How so, if your pedal/hydraulics are in no way tied to the cable?
Granted I don't have drum brakes memorized.

If your ebrake cable is loose and doesn't move the brake shoes when you pull it, then the autoadjusters on the drums don't do their job, and you can end up with weird pedal feel due to the longer shoe travel that then causes.

EDIT: The same thing can happen if you just don't use your parking brake.

I have seen the bellcranks frozen and the cable seized which will not let the adjuster auto adjust the rear brake shoes. If this happens or you don't ever backup using your e brake on occasion The shoes continue to slowly wear down increasing your pedal travel because the wheel cylinders have to more fluid to move to apply the brakes in the drums.

Before, I fixed my emergency brake properly, I would check my rear drums ( every 5K miles ) to make sure they slightly dragged. If they didn't I would manually adjust the brake adjuster to keep my pedal decent.

Now if you are sitting at a stoplight with your foot on the brake pedal stopped. With you feeling the pedal creeping to the floor slowly moving. Mostly that is caused by seeping o rings on your master cylinder plunger itself.

Obviously...

The drums are mechanically adjusted by using the parking brake. The shoes can 'over retract' and cause excessive pedal travel if not adjusted correctly. It also feels very odd when it does this.

-Charlie

Had the same issue. Pedal travel to the floor. Brakes only grabbed in last 1/4 of travel and couldn’t get it to ABS. One drum was like 1mm off the shoes. Other one wouldn’t even come off. Adjusted both about 4-5 clicks and totally fixed the issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yup it doesn't take much of adjustment either. I really expect half of the spongy brakes are simply not adjusted rear drum brakes.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

The rod moves and you can hear the master cylinder pedal travel but nothing happens till the bottom 1/4 like everyone else said. Its enough to scare everyone who drives the car.

I grabbed an ABS actuator at the yard.

I suspect it is probably just air in the ABS module but ill see what happens.

I have all the tools and time to crack the old ABS module open, harass me till that happens.

If you didn't follow the bleeding procedures I posted to a T - especially the master bleeding portion - it is a bleeding issue, not an ABS issue. The extra little bit on the side of master works with the rear drum brakes for better brake feel, but if it is not bled correctly it RUINS brake function/feel, just like you described.

-Charlie

I bench bled (bottle with a tube in it) the junkyard ABS module with the gf's help and installed it. Bled the brakes and it is absolutely fixed, there is almost no travel in the pedal before they engage.

Most likely air. I took it out and engaged the ABS a few times and its still perfect.


If i were to do it again i'd remove all the lines on my factory ABS module and bench bleed it. When i tapped on the little circles on the sides of the module i got more bubbles out. They seemed to displace fluid when tapped on which let me get all the bubbles out.

When I replaced the cracked front hoses on my 97 Project I had killer pedal feel until I went and activated the ABS in the rain. Pedal went soft instantly. It took me three times to not have a difference in pedal feel after brake activation.

Edit: I’ll also add that my 94 Dodge Ram Service Manual specifically says not to pump the brakes before opening the bleeder. Because it takes one big air bubble and turns it into millions of tiny air bubbles.

It says to open bleeder-depress pedal-tighten bleeder-release pedal. That’s how I’ve been doing it since I read that in 1996 until I got my pressure bleeder.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's how I've always bled brakes. There is no advantage to pumping the brakes during the bleeding process. It only creates more bubbles and potentially migrates them up toward the master.

So, to resurrect and add to this post...

('96 SR5)
I've been dealing with this myself. It seemed to be getting worse so "assumed" the MC was leaking down. After 370k miles, I could understand. I have done the TBU, using Powerstop calipers/pads so it made sense to me that there may be a little more travel to start but it was getting softer.

Changed out the MC (no, not OEM, the Horror!). Bench bled, did a pressure bleed with a Motive system. Didn't seem to help. Checked rear brakes and made sure they were adjusted correctly. Re-bled with the Motive with engine running. Steady clean stream of fluid, no bubbles. A little better, but not great. Drove it that way for ~200 miles.

Decided to go through and re-bleed it again. Got the Motive set up, key on (ABS pump active), then went through and tapped on the MC and ABS to loosen any bubbles. Went to the RR and lo and behold, got a lot of bubbles. Actually surprised at the air pockets that came out, took a while to get it back to a clean stream of fluid.

Moral of the story, if you think you have it bled, it probably isn't.