Hey all, I just swapped an explorer 8.8 axle into my 2002 ranger edge. new axle has disc brakes, my old 7.5 obviously had drums. After bleeding the brakes for a LONG time, and making sure there is no air in the system, i still have a strange low pedal feel in the brake pedal. The pedal goes low for a little bit when i first start driving the truck, then it will slowly build pressure and the pedal begins to feel good, but toward the end of a drive (5-10 mins of driving) the pedal feels TOO high, and the front brakes begin to drag even with no prssure on the pedal. My truck does have ABS, Im wondering if the unit that the master cylinder supplies fluid too before going to the wheels is the ABS unit? Or do i have a defective master cylinder? I tried adjusting the plunger coming out of the brake booster which applies pressure into the master cylinder, it did change the pedal feel but it still builds pressure then begins to drag. Im tempted to replace the master cylinder but im not a fan of throwing parts at a car without knowing thats legitimately wrong with it. Especially when it comes to a safety item such as brakes.

Thank you for all your help!

 

First I have heard that the system adjusts for the disc brakes.

Second, did you start with the wheel that is the farthest away from the master, then the next closest, etc.

Use a Vac Pump to bleed them too, easier or a pressure bleeder, even better.

Last but not without merit go to a pro to have the system bled.

 

Wirelessly posted

Vac bleeders are horrible. Pressure bleeders are the ****. I love mine.
Bleed like this
Pass rear
Driver front
Driver rear
Pass front

 

That's wrong dave u generally bleed rr lr rf lf

 

I'm wondering if you did get air into the ABS unit... I know they're a bitch to bleed once you get air in there.

 

thanks for all your input everyone. i ended up making a bonehead mistake and put the calipers on the wrong side when i assembled everything. bleeder screw was on the bottom of the caliper and i couldnt bleed the air out of them. swapped the calipers, bled the brakes and the truck stops perfect now. oh well, you live and you learn!

 

I think mine are on backwards. You got any pics of how they should be?

 

bleeders are always higher then the brake hose itself

 

why would you stagger the rears? the use the same line to the rear, I dont see any added gain from going from the normal RR, LR, RF, LF

 

I did the same thing buddy, crap happens lol. Except it was the parts store's fault. The sold me two left had calipers, when there IS a difference between L and R calipers. Once I got the right ones, it bled and now drives great.

Now we know right, for next time.

Bleeders up, never down

 

when i did my 8.8 swap on my 99 with full abs I compared the master cylinders from my ranger and the from the 2000 explorer 8.8 donor vehicle and the only difference was my ranger master cylinder had a metering valve for the rear drums, so i removed it. the rear seemed to have more braking power.

 

Yeah, mine were backwards, fixed it now, didn't even pay attention to the bleeders. I was just stoked to put my new brakes on cause it meant one step closer. :-P