Do I need to bleed front brakes if bleed the rears?

[Dan Vinke]

Just got done with my rear disc brake conversion, and bled the rear but my brakes still feel a little bit mushy.



Somebody told me the ST had that system (can't remember what it's called), where the front and rear lines are separate or something and if you open up a rear brake line you only need to bleed the rear brakes, or if you open up a front you only need to bleed the fronts.



Is this correct, or do I need to bleed all the calipers?



I'm going to bleed the front's anyway, because I want to try to get a firmer pedal - I personally like an extremely firm brake pedal.

 

[Todd Z]

Chances are you still have air in there........



Also make sure the truck key is in the on position or heck, even running..... This keeps the ABS motors and pistons in the right place for bleeding.....



I did that and the issues I had went away.....



So how did it go ???



Todd Z

 

[Richard L]

Yep, Todd is correct. You should always bleed brakes starting at the farthest wheel from the master cylinder (right rear) and work our way closer finishing at the left front wheel.



...Rich

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Yes, always bleeed all four corners.

 

[Dan Vinke]

Ok, thanks guys, wasn't sure if it was like that with an ST or not, cause I've had vehicles where it you didn't have to do all four.



Also, didn't know about bleeding with the key on or truck running, I'll start oven from the back and bleed the whole system with it running.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

You are correct that there is a valve that does separate them. However, when you do the amount of work you did, it is common that all four corners need to be bleed. Start at the furthers corner and go from there...

 

[scott degroot]

Todd Z,6/15/2009 20:30 MT

Also make sure the truck key is in the on position or heck, even running..... This keeps the ABS motors and pistons in the right place for bleeding.....

Todd Z

There is no "right" place for this. The abs system is not a pressurized system like what is found on some vehicles. The solenoids are always open, unless abs function is requested, and therefore always allow full fluid flow through them, the solenoid valves are always in the same place regardless if the key is on or off. The ONLY way it would be possible to make the valves cycle while you are bleeding the system is if you had a NGS or an IDS.

 

[Chad Merry]

When I finished my SAS I had to bleed the fronts, but decided to do the rears as well.. And man that stuff was nasty!!!! I did not know brake fluid could turn that color:wacko: I put on the speed bleeders and it took about 5 minutes to do the whole truck. Plus add some new SS braided lines and you get a great brake pedal:banana:

 

[Dan Vinke]

Chad, where did you get the SS lines and how much did they run you?

 

[Chad Merry]

A local Carquest shop made them for me. He charged me $96.00 for my new lines, but they are also almost 30" in length. He made my first set when I did the superlift kit, and those are were alot cheaper because I only needed those to be about 16" long.