After looking at my brake master cylinder, the best I can tell, it has only one complete reservoir, with no separator. In other words, if your front brakes fail, so do the rears. Is there a swap available that addresses this problem? As always, money is an issue, so I would prefer a swap from a vehicle that I could find at my local pick-n-pull.

 

About the only (all ) upgrade for MS that I know of is the FJ-80 non-ABS MS swap, but I am not sure if it does what you want?

 

The systems are indipendent, but only one master. If it breaks, you can still stop once or twice. Then, call a tow truck. Don't be a hero and "limp" home only to rear end someone at a stoplight.

Lamm

 

They have some sort of seperator; I drove around for a couple of days without any rear brakes when one of my line busted.

 

Wouldnt DOT have a law that makes that mandatory?

 

I belive you are correct.

Lamm

 

I'm pretty sure you're right about the FJ80 MC. I think it will only work if you swap the rear drums for discs.

Lamm and Nathan, you are both right. In my ignorance, I never thought to look inside the reservoir. From the outside, it looks like all one tank. Today I stuck my finger in there and there is a separator that is about half the height of the reservoir. More details when I get home from work.

 

Ok, now that I'm home from work, "and changed my rear differential oil" , I'll say what I was gonna say earlier. This all came about because of an incident that happened about 4 months ago (I bought the truck in May). I go to the bank to deposit the paycheck. I pull out and go about a half a block to the intersection. I hit the brakes... nothing. I drop 'er into 1st, dump the clutch and turn off the ignition. She stops about a foot from the crosswalk, where pedestrians were crossing and it was also a main road, so lots of traffic. I came about a foot from hitting a girl and her boyfriend who were crossing the road. Let me tell you now... That was the worst experience of my 23 years of driving.. :pat:

So, I want to take every precaution that I possibly can to prevent this from happening again... Thus the Master Cylinder question.

After this happened, and I replaced the driver's side brake lines and hose, I also replaced my rear shoes, only to find that they were not adjusted at all. In fact, the self-adjusters aren't even there! So, I replaced the shoes, adjusted them by hand and am currently looking for new (or used) self-adjusters. I also plan on stainless lines, front to rear this spring.

By the way, when I replaced the shoes, my pedal came all the way up. So, I guess what happened is... The front brake line failed... The rear brake shoes weren't adjusted, and that's why they didn't kick in... Not because of the master cylinder