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1998 F150 4.2 Xl. I am going to replace my front brake calipers. A friend is going to lend me a brake bleeding tool.
I have seen a few youtube videos on how to, so I have an idea on how to use it. Is there an order on which side to bleed first? Passenger then driver side? Would I have to bleed the back as well?
Also any tips on this job to make it easier (even though it is an easy job).
The general rule is to do the furthest from the master cylinder first. So passenger side should be first. But, before knowing said rule, I've done it the opposite and it turned out fine.
I never used a tool or a friend. With the help of gravity, then creating an air gap it's very easy to do yourself. About a week and a half ago, swapped calipers and flushed mine...twice lol. Bleeding as I went. A one man job, nothing special to do it.
I just ordered one of these below. I kind of jacked mine up when I had to replace the brake hose on my F150 in January. It was really cold, and the bottle was brittle..... you can guess the rest, LOL. Almost bought one just like it at O'Reilly last night, but I figured I'd get a little better one. I also have one of the pump bleeders, and that thing is a POS.
I know, but not at first lol. Here's what I didn't tell you, -
I used a Gatorade bottle. See that black air release in the bottle above ? Well it's been so long since I did this, I forgot about the air release at first and didn't drill the hole. Man was it tuff flushing right off, couldn't figure it out until I loosened the top of the bottle and all that air purged lol. Doh!
BTW, - that's a two man set up above, not a one man.
You just need a longer hose for it to make the loop. If your doing it yourself (which is easier) make your hose a little over two feet. That way you can keep the bottle low and air gap high.
^^^ Makes plenty of sense. One of these days I'll try that out... sounds like a job to try on the Mustang. That brake fluid is probably 10 years old now, but probably has less than 5,000 miles on it.
(BTW, I am converting it to 5 lug so I have to use SN95/New Edge spindles, etc.... which also comes with a HUGE brake upgrade)
Sort of like this, see that little hole I drilled as a relief in the cap, - that's what I forgot about at first lol. Thought I had a better pic of the loop/air gap?
I do, just didn't upload it yet. Air gap high, bottle low, -
Just use a larger hose. When it came time to do this, I couldn't find any clear hose laying around, so I to rob that crapy kinked one off my fuel pressure gauge lol. EDIT: Keep the bottle lower than the calipers fluid chamber. I set that in the crate to get a better close up.
Dave, when you install your new calipers, let them gravity fill first. Swap the banjo bolt, line and new washers quickly, that's the messy part, just keep the cap on the master cylinder at this time and it won't be so bad. Check the banjo bolt for obstructions or if your installing new banjo bolt, make absolutely sure the new ones are drilled though and through. My new ones were not completely drilled (well one of them anyway) and I had to finish drill it first.
Torque the banjo bolt pretty good to compress the new washers, takes a little bit. Make sure your bleeder is at the top of the caliper. Once the line is attached, crack the bleeder then remove the cap on the master cylinder. The new calipers will gravity fill quickly at that point. Once fluid expels from the bleeder, that parts done. Then get set up to bleed.
10-11-2016, 09:51 AM
Brake bleeding tool?
