bad brake booster and hard to press brakes
 

hi guys, need some help here.

I've got an 87 4Runner i just bought, but the brakes are bad.
i already replaced the master brakes pump, but know the feeling if spongy and the brakes are still hard to press.

i checked the vacuum going to the brake booster, and there is vacuum there, so what else? the idle does not vary when brakes are applied.

i was thinking that maybe i need a new brake booster, my question is, can i swap one from an 90-95 4 runner?

also, do i need to re-bleed the brake lines because of the spongy feel?

thanks guys..

If the rear brakes are badly out of adjustment you can get similar symptoms. The rear brakes are adjusted when the e-brake is applied. If the previous owner never used the e-brake (common if it has an automatic transmission), they could be pretty far out. Pull off a drum and take a look.

the rear brakes are fine, PO installed new brake shoes, and they are properly adjusted.
As for the emergency brake, there is a lot of length to pull the lever out, so I adjusted it, but still the brakes are hard, and now spongy and it fails to stop quickly.

So i am not driving it right now.

the Brake booster when I apply the brakes, kinda changes the RPMs a bit, but not as if it would die on me, is almost unnoticeable.

the question is? can I use one from a newer 4runner? an 89-95 one?

there are plenty of those in the junk yards around where i live, but no older ones like my truck.

so what do you think?

"spongy" is the classic sign of air in the brake system; it needs to be bled.
Here's the manual section: http://web.archive.org/web/201203161.../3checksan.pdf

I'll need to re-bleed the system prior to finding out if the brake booster is bad.

I'll do that this week, like I said, the truck is parked and will not move it until this brake deal is done, safety first...


Thanks...

In case the booster is bad, does anyone confirmed if a newer one will fit on my 87?