1975 Ford F150 Soft Brakes - 1975 Ford F-100 pickup

1975 FORD F-150
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NICKGRIFFITH
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Brakes problem
1975 Ford F150 V8 Two Wheel Drive Automatic

I'm having brake problems with my 1975 Ford F-100 pickup. I toasted the inner wheel bearing on my front driver's side wheel and replaced all bearings over the weekend on both wheels. The brakes had become spongy at the exact same time the wheel bearing went out and I figured that the two problems were related. The hub had a lot of play in it and I was thinking the caliper piston wasn't working like it should because of this. That is not the problem, though. I'm having trouble figuring out what's causing the brakes to be soft. When I open up the the bleeder valves on the rear wheels, brake fluid pours out of the valves just like it should. When I open the bleeder valves on the front wheels, I get no fluid, even when the brakes are pumped. Any ideas? Bad master cylinder maybe? If I disconnect the hose where the line connects to the caliper, fluid is there but doesn't leak out unless the brake pedal is pushed. The truck has disc brakes on the front and drum brakes on the rear.

Here's another related (and dumb) question: How do I tell if this truck has power brakes?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Nick
Mar 29, 2009 at 7:44 PM
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RASMATAZ
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The master cylinder is attached to the brake booster big round thing. Do you have it? For a start try bleeding the brakes out and see what happens.
Mar 30, 2009 at 1:08 AM