As some of you know I converted to mustang hubs and put cobra front cobra brakes on my car..well I'm having some issues with the brakes now, I don't believe it has anything to do with the front brakes though, I think it is the rears that are giving me issues.
To start with, when I pulled apart the rears to redrill my hubs I noticed the pads in the rear were getting pretty thin, so I figured since I have them apart I might as well buy some new brake pads. So I redrilled the hubs, installed the new wheel studs and reassembled everything including new pads, and of course since I installed new pads I had to push the piston back in the caliper. Now I had heard the rears require a special tool to push the piston back which I did not have, but I knew they are supposed to turn instead of just pushing them in, so I was able to grab the piston with a pair of channel locks and manually turn them which I did. Pistons went in without issue on both sides. Put everything back together and pulled the car out of the garage to turn it around the other way so I could start on the front hubs. Well when I pulled it out I noticed the pedal felt very soft even after pumping the brakes a few times. I drove it up and down the driveway a few times and it felt like it had no braking power..it took alot more effort to stop the car than ever before. Mind you I never had this problem before all of this.
Well I knew I was going to bleed the brakes anyway since I was swapping to cobra brakes up front and figured maybe some air got it and made the pedal soft. So I completed the rest, swapped front hubs and assembled cobra brakes, bled the piss out of them and made sure there were no leaks at the banjo fitting. Then moved to the rears and bled the rears to make sure...no air bubbles at all.
Finished everything last night and pulled it outside and still the pedal felt soft and the brakes felt weak, felt exactly the same as before. I said enough is enough for one day and put it back in the garage hoping to sort it out today. Well today I pull the car out again and still, same issue. I pulled it up and down the driveway and went around the block with it a few times and the brakes are horribly weak. I played with the emergency brake thinking maybe it wasn't allowing the pads to make contact fully..and found that the rear brakes can barely hold the car back idling in drive when the e-brake is pulled. It is like I have barely any rear brakes at all.
Is there something I did wrong when reassembling the rear brakes or pushing the piston back into the caliper? Anyone have this issue before when doing a brake job on the rear brakes? Any thoughts or help is appreciated. thanks!
To start with, when I pulled apart the rears to redrill my hubs I noticed the pads in the rear were getting pretty thin, so I figured since I have them apart I might as well buy some new brake pads. So I redrilled the hubs, installed the new wheel studs and reassembled everything including new pads, and of course since I installed new pads I had to push the piston back in the caliper. Now I had heard the rears require a special tool to push the piston back which I did not have, but I knew they are supposed to turn instead of just pushing them in, so I was able to grab the piston with a pair of channel locks and manually turn them which I did. Pistons went in without issue on both sides. Put everything back together and pulled the car out of the garage to turn it around the other way so I could start on the front hubs. Well when I pulled it out I noticed the pedal felt very soft even after pumping the brakes a few times. I drove it up and down the driveway a few times and it felt like it had no braking power..it took alot more effort to stop the car than ever before. Mind you I never had this problem before all of this.
Well I knew I was going to bleed the brakes anyway since I was swapping to cobra brakes up front and figured maybe some air got it and made the pedal soft. So I completed the rest, swapped front hubs and assembled cobra brakes, bled the piss out of them and made sure there were no leaks at the banjo fitting. Then moved to the rears and bled the rears to make sure...no air bubbles at all.
Finished everything last night and pulled it outside and still the pedal felt soft and the brakes felt weak, felt exactly the same as before. I said enough is enough for one day and put it back in the garage hoping to sort it out today. Well today I pull the car out again and still, same issue. I pulled it up and down the driveway and went around the block with it a few times and the brakes are horribly weak. I played with the emergency brake thinking maybe it wasn't allowing the pads to make contact fully..and found that the rear brakes can barely hold the car back idling in drive when the e-brake is pulled. It is like I have barely any rear brakes at all.
Is there something I did wrong when reassembling the rear brakes or pushing the piston back into the caliper? Anyone have this issue before when doing a brake job on the rear brakes? Any thoughts or help is appreciated. thanks!