Guntar13

Alright so all within the last 1.5 weeks, the front brakes are completely new (calipers, pads, rotors, hardware,) The calipers ARE on the correct sides, checked and rechecked. The rear drums were reconditioned, all new components (shoes, wheel cylinder, found a bad brake line, hardware). The entire system was bled thoroughly (i use a air powered vacuum bleeder and really ran good fluid through the whole thing). The pedal is still leaving something to be desired. When sitting still it will NOT sink, but i can push it probably 2-3 inches and its bottomed out. The truck stops, but this whole squishy pedal has got me stumped. I would think its the MC but in the past when a MC goes bad it just sinks when sitting still. No loss of brake fluid or anything. Everything is tight and not getting air sucked back in. I am stumped!
I have pretty much been chevy only and maybe I am just used to the feel of the brake pedal on those (very tight). Need some insight please; Thank you!

DrShaggford

Not sure if 89s had the option but if it has ABS you could have air in the ABS pump which can only be bled out by a dealer(just had this happen on my 98 so I removed the whole ABS pump). More likely though I would say your hoses are old and need to be replaced. I would also check ALL of your brake lines and look for excessive rust before they decide to rupture. They like to rust where the back line runs down the frame rail next to the fuel line. If you ever went too low on brake fluid you could also have air in the MC or the proportioning valve, both of which can be bled. Another possibility is that your fluid is contaminated with water which compresses MUCH easier than brake fluid. Check the seal on your MC cap and if it doesn't look so good that could be your problem.

Guntar13

No ABS on this one. The long brake line connecting the front to the rear is new, as well as one of the short ones in the back that runs across the axle. As far as water in the brake fluid i really doubt it since I powerbled the entire system thoroughly and never let it get below half full in the reservoir. Thanks for your input though. Guess ill start looking at all the other brake lines on the darn thing!

DrShaggford

The crappy part about the rubber lines is that you can rarely tell they're bad from looking at them. Sometimes they have too much give and cause a soft pedal and sometimes they create a one way valve and lock up your caliper. I would suggest if you replace the fronts that you do them both otherwise you will most likely get brake pull to one side or the other. Good luck on the brakes man they are probably my least favorite thing to do on my XJs.

onmyonly

Try this. Go in reverse then stop. Do that like 5 times for the auto adjusters to maybe adjust.
Happened to me n worked for me

onmyonly

Fixed?

onmyonly

Come on man what happened?