Recently when I have gone to drive my '97 4runner I have noticed that the brake pedal is rock hard when I go to start the car. It is a stick v6, I recently replaced the master and the slave cylinder to fix a weird feeling clutch. When driving the car, occasionally the pedal is hard (like when I go to start it) and braking performance is non-existent. I did blow out a rusty brake line in the summer, but it is full of fluid and there are no leaks under the car.

This is not a real "problem" for me as I do not need to go back into the office on a daily basis, but the day is soon coming when I need to go into the office everyday and cannot take the BMW as it is RHD and I need to access a gate on the way in and out of the parking garage. I have read some threads saying it is the booster as it is most likely the original and the 4Runner has 280k+ on it, I believe that to be the culprit. I have had success when I blip the throttle before I go to put in the clutch and then blip it when I start to brake, but that is a bandaid for a cut that requires stitches.

Does this match up to other owners experience, and if it does, which brand is recommended as a replacement?