After my "off road" oops two weekends ago I decided that since it was such a beautiful Saturday that I would bleed the brakes. Did it old school, one-man ( Soldier B went away with friends ). Started with a hand vacuum pump and catch bottle and did all the fittings except the "top" of the air-pac ( what engineering genius ran that line right next to the bleeder ? ). Once I had purple juice coming out of all six wheels I switched to the pump and pee method ( it's all I had ). Got a great pedal without assist. Rock hard and not dropping about an inch below the free travel. Double checked all bleeders were tight and m/c at correct level. Rechecked all the fluids under the hood again and fired her up. Again, this beast started like it had just been run yesterday. Pedal feels good. Got out and did a half - a***d pre-trip (lights, leaks, lugs, and all 10 tires "thunked" ok. Got back in and, to me, the pedal felt lower. Still solid when stood on ( stops a good 2-3 inches off the floorboard ) but it just seemed different. Maybe I'm just super sensitive after my recent escapade but I don't wanna take that ride again, or worse, have something happen on the road.
So here's my question in the statements. Is there ANY way the air-pac could be leaking air into the hydraulic side ? I ask because I still don't know why the pedal went away while sitting still and the m/c went empty, and I didn't
see any leaks on the inner duals or fronts while it sat. I know air / hydraulic brakes are often like stepping on a wet sponge. Can't really judge how
well they're working unless yer rolling.
IF it were not parked next to a divided highway with no real parking lot ( motor pool ) to get into for a proper action test I would have just rolled around in a parking lot for a proper action test. I admit that by this point, I was pretty tired and sore ( also fell from / with the ladder I was using to clean the driver's side windshield ) so I gave up for the day. Still sore today ( Sunday ) so didn't crack open any bleeders but the pedal is still excellent without boost. When I
do check and
IF I don't get any air, I guess I'll just hafta sack up and roll out for a test run. I would do it at night but PA antique tags are supposed to be off the road no more than 1/2 hour after sunset. Nobody ( PO-PO ) cares unless something happens or it's a REALLY slow day in LEO land but I don't like to take unnecessary chances, especially with 26,000 pounds of E = mC squared rolling on unknown brakes. So I'll save that for the next installment.
On the UP side of the day, I won the local Redneck Lottery. The land owner where Exit Strategy is parked bequeathed me a travel trailer ( well, what's left of what was once a very NICE travel trailer ) since the owner hasn't paid him rent in over a year. He was gonna scrap it but asked me if I knew anyone that would want it. Half jokingly I said, " yeah, ME ! Wadda ya want for it ? " ( figuring he'd at least want what is owed for the back rent ). He said, " Well then, it's yours. " All he wants is for me to pay the $20 / month rent for the space. Soooo, this will be home as soon as I can make it "liveable" again.
Of course that shouldn't take much. After a year in the back of Exit Strategy the "new age meth den" look of the trailer seems like a suite at the Ritz - Carlton. So there y'all have it. Hope eveyone else's weekend was good. Catch y'all later and Happy Motoring !
