Ive been following the now stickied Soft Brake Pedal thread for a while and have yet to attempt the adjustment.

My soft brake pedal did not start however from the beginning, only after the tsb was done for the brake booster hose. After taking it into the dealer to have the tsb done the pedal came back with very little brake "feel" until it is almost flush with the accelerator. Medium effort stops require the pedal to be pushed a fair distance past the accelerator.

It's been in multiple times and every time its been returned as no problem found. The front pads were replaced and rotors resurfaced at 20k the back at 30k.

Am I a candidate for the adjustment or is it possible that somehow a tech managed to butcher a vacuum hose when installing the new hose for the tsb and the dealer is just incompetent when it comes to finding leaks?

Thanks

 

sounds to me like maybe your old vacuum hose had a leak and the TSB fixed it.

If you had a leak in the old hose you would have lower vacuum in the booster and would experience a harder pedal. (but with somewhat slightly reduced braking power as well)

Perhaps now you are getting higher vacuum in the booster and therefore the pedal "feels" softer because it travels with much less force.

If you think you are having difficulty stopping you may want to do the following (one step at a time and see what helps)
- bleed the brakes
- Change to more aggressive pads (wagner thermoquiets really increased my stopping power)
- put on braided steel flex lines.

you said the pads were replaced at 20K and 30K, but what are you at now?

If the tech screwed up the new vacuum hose and you have a vacuum leak then the pedal would be harder today, not "softer". (softer in quotes because a higher vacuum level will make the pedal feel softer but its not really a soft pedal condition)

 

Prior to bringing the truck in for the tsb, it was a firmer pedal which required much less effort to bring the truck to a stop. Its kind of subjective but it took less the brake pedal less distance to stop the truck than it does now.

After the tsb the as the tech drove the truck out from the lot the brakes went to the floor and he had to place the truck into park at speed. I was not happy about that. They took it back to "check out" the problem and were unable to pull any codes or find anything wrong. It was since this time that the brakes have been poor. Looking back i should have made sure to get some documentation about this little problem that they had but i was stupid and didnt.


The truck only went in for the tsb at that time and all things being equal that should have been the only thing that was changed.

The truck is now at 36K miles and the brakes have been bled twice since the tsb was done. This was the tsb that was supposed to have been completed, if i remember correctly: http://www.usrecallnews.com/2008/05/nhtsa-1141.html

I guess i can take it in again and make them test the brakes versus a different truck off the lot or try a different dealership. I really shouldnt have to change pads from the stock ones to get the brake pedal feel back to the stock feel prior to the tsb.

Thanks

 

I've noticed this with mine... The brakes just don't seem "hard" like the rest of my trucks.

There's a DIY on this some place... do a search.

 

i also been having the same issue, brake pedal flush with accelerator pedal. i got to push a ways down the the brake to stop my truck. at 25k rotors were cut, and pads are better then good according to dealer. its been like this for a while now. i read about adjusting the actuator rod, would that be the solution? i have no bad history on the brakes, such as leaks or having to bleed the system.

 

Yeah, im well aware of the actuating rod adjustment. I dont see how any thing can go wrong provided we dont screw it in far enough to make the brakes drag. It's just that there has to be some reason for the change in brake pedal feel. The brake pedal is flush with the accelerator just to hold the truck in place, i have to depress it past the accelerator to get the truck to slow down at an acceptable rate.

It wasn't a gradual change, if that were the case i would accept it as the truck is aging. What is the best way to test for brake drag? Adjust the actuating rod and jack the truck up and make sure the wheels spin freely? Or better to drive somewhere without brakes and take the temp of the rotors?

 

i read about somebody actually jacking up there truck or if you got a lift, raise it up and spin the wheels.

 

My 2nd of two problems last night was in a parking lot messing around with control (first 4x4). At one point I went from a dead stop to hitting the gas, then when I tried to hit the brake it wouldn't budge. I had to slam my foot on the brake as hard as I could to get it to press in. It did it twice, once in drive and once in reverse. Just wondering if it's something I should get checked out or nothing at all...

 

PHGFX4 - once you "slammed" your foot did the pedal travel like usual or did you have to push real hard to get braking power?

If it was a no-vacuum condition you would have to push real hard.

If the pedal was just "stuck" and once it moved you had boost then it might be a pedal linkage issue.

I doubt a vacuum hose would cause an intermittent problem. Its gotta be either the pedal or inside the booster.

Listen for any air noises when you drive... if you hear air sucking through the booster (it will suck in around the pedal rod) then you might have an internal seal failing in the booster. Once you pump the pedal it might re-seal for awhile till it fails again (like you describe)