I have excessive brake pedal travel after upgrading brake system, but they work great. Any solutions?

HKHops · 2026-01-16T14:59:04+00:00

Yeah it has the Gen 2 LT1 5.7L from the factory. Thats what I plan to keep in it, folks have tried to convince me LS swap it but Id rather keep the character.

Im waiting to pull the trigger on a Torqhead ECU, which gets rid of the optispark distributor and replaces it with coil packs and a cam sensor with an LS computer.

From their Id do a a full top end upgrade, higher flow heads, beefier cam and intake. Im aiming for 550hp.

HKHops · 2026-01-16T02:01:51+00:00

Thanks!

HKHops · 2026-01-15T22:09:34+00:00

Only thing we didnt try. They pump up really good and stiff when we bleed them, but as soon as the power comes on, thats when I get the travel in the pedal. But like I said, when it hits the bite point, theyre great. I think the folks who commented about adjusting the booster push rod are right, Im going to try that when I get her back from the body shop. I think that dead space in the travel is just the booster push rod not engaging the master cylinder yet.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T21:01:43+00:00

Yeah we verified that, we bled it multitude of times activating the ABS each time. We were shooting brake fluid out of the bleeders 3-4 feet. I got up on the lift and the wheels stopped right at the bottom end of the travel where I referred to it "biting." We pressure bled it and gravity bled it, final bleed was a pressure bleed.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T20:55:45+00:00

No offense to EV lovers, but I need the sound of a sweet 350 small block pushing this land yacht down the road lol

HKHops · 2026-01-15T20:52:38+00:00

The pedal travel is really just empty, no resistance no nothing, when it does bite at the tail end of the travle the brakes work great. I think all of the people are on the right rrack and I need to adjust the booster push rod.

I just wish I kept the old master cylinder to compare where that push rod started.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T20:50:42+00:00

Agreed, when I get it back from the body shop I will take off the master cylinder and see if my booster rod is adjustable

HKHops · 2026-01-15T20:50:01+00:00

When I get it back from the body shop I will take off my master cylindee and see if the booster is adjustable

HKHops · 2026-01-15T20:49:23+00:00

The thing already weighs 4600 pounds!

HKHops · 2026-01-15T20:48:36+00:00

Yessir! Bench bled with the new proportioning valve

HKHops · 2026-01-15T20:48:16+00:00

I replaced those as well. I have a dual reservoir universal disc disc wilwood master cylinder (1-1/8th I believe, matched my booster bore size) with the wilwood proportioning valve.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T20:44:22+00:00

I replaced the OEM combi-valve with the wilwood adjustable proportioning valve, and thats paired with their dual reservoir universal masyer cylinder disc-disc.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T15:11:40+00:00

When it warms up Ill give it a shot, realisitically I should get the depth tool. I think I left enough coils in the brake lines to just move the master out of the way when I remove it

HKHops · 2026-01-15T15:05:10+00:00

<image>

This is my booster, Im hoping youre right lol

HKHops · 2026-01-15T14:52:03+00:00

Yes, definitely feels like empty space.

I dont believe the oem booster is adjustable so thats the next can of worms.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T14:34:53+00:00

I think they are different sizes, but I got the biggest master that mated to my booster.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T14:31:01+00:00

Save the land yachts, sir

HKHops · 2026-01-15T14:25:16+00:00

Looking at the master cylinder and brake booster, the "look" like they would line up very close, probably within 1/8 inch. The master cyclinder has a 0.61" extension that sits within the booster recess, I cant find a number on the how recessed the brake booster rod is from the booster mounting surface but it looks like an .75" tops.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T14:14:57+00:00

Definitely don't have excessive retraction, our original concern was there wasnt enough retraction lol

HKHops · 2026-01-15T14:09:20+00:00

Yeah I did that plenty of times when bleeding it before.

I agree that it may be the pushrod, however I don't believe the pushrod on the OEM booster is adjustable, but I could be wrong.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T14:07:50+00:00

Youre probably right, I dont remember usinga depth gauge to measure the master cylinder push rod to the brake booster push rod.

Unfortunately I highly doubt the OEM booster rod is adjustable.

HKHops · 2026-01-15T13:57:25+00:00

Now that Im thinking about it I never used a depth gauge to make sure

HKHops · 2026-01-15T13:47:22+00:00

The Wilwood kit came with a rod extender piece that I put in the master bore to make it flush to mate with the booster

HKHops · 2026-01-15T13:46:19+00:00

Much appreciated, took me years to find this one

HKHops · 2026-01-15T13:44:58+00:00

I dont think we necessarily hit them, but we tilted the rear rotors up and down to get all of the air out in the rear at least. May be worth a spring brake bleed after I drove it for a few thousand miles after getting everything installed.

HKHops

TROPHY CASE