After many searches and skimming thru a lot of posts on here I finally found what i needed to adjust my soft break pedal on my 2001 F150 4X4. it was a little tough to find the info so here's what i did with pictures and discriptions.

1. location of the 14mm nuts that hold the MC to the booster
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2. Tools needed, 7mm wrench, 3/8 ratchet, 14mm deep socket and 2 inch extension, pliers.
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3. Location of the bolts, no need to disconnect lines or wires. once the nuts are removed the MC will move out of the way enough so you able to get to the adjustment.
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4. adjust the 7mm bolt counter clockwise while holding the booster shaft with pliers. I did mine a half a turn at a time, test driving between adjustments.
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5. end results - Ended up at 1 1/2 turns and it felt real good. No breaks dragging and the pedal was back to where it should have been. I did raise the front and back of the truck once i was complete and happy with the adjustments, spun the wheels to ensure there was no brake drag.

Adjusments very by truck, from what I have found during my searches on this forum it can be anywhere from 3/4 turns to 2 full turns. this is why you need to go in small incermints 1/4 to 1/2 at a time and make sure the adjustments are where your happy with them and the breaks are not draggin.
My break pads, roters, calipers were all new within the last 2 months also.

Good luck and hope these pictures help.

This is information on what worked for me, may not be for everyone and you do these adjustment at your own risk.

 

great post. I always wondered how to remove that initial 'squishyness' out of the brake pedal.

going to do this later today and report back later.

 

I've done it on y Mercury Grand Marquis, 1/2 turn was enough. My '07 F150 doesn't seem to need it, I'm hesitant to screw with it as long as I like it.

 

Super article. Never would have thought of this. Nice job description and pics.

 

very nice write up with good descriptive pics, i think i might try this on my truck being that with new brake pads the pedal is still squishy, so the squishyness isnt from the brakes being bled properly?

 

May or may not be soft from not being bled. When I did my breaks this time I replaced rotors, pads and calipers front and rear, bled them a few times to make sure it was all good and still had the soft pedal.

I would reccomend trying to bleed everything first and see if that's the issue before doing this adjustment. You don't want any air in the system.

 

i had to do this also on my 97 f150, BUT there are two major pionts to check FIRST..
have someone apply pressure to the brake pedal and you need to check(look and feel) each flex line ( front tires, rear axle) for any boldging spots that would indicate a bad line then after replacing lines (if needed) bleed entire break system.

then adjust booster if still needed.

 

Wow. After 2 years of mushy pedal, I bled the brakes. I figured 9 years and 68k I was due. It didn't fix the problem. I went on line and did a search and found this. After a half hour, I have new brakes again! Thank you. I'm on the boxster forum and the Harley forum, and the BMW e46 forum, but havent been on this one. I've already fixed the brakes, the gear indicator, and the shocks. All i can say is WOW! Thank you!

 

Great writeup. I'll have to give this a try.

 

Thanks for the thread and the detailed pics. I think I'll be trying it this week.

 

This procedure helps with brakes dragging? For the last week or so, I've felt a "scrubbing" feeling in the floorboard/pedals while driving. I jacked up the front and checked out the suspension and everything looked good, but when I spun the tires, they would only spin maybe two rotations before stopping, and I could clearly hear the brake pads contacting the rotors. After work tonight I took the passenger side caliper off to check the pads and after reinstalltion, it was almost completely locked up. It would only spin half a rotation at most. After bleeding brakes and installing a new caliper, I'm back to around two rotations when I spin the tire. This is driving me nuts!

I have a 2002 SCab 4.6 Romeo with approx 220k miles

 

Dont feel bad I've been dealing with the drives side front locking up with a little pressure, approach a stop light/sign and inch forward on the brakes it locks up solid. I dont have wheel sensors either

Pedal felt mushy so knowing there is a method of adjustment isn't as entirely frustrating as being lost in the dark.

 

this procedure is to help adjust the soft brake pedal issue. if over adjusted and not tested properly this could cause brake lock up. this is not a cure all for brakes, just 1 method to help the soft break pedal issues some have with the truck. there are many things that can cause the problems discribed, you need to check the entire brake system and and ensure everything is in working order and use this procedure as the last resort to cure the soft brake pedal. As I stated i had repaired and changed everything on my truck prior to doing this. If you have done this procedure and now you have these issues return the adjustment back to where it was and check your system. by spec it should be 1/16th short from touching the plunger in the back of the MC if i recall correctly.

 

Thank you, thank you and thank you. Never knew about this and it was driving me nuts. I've bled and bled and now I know. Which is half the battle from what I hear.

 

thank you for the pictures and arrows on soft brake artical. GREAT JOB !