Yesterday I had off work due to rain as I do today (I work in construction) so I figured I'd use my day off to run my truck through inspection (sticker went dead last month). Well I failed because the rear brakes are too sensitive in relation to the front or something. I did hear the rear brakes lockup when they where testing them and I also noticed the rear brakes are real sensitive lately, especially in the morning before they warm-up.

If I punch the brakes at say... 50mph I hear the ticking sound you get from the ABS and also my light isn't on except for the few seconds when you first start the truck. Now I'm no mechanic by any means but to properly adjust the rear brakes you tighten the adjuster down until the wheel doesn't turn easily (brakes just starting to engage) then back it down a little until they spin freely then the rest is controlled by the factory set proportion valve? (That's what someone told me anyway)

Like I said, I'm no auto mechanic so I need some help with this. Would my rear brake over sensitivity be from just needing some simple adjusting or could the proportioning/equalizer valve be bad and need replacing? And where is it located? I can't seem to find it anywhere and I can't find much info about it on the net. So someone clear this up for me.

Oh and by the way.... The truck is a '98 F150 ext cab xlt/stx with only 53,000 miles. The brakes have been replaced front and rear last summer but the problem just started in the last few months.

 

Most of the proportioning of the front ot rear is done in the master cylinder. I would try bleeding the cylinder by itself, then bleeding the whole system. Maybe a little something is floating around where it shouldn't. If that doesn't do it I would think about master cylinder replacement.

 

Don't feel too bad, I failed mine b/c of the tint and worn rear tires lol. Hmm, I wonder why only the rear tires failed.

 

I was thinking of spraying brake cleaner on the brakes, but not sure if you want to clean the fronts or the rears. I would think the fronts.

 

I took it to a shop that was recomended by my neighbor and they estimated the brake repair at $870.00. They tried to sell me new calipers, rotors, brake pads (which are only 6 months old), and finally just "adjust" the rear brakes because the shoes had alot of meat left on them (lol...They should since they're also only 6 months old.)

My friend fixed my problem in about ten minutes....for free non the less. He took the tires and drums off and gave the brakes a quick inspection to make sure they where put together right and then re-adjusted them (he said it was mainly just the rear left that was too tight) and it feels like it should again. Although I havn't had the time to run it through inspection again, I'm pretty sure I wont have a problem with the brakes now.

Heh...I also failed for tint (real dark 5%). I don't feel like ripping it off and re-doing it just for inspection (tint is a real pain in the @ss to put on but I'm good at it when I take my time so I just do it myself rather then paying someone to do it). So it looks like I'm going to have to take it to a private inspection station and pay $$ to have it inspected (tint passed last time I went through a private inspection station).

Oh well... I feel better I got my brakes back to normal for free and didn't have to dish out the estimated $800+ repair cost...lol.