Navara soft breaks

4x4Savage

Just got a 07 Navara Crew cab about 90,000km. Runs great, but serious amount of break pedal travel when you want to stop. Disk on front, drums on rear. I'm going to replace the pads & disks. Has anyone encountered this or a solution? Is there an upgrade for the braking system? Any help would be great..
Cheers S:cool:

CJhaughey

Sounds like air in the system, have you bled the brakes?

101sean

If it's drums on the rear, it could be the they've worn so much the automatic adjustment (assuming it has that) can't take out the slack or is just seized. While you replace the shoes you should be able to sort it. Drum brakes if not adjusted give a lot more travel at the pedal unlike discs which are always just right.

4x4Savage

Thanks, first I'm going to bleed the system & check the drum breaks for adjustment. Hopefully that will improve the break pedal firmness and stopping distance.
Will update if that works.
If it doesn't then it's time to shell out for new disks & pads all round.

Does anyone know if the rear suspension can be softened? I don't carry heavy loads. On a bumpy road the rear end ride is harsh.

S

101sean

It's at the age you should really change the fluid anyway but my money is on the rear brakes needing adjusting.

I don't know if they fitted stiffer springs for our VRT rules but there's suppliers out there who do alternatives. Have a look at the pic of a standard spring on Milner's site as a comparison.

http://www.milneroffroad.com/nissan/navara-pickup/d40m-52005-2-5td

slowburner

It'd be no harm at all to check for a leak in the brake line.
I had the same problem on a different jeep - gradually increasing travel and decreasing effectiveness.
The brake line was running over a flat surface which had gathered a build up of muck over the years and which you would never think of cleaning.
So the brake line was sitting underground for X amount of years, and of course, it rusted through and the system failed completely.
All I can say is that I'm lucky it happened outside the house, rather than on the motorway.
Ended up replacing all the brake lines for peace of mind.

4x4Savage

Cheers for all the info.. Might need a bit of help. Would any of you recommend a mechanic that's good with Navaras?

createrofall

after you bleed them if it dosn work just loosen the bleed nipples slightly so they are bearly dripping leave for 20min come back and top up with fluid and leave for another 20min fill up fluid and you will have rock hard brakes

CJhaughey

createrofall wrote: »

after you bleed them if it dosn work just loosen the bleed nipples slightly so they are bearly dripping leave for 20min come back and top up with fluid and leave for another 20min fill up fluid and you will have rock hard brakes

How does that work? If you leave a bleed nipple so its dripping, air must be replacing the fluid and rising back up the brake pipe.
I always found that if it was troublesome to bleed then keeping the brake pressed down overnight with the brakelight bulbs removed would usually solve most cases, as it allowed the airbubbles to rise back to the brake cylinder.
I never heard of the method you describe, not saying it doesn't work but what is the principle?

101sean

Gravity bleed, it does work but not always, depends on the layout of the system. Weight of the fluid pushes the air out ahead but if there's load sensing valves or high points it may not work, certainly doesn't on my 101!. I use it to shift most of the air but always round off by pedal pumping, closing the bleed nipple on the up strokes.

roryq69

Bought an 07 landcruiser about 7 months ago and it had very soft brakes. knew what it was straight away cause all those landcruisers seem to suffer from it. " pots of the four on each front caliper had siezed. Once i got new calipers on she would put you out through the windscreen! take off the front wheels and see if you can lever the pots back into the caliper!

Fishtits

OP, get rid of it now.

They are piss poor over time, It'll cost you a fortune.

Never touch another one.

4x4Savage

Adjusted rear shoes and fitted new pads up front. Breaks a lot better..