You have addressed an issue repair shops very conveniently dismiss. I've had my Toyota to 2 shops, and they claim there's "no problem" with the brakes. I know they are dead wrong.
Just wanted to say thanks for this video - I recently changes the front rotors - didn't even open up the hydraulics of the brakes, and then couldn't work out why I was getting long brake pedal when the job was done. Turns out on one side I'd failed to 'bed in' the bearing before adjusting by feel (ie. forgot to initially torque nut to 61Nm) ... and ended up with a slack wheel bearing and this exact symptom. 2 unnecessary brake bleeds, 1 informative youtube video, and a re-adjustment of the wheel bearing later - and I'm back on the road.
That was excellent information. Wheel bearings are not something you would think of when you are trying to work out a brake problem. We all have a camera on our phone these days so the tip of filming the disk when checking bearings was also a good tip.
I can confirm skidding a Landy is possible , I once left rubber skidmarks on a road that lasted 9months and flatspotted my tyres from a 60mph emergency stop in a 200tdi 90.
After fitting new brakes to the rear of my Defender 2.4tdci and also upgrading to full Pioneer 4x4 kit my brakes developed a soft first push before working properly the brakes have been blead so should be no air in the system. The Defender has new wheel bearings all round. From your description doesn't sound like a vacuum pump issue so I'm a little puzzled
Yes, I had this on my old G Wagen discovering in hindsight the symptom as a missed sign of the lead up to a grossly collapsed wheel bearing. This was probably started by a roundabout encounter with a stout Volvo pulling out in front of me when I ripped off his front wing with a front tyre and thought I'd suffered no damage....
@@lrworkshop This culminated in extreme vibration of a front wheel, the tyre (6 year old BFG A/T) emitting wire reinforcement and the wheel being held in position only by brake caliper contact with the disc. Lucky controlled stop on a fast multi lane highway. I'd noticed the long travel braking for a while beforehand but hadn't picked it up as a sign of impending catastrophic bearing failure. So not just Land Rovers can go bang !
My brother had this issue-soft pedal on his land cruiser due to loose wheel bearings. Ive never had the issue. Maybe i have not realised or kept on top of my wheel bearings
Almost the opposite of this situation - have to drive a long time without braking to be able to get a firm pedal. One test is to hold the end of the vacuum pipe on your thumb to see if it sucks enough (there's a clip of this in the video). It could also be a leaking booster as the pump wouldn't be able to pull enough vacuum to overcome the leak
Defenders don't have brakes. You use your gears to control your speed. I'll typically barely touch my Defender's breaks, even on a long journey; so much so that if someone's following me they'll often say, "do you know your break lights aren't working?" Just saying 🙂
You have addressed an issue repair shops very conveniently dismiss. I've had my Toyota to 2 shops, and they claim there's "no problem" with the brakes. I know they are dead wrong.
Just wanted to say thanks for this video - I recently changes the front rotors - didn't even open up the hydraulics of the brakes, and then couldn't work out why I was getting long brake pedal when the job was done. Turns out on one side I'd failed to 'bed in' the bearing before adjusting by feel (ie. forgot to initially torque nut to 61Nm) ... and ended up with a slack wheel bearing and this exact symptom. 2 unnecessary brake bleeds, 1 informative youtube video, and a re-adjustment of the wheel bearing later - and I'm back on the road.
Excellent point about loose bearings. I never thought of it that way. Thank you for the video!!
Cheers!
That was excellent information. Wheel bearings are not something you would think of when you are trying to work out a brake problem.
We all have a camera on our phone these days so the tip of filming the disk when checking bearings was also a good tip.
Cheers Harvey
Great idea.
I've never considered the wheel bearing as a cause of soft pedal.
But I am lucky enough not to have to struggle with this recently.
To properly check front wheel bearings jack the wheel off the ground and with one hand on top and one underneath rock the wheel in the vertical plane.
I can confirm skidding a Landy is possible , I once left rubber skidmarks on a road that lasted 9months and flatspotted my tyres from a 60mph emergency stop in a 200tdi 90.
No way mine could do that as it stands! More work required
Since I dont drive it every day my brakes gat worse.
Thanks for the tip.
Cheers. 🍻
After fitting new brakes to the rear of my Defender 2.4tdci and also upgrading to full Pioneer 4x4 kit my brakes developed a soft first push before working properly the brakes have been blead so should be no air in the system. The Defender has new wheel bearings all round.
From your description doesn't sound like a vacuum pump issue so I'm a little puzzled
Good tips! You said adjusting the wheel bearings, not replacing them?
Yes, you could inspect them but if there's no undue wear or pitting then they'll be fine
Yes, I had this on my old G Wagen discovering in hindsight the symptom as a missed sign of the lead up to a grossly collapsed wheel bearing. This was probably started by a roundabout encounter with a stout Volvo pulling out in front of me when I ripped off his front wing with a front tyre and thought I'd suffered no damage....
Had a collapsed bearing once on the motorway, not fun!
@@lrworkshop This culminated in extreme vibration of a front wheel, the tyre (6 year old BFG A/T) emitting wire reinforcement and the wheel being held in position only by brake caliper contact with the disc. Lucky controlled stop on a fast multi lane highway. I'd noticed the long travel braking for a while beforehand but hadn't picked it up as a sign of impending catastrophic bearing failure. So not just Land Rovers can go bang !
My brother had this issue-soft pedal on his land cruiser due to loose wheel bearings. Ive never had the issue. Maybe i have not realised or kept on top of my wheel bearings
Very interesting
What are the symptoms of bad vacuum pump ?
Almost the opposite of this situation - have to drive a long time without braking to be able to get a firm pedal. One test is to hold the end of the vacuum pipe on your thumb to see if it sucks enough (there's a clip of this in the video). It could also be a leaking booster as the pump wouldn't be able to pull enough vacuum to overcome the leak
@@lrworkshop thank you 👍
🎥👍
Defenders don't have brakes. You use your gears to control your speed. I'll typically barely touch my Defender's breaks, even on a long journey; so much so that if someone's following me they'll often say, "do you know your break lights aren't working?"
Just saying 🙂
I do similar as the transmission friction and high driving position are usually enough to be able to slow ahead of time