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Brake booster came apart

Dwaz45

Well-Known Member
Local time
6:05 PM
Joined
Sep 13, 2021
Messages
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Location
Michigan
So I was driving my 68 roadrunner the other day and while slowing down approaching a stop sign, I hit the brakes a little harder than normal when a woodchuck darted out in front of me. There was a loud bang and the pedal went to the floor with no brakes. I wasn't going very fast by then and was able to stop with the parking brake. When I opened the hood I saw my brake booster had completely come apart. This was a new booster bought and installed 3 months ago. Up till now the brakes had been just fine. The only thing out of the ordinary was my pedal has always been lower than most I've seen. I wasn't to concerned about the pedal height because the brakes worked fine. Shortly after installing this booster I adjusted the pushrod length with the help of one of those H shaped tools that I had seen on another post. I did it all according to instructions I found on here everything seemed fine until this happened. The place I purchased it from when they saw the pics said everything comes from China nowadays and I musta got a bad one and to bring it back and they'd replace it. .......... My question is this: if by chance I had the pushrod adjusted too far out ( but I don't think I did ) could that have bottomed out in the master and forced the booster apart ??? Could anything I did have caused this ??? Or is this just a junk brake booster ???

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Those 2 Bendix booster halves go together with a twist. Something like putting a lid on a jam jar. The assembler did not twist the parts far enough to get it to lock.
 
That's insane! Don't believe I recall ever hearing or seeing that one. I wouldn't think the adjustment of the rod had anything to do with it. Same mechanical advantage I'd think regardless of adjusted length. I'm curious myself brand and seller...
 
That's insane! Don't believe I recall ever hearing or seeing that one. I wouldn't think the adjustment of the rod had anything to do with it. Same mechanical advantage I'd think regardless of adjusted length. I'm curious myself brand and seller...
I didn't think the pushrod was an issue. I'm pretty sure it was adjusted correctly. And I had been driving the car for 3 months with no problem. When something happens especially something weird like this I try to rule out myself lol. Nobody I've shown these pictures to or anyone who was at the show I was leaving who stopped to help had ever seen or heard of this happening.
 
I would not want another from the same manufacturer!
I feel the same however the one on the car when I got it had a sticker that said remanufactured on it as well. I'm wondering if no matter where you buy do they all come from the same place nowadays?
 
Those 2 Bendix booster halves go together with a twist. Something like putting a lid on a jam jar. The assembler did not twist the parts far enough to get it to lock.
Is there a way to tell by looking at a new one if they are locked ? I was thinking about putting for or five tack welds around it but I don't want to melt anything inside. Bottom line for probably next 3 years or so I'm gonna be paranoid as hell everytime I touch the brakes
 
If you have a rebuilder in your area, take it to them to reassemble. If it needs additional parts that may have fallen out, they will know and will be able to get them. They might even be able to set push rod length properly. These do not go back together easily. I had to make up a long wrench that bolted to master cylinder studs to get one back together. Take lots of pictures and hang on to rebuilders bill, to see if supplier will reimburse you.
 
All Chinese now? Get your money back from InLine and make sure you broadcast their comments to
everyone here! That's what we get!
 
I would not want another from the same manufacturer!
It seems that anything made in china is junk. I can see getting a new booster, and take it to a rebuilder to blow it apart, and assemble with good parts. Sign of the crappy times.
 
Would get a new booster not playing around with the old one. Your pedal being ‘low’ may be a pedal rod adjustment as it took me a good while to achieve the pedal height I wanted. I also had issues with a sinking pedal; but always had brakes. One of the culprits was some pre-load on the booster as there wasn’t free-play at the home position, it had been locking up against the brake light switch. Other possible issues might include pedal ratio, plunge depth into the MC, possible undue force on the booster rod (not the booster/mc gap). Another possibility is an incorrect MC, the bore sizes are different btw a manual and power brake setup. Also as tossing a bunch of things out, inspect the vacuum check valve..
 
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