares in the aluminum. That, and the master cylinder I bought was defective. Not wanting to fork out another $200 for another valve and master, I went to the junkyard and grabbed a combo valve+RWAL+master off a 93' truck. Different valve and RWAL design, but fully compatible with older system. Cost me 20 bucks!
Replumbed the lines from master to combo, from combo to front-T and RWAL to rear union, put her all together, and voila, amazing brakes. My pedal is kinda low and kinda mushy , but the brakes are amazing, so I'm not gunna screw with it anymore.
Here's my final diagnosis. Original culprit was Combo valve. After replacing combo , the front brakes were hydraulically locked due to faulty master and the rears had air in them because of the fitting between the combo and RWAL hydraulics. After replacing these parts the problem was solved.
In sum, here's what was done:
1) New calipers (bleeders on old ones snapped after 1st master replacement) 2) New front flex hoses (old looked pretty crappy, figured what the hell, might as well) 3) New master (junkyard) 4) New combo valve (junkyard) 5) New ABS hydraulics (junkyard) 6) New line from combo to front-T 7) New line from RWAL to rear union 8) New lines from master to combo 9) New rear flex hose 10) New steel lines from rear flex to wheel cylinders 11) New Wheel cylinders (old one sheared off, taking the brake line with it) 12) 2.5 gallons of brake fluid. 13) 2 cases of beer 14) 1 carton of smokes 15) 3 years off my lifeTake er' easy,
Doc