[captjay]

Finished up the RK long arm upgrade tonight. I already had ss braided lines and replaced with RK long travel ss braided brake lines. The pedal feels softer. I am very confident my guy bled them enough and correctly.

Would the upgraded master cylinder help firm up the pedal??

 

[unsub]

Sounds like you might have some air in them. Might want to try again.

 

[captjay]

Sounds like you might have some air in them. Might want to try again.

Yea I have no problem bleeding again, but he did bleed 4 times just to make sure.

 

[curbsjeep]

Sounds like you might have some air in them. Might want to try again.

2nd
Little trick would be to use a different colored brake fluid. Sometimes "performance" fluid is blue vs the normal color. Bleed the furthest caliper from the reservoir and so on until the new color comes out.

 

[captjay]

2nd
Little trick would be to use a different colored brake fluid. Sometimes "performance" fluid is blue vs the normal color. Bleed the furthest caliper from the reservoir and so on until the new color comes out.

good to know, after exhaust shop in morning, maybe I'll try that

 

[Goodysgotacuda]

I seem to very well with just gravity bleeding brakes. Crack a bleeder (remove the M/C cap) and let it go into a clear water bottle or something. Tap the caliper with a wrench to help jog any air, move the line around. Let each wheel go for 15mins or so, but DONT let the m/c go dry....works well for me.

 

[captjay]

Thanks guys for the tips and tricks. I'll get some more fluid tomorrow and give it a try. I did fail to mention, once the pedal goes down, it is grabbing and holding very well, just has a very soft pedal to push it so far down. if that makes any difference.

 

[Rottenbelly]

I changed my lines recently and i bleed them a hundred times or so and i still think the pedal feels softer than before, but my wife says the feel way tigher and grab better to her!!!

 

[legi0n]

I can only make a parallel with motorcycling.
When I raked my bike and had to put in longer lines, the brakes felt softer. That's because the lines have some give. The longer the lines the more give.

 

[Rottenbelly]

I can only make a parallel with motorcycling.
When I raked my bike and had to put in longer lines, the brakes felt softer. That's because the lines have some give. The longer the lines the more give.

I thought they would firm up since i was going from a rubber line to a braided metal over rubber line.

 

[captjay]

I can only make a parallel with motorcycling.
When I raked my bike and had to put in longer lines, the brakes felt softer. That's because the lines have some give. The longer the lines the more give.

I had heard this before, that's why I was kind of confused after switching lines. I don't want to have to keep bleeding brakes when i can buy the upgraded master cylinder, but I'll try bleeding once more.

I thought they would firm up since i was going from a rubber line to a braided metal over rubber line.

I though that too but guess not. I'll let ya know how mine goes next couple days. Tires and alignment today so may not get to it till tomorrow.

thanks guys for the responses.

 

[ALASHA]

probably stupid but have you checked to see if the fluid is topped off?

 

[captjay]

probably stupid but have you checked to see if the fluid is topped off?

No not stupid. Sometimes the most obvious thing can get over looked. I'll accept any suggestions. But yes it is topped off.

 

[nicholsmf]

Sounds like you might have some air in them. Might want to try again.

yep

 

[idrivejeep]

I too just installed the RK extended lines this weekend and the same thing happened to me. The peddle felt a lot softer overall, but the brakes are holding.

I borrowed my brother-in-law's brake vacuum pump and was planning to bleed them again over the weekend.

Glad I ran across this post and confirm that I'm not imagining things with the softer peddle.

 

[SoK66]

If you ran the reservoir dry during the process of switching out the lines there's a small chance you got air into the ABS motor pump unit. The only way to bleed the ABS unit is to have the dealer run the StarScan ABS bleed routine. Not always the case, however, so try a pressure or vacuum bleed, or a very careful manual bleed.

 

[jeepfish]

Very interested in this since I'll be doing the same with my RK lift soon

 

[captjay]

Very interested in this since I'll be doing the same with my RK lift soon

I'll let you know how it goes, but prob wont get to bleed again until Wed. Today was exhaust re-routing, tomorrow is tire shop and alignment.

I may not agree that it is air bubbles, they have already been bled out 4 times with a full cycle of new fluid. But like I mentioned before, I'm open to any suggestions and will still try it one more time.

 

[desert dog]

When I first installed extended braided brake lines, the pedal felt very soft. I have a nice power bleeder and had my son add at the MC, so I am confident the air was out. I did it twice to make sure, but it was still soft. I think the "no expansion" theory is mostly hype by the manufacturers.

 

[jjbooth]

I too have installed the RK SS brake lines about a year ago and have the same soft pedal. Bled the lines many times but always the same outcome....soft pedal. Like you guys the pedal grabs but just feels soft, if anyone comes up with a fix I'd like to hear.

Also a few of my buddies did the same thing replacing the stock lines with the exteneded SS lines, some of the lines used were other brands and not the RK and they have the same soft feel to the pedal.

Again we've all tried bleeding the brakes with no success.....just living with impotent pedal