pedal box/brake adjustment questions

[willie knuckles]

I have a few questions - your help is appreciated (and pardon my ignorance....)....

I am working on the brakes - all brakes are bled and the brake pedal seems to have a reasonable amount of travel when depressed. I have read the manuals, read on here, etc... and may have confused myself. Currently I have the front/rear master cylinder rods equally threaded into their respective clevises; the balance bar is evenly spaced left - right (equal threads showing) on either side of the clevises; the rods are parallel and perpendicular to the threaded rod/balance bar. At this point, are the master cylinder rods mostly used to adjust the pedal off of/away from the brake switch and the black square tube in the box and the balance bar is used to adjust bias from front/rear (by adjusting it towards driver/passenger side)? Is it "ok" for the brake pedal to rest on the black square tube? The silver pad on the brake pedal tilts slightly towards the front of the car when viewed from the side. At build school it was mentioned that the square black tube could be cut out (should I do this?)..? It is my intent to put the wheels on and have my son tow me around the neighborhood to work the brakes some (should I do this now, and then adjust). I have added a few pics (the square black tube has been marked either in the photo or with flouro tape). Your help and constructive comments are appreciated!





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[Indy Shu]

You have the right idea. You want to adjust so it doesn’t hit the bar and then it’s about adjusting the pedal heights for comfort /fit. The manual says to adjust the brake pedal so that it is about even with the gas pedal when it is pushed down and the clutch pedal is about 2 inches higher than the brake pedal at rest.
No need for the tow around the neighborhood or to worry about any adjustments to the balance bar until you’re on the road. They will work just fine for now.

[Cobraman]

Once you've bled the brakes you should have very little free play until brakes are engaging. The pedal should be very firm right from the top. If not you have air in the system. I let mine set for a couple days then bled them again you will be surprised how much air you will get out.

[CraigS]

I agree w/ Cobraman except to say that some use will get the pads mated to the rotors better and the brakes will feel better then. I would not cut the frame tube out. Adjust the pushrods to keep the pedal arm from hitting the tube. Don't get too concerned at this point w/ pedal heights. I agree w/ the recommendations mentioned by Indy but things will change. All 3 pedals can be adjusted as well as the seat. Unfortunately they all take some time to do. But over the first several months that you drive the car you can make changes as you desire. The fun part is that you can make the car fit you like a glove.

[Blitzboy54]

For my money that cross member that interferes with the brake pedal was a poor design choice. On 2 builds I wanted my pedal closer but can't unless I cut it. What I opted to do instead was shim the back of the pedal to the arm. This pushed the pedal 1/2 closer to me. The issue with a Coyote (probably an LS for that matter) is the pedal isn't adjustable. My brake was even with the gas. In a tight pedal box (particularly with spirited driving) it's too easy to grab some gas pedal along with the brake if your foot isn't square. The brake needs to be offset IMO to prevent this.

[Dgc333]

A few things to keep in mind;
1. Unless you are using a pressure or vacuum bleeder you will want to have the master cylinder push rods screwed out of the clevises as far as possible or until the pedal hits the frame but does not start pushing back into the master cylinder. This will give you maximum stroke to to move maximum fluid and give you the best chance of getting all the air out. You can screw them back in once bled for the desired pedal height.
2. Assuming you are using brakes that the fronts have more or larger pistons you will need to move more fluid in the front before the pads touch the rotors. This will require that the front master cylinder push rod be screwed out of the clevis more than the rear. A 1/4" more is a good place to start. This will put the balance bar at a slight angle which is fine when your foot is off the brake. What you want is for the balance bar to be parallel to the pedal box with hard pressure on the pedal. You can adjust the front or rear master cylinder in or out to get it parallel under hard pedal pressure.
3. Don't worry about adjusting the balance bar until you can drive the car. Here you will want the front brakes to lock up just before the rears when stopping from 40 to 50 mph.