Deuce Power Bleeder R4x4 Style

[Recovry4x4]

Gang, here are 2 pics of my bleeder. You can see that the tank line has a ball valve and a quick coupler from an air line. It then connects to a second hose that has a tee and a 6" nipple that screws into the MC cap. There's a plug in the top of the tee but eventually it will have a pressure gauge. You can't install the cap as it's pictured. You have to put the cap on then screw the nipple in. I have a second hose not pictured just for filling the MC. It works flawlesssly and you can just keep the BFS right in the bleeder. That MC cap is also an extra but you could easily use your own cap by just removing the vent line fixture. When shopping for a sprayer, find one with a pressure release valve,

 

[cranetruck]

That looks real good, Kenny. Thanks for the post!

Here is the post from rdixiemiller from a week ago, I copied it here for comparison.
Between the two, I (we) should be able to come up with some perfect brakes.

"All
I have used both pressure and vacuum bleeders over the years. I prefer the pressure type, because the vacuum type can pull in air around a wheel cylinder cup. Normally this is a problem on an older truck, where you might be working on one wheel only.
Just my 2 cents worth.
You can build a pressure bleeder rig outr of scrap 2-4 inch black pipe. Take a section of pipe about 1 foot long, screw a cap on each end. Drill and tap the bottom cap for 1/8 npt brake fitting from your local parts house. Drill 3 holes in the top cap. 1 for a fill plug, 1 for an air fitting, get a 45 psi pop off valve from McMaster Carr for the last hole. This is to prevent over pressurizing things. Use a flexible brake hose to go from the bottom pipe cap to the vent hole on the ,master cyl. hook up an air line from your compressor (shop or truck) with a little in-line air regulator. Fill pipe with brake fluid. Hook to master cyl. pressurize to about 15 psi. bleed away. I added a couple of valves to the one I built years ago to allow me to valve off the air, fluid, etc.
Use common sense ( we all have some, right?) and you are perfectly OK."


Bjorn

 

[Recovry4x4]

Gary, the I've never looked for the MC caps at a supplier. I had several I've kept from MC replacements. I might have one or two more on these trucks in the yard. I did just buy some pressure gauges on Ebay for $3.99 ea. Once I have one installed I'll report back. Bjorn, I can tell you it works great! I replaced the steel line from the tee behind the air pack to the rear axle on that M35A2. Bled the system out and got a great pedal. On the test drive I was doing some crisis braking and found a weak line that burst. This one was from the air pack to the tee. Replaced that one and had to bleed the system again. All toll pumped nearly 1/2 gallon of fluid through the system. Those long 5/16 lines hold alot of fluid. Here's a tip from the old school brake guy. When you open a system on the deuce and you know that the system has air in it. Pick one wheel far away and bleed it untill you get that mass of air out. From there bleed the rest of the system. I see the novice deuce brake bleeding guys don't wait long enough on that first wheel and get the air split up in several lines!

 

[cranetruck]

Sounds like a winner. I'll try it myself soon.
About the cap for the MC, why not drill/tap it and install a fitting that can be capped when in normal use? The vent line would be my first choice, though, like RDM is doing.

Bjorn

 

[Recovry4x4]

I have the extra cap and it works great. If I had one cap I would switch that steel vent line with a section of braided and a union or even the air line quick coupler so the vent line is easily removed and the bleeder attached.

 

[jrosbo]

Bleeder

Well I built my pressure builder some what like yours. I used brake line instead of the clear line. Also I found a sprayer that had the discharge on the bottom of the tank so now i can just hook it to the top of the master cylinder, fill the tank and let the fluid flow down into the cylinder and hose and let the air bleed out of the hose and cylinder before putting it under pressure, that way you dont force air into the system from the top. Thanks for the idea, it sure beats having the wife sit out there and pump and pump and pump. Thanks!

 

[cbvet]

Interesting info, at least to me.
Been thinking about building a pressure bleeder for a long time. You guys have some great ideas, but I'm always looking for a simpler (cheaper) way to do things. I try to use components I'm familiar with, have on hand, or can get for free. Not sure exactly what setup I might make, I did a test.
I'm certainly no chemist, so I test things in ways I understand.
A year ago, I put silicone brake fluid in 1 jar, & DOT 3 in another. In each jar, I added a piece of PVC pipe, a piece of CPVC pipe, a cheap plastic ball valve, a piece of clear plasic hose, & a piece of clear braided plastic hose.
I just came across those jars.
None of the items have deteriorated at all. I guess you can build a bleeder or reservoir out of just about anything!
Eric

 

[atankersdad]

I built my pressure bleeder yesterday in less that 5 minutes. I took a new sprayer, cut off the spray nozzle, cut 3 inches of hose and attached a 1/8" nipple. I had to bleed/flush the brake lines on my wrecker, and no one was around. I removed the vent, screwed the cap on the MC, screwing in the nipple and attached the bleebleeder. I pressurized the tank and opened the valve. I noticed the brake pedal was solid. I bled the rt rear cylinder until purple fluid came out. The pedal was still firm. Pumped the tank several times and did the other 3 rear cylinders. Then the front. Bled excess air from the tank, removed the nipple and installed the vent. Started up the wrecker and found I had brakes that would put you through the winshield. Took me less than 15 minutes to flush and bleed the truck. WOW.....I found that you could use the bleeder to also fill the MC with minimal hassles. Very handy tool...

 

[FireFighterHill]

I think I'm going to use the Female air tool type quick connect on the truck side since it is self sealing. And the Male quick connect on the power bleeder side with a quarter turn brass ball valve. I will still need at least one valve on the truck side to isolate the reservoir from the power bleeder. And possibly 2 if the quick connect leaks to isolate it from the system. I'm trying to find one valve that will do both and still be inexpensive.

Also if anyone is curious the kit from wilwood is 64 dollars and the 4 foot of hose is 11 dollars. You will need a few assorted fitting listed in the pdf that any decent hardware store should carry.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Flushing with DOT5 is not a satisfactory way of removing DOT3 from a brake system. The DOT3 will sink to the bottom of any space, and the DOT5 will float on top. In the wheel cylinders, the bleed valve is on the top of the cylinder (meant for bleeding air), so the DOT 3 will stay in the bottom of the cylinder... and absorb water, and make rust.

You need to take everything apart, and rinse the DOT3 off with DOT5, and then reassemble.

-Chuck

According to the military, it's the only way it should be done!

See http://old.steelsoldiers.com/index.php?module=pagesetter&type=file&func=get&tid=1&fid=file&pid=67

 

[Tinwoodsman]

I assembled one today patterned after Recovry4x4. One thing I am still unclear about is what to do when bleeding is complete. If I understand the design, the bleeder tank hose and the hose and tube to the M/C cap will be full. I understand how to deal with the bleeder tank hose using the ball valve. What about the other hose and tube?

 

[Recovry4x4]

Hopefully you bought a tank that has a pressure relief. If so, release the pressure, close the ball valve and remove. A small amount will spill when you remove the lines but no biggy. The key is to de-pressurize the tank first.

 

[Recovry4x4]

It will have some fluid still in the line and nipple. Once unscrewed from the master cylinder cap, let it drip for a bit. For the most part, you will always have a little dead air space in the reservoir of the master, enough so that most of these drippings will stay in there.

Edit; let me back up a bit. In my pics if when I built that particular bleeder, it showed the nipple attached to a MC cap. Because of the floor configuration, you cant install it like that. I remove the vent line and screw the 1/8 nipple right into the existing cap.

 

[mikey]

Pressure bleeder questions

I built a bleeder, thanks to everyone in this thread, but have a few questions.

I built this for my first deuce recovery next week. I've never seen an mc cap and don't have one for reference. Could someone direct me to the part, maybe with a link, that I need on the end of the tubing that connects directly to the mc cap and brake cylinders?

Also, is 1/4" a large enough diameter for the hose?

Finally, what psi are you actually using to bleed the brakes. I believe I read like 16psi? I tested my setup as high as I could, using water, and the hoses sprayed a bit at 50psi. Below that it was fine.

As far as the build, I could not get a 1g sprayer with pressure relief valve. Looked at lowes, sears, home depot and ace. Apparently they dont get new sprayers until spring. So, I got the 1g without pressure relief and i used the existing hose for the pressure guage and i added an air tank release valve. I drilled a hole in the bottom for the brake lines.

thanks all!

Mikey

 

[dw9339]

I'm going to try and manufacture one of these bleeders but I don't have an extra MC cap to use, and I don't have the truck here for reference. Thanks for posting the pictures!

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to use the existing MC cap on the bleeder once it is constructed? Or, is there a distributor that sells spare MC caps that I can order?

 

[73m819]

you can ues the M/C cap, just plumb into where the vent line goes.

Just a side note, It takes me less then an hour to bleed the 819 with the pressure bleeder, this is from the time I start getting crap out of the tool box, till it is all put away

 

[Recovry4x4]

The threads in the cap should be 1/8 NPT so you can get a 5" nipple and be in good shape/.

 

[sp00n]

I am going to build a pressure bleeder out of whatever sprayer I can come up with tomorrow, that part seems pretty straight forward. I tried to manually bleed (pump brakes and hold while soldier B bleeds at the wheel) and while reading this thread I noticed people were talking about bleeding at the wheel cylinders? We were bleeding by cracking the line fitting at the wheels enough to allow fluid/air to escape and then retightening. The front axle was a little different and we cracked the 3/4 bolt that held the brake line to the back of the wheel cylinder. Is this the proper method to bleed or is there another easier place?

Do you have to put brake fluid in the sprayer or can you just build air pressure in the MC with it and effectively bleed the system? Seems redundant to bleed the air out of the sprayer and then bleed the actual brake system.

 

[dozer1]

You definetly need brake fluid in the bleeder. The pressure from the bleeder pushes fluid in the MC, not air. That way you wont be re-introducing air to the system. There will be a little pocket of air at the top of the MC, but that is where it will stay as long as fluid is being pushed in. How much fluid do you want in the bleeder? enough so it doesnt start pushing air ever once you get going. A gallon in a 2 gallon sprayer is good and redundant. What remains will be there for the next time.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Understand the bleeding purpose but never used a power bleeder. Always done the pump method to remove air (also never worked on a 6x6 or air assist system until this truck) Nothing appears to be missing or broken on any of the brake backing plates, just following standard procedure for regular light trucks and passenger cars. Does anyone have a pic of the proper bleed valve?

Taking the power bleeder out of the equasion, there is almost no difference between the deuce and any other drum brake vehicle except the additional axle and the air pack which has a bleeder valve. Every wheel cylinder has a bleeder valve, if you are bleeding vehicles by cracking open lines, you are missing lots of air. Attached is a simple line drawing of a typical backing plate. Right above the brake line (tube) is the bleeder valve. Opening or in the case of them being plugged, removing them, allows air to be purged from the highest point.

Adding the power bleeder just eliminates the person pumping. Pressurized brake fluid introduced to the master cylinder, pushes fluid (and trapped air) through the lines and out of the wheel cylinders through the bleeder valve.