So,we've all done the traditional brake bleed, someone sits in the seat and pumps the pedal, someone is under the truck with a bleed bottle and wrench...

And some of us have used a pressure bleeder setup, either the ones that pressurize the system so the fluid comes out under pressure (not so good, tend to introduce extra air) or the suction kind that suck fluid out the bleed screw (also not so good, hard to tell when you're getting fluid without bubbles because the process tends to introduce bubbles in the extracted fluid).

I got to help bleed the brakes on my rig with the Testbook setup, and let me tell you it's different...

The Testbook literally walks you through the process. It fires up the ABS pump and runs it, it tells you went to bleed what and for how long, whether to let the system pump do the work or someone pump the pedal, etc. It no kidding takes over an hour with two people doing the work. I suppose if you were moving as fast as you could you could make it under an hour, but damn, it's quite the involved process.

Most screws got bled twice, before and after running the pump and shuttle valves under program control. It took about a gallon and a half of fluid.

Was it better than a "regular" bleed? Yeah, definitely... the complaint going in was that my wife didn't like the pedal feel, because it was variable depending on how many stops you'd made, etc. That's completely gone now, it's rock solid. It's still got Rover brakes, adequate, but a bit "light" for such a heavy vehicle. Drive like it's a school bus, allowing plenty of stopping room, and you're fine; drive like it's a Porsche, and you're in trouble pretty quickly. But this is a LOT better.

Just thought I'd throw it out there, in case any of you were wondering. If you're having a shop do the work, make sure you have them do the full boat Testbook bleed. If you're doing it yourself, that's fine, but every once in a while you might consider finding someone to help you with a Testbook bleed.

 

prior to doing this were the breaks very soft? i have replaced master cylinder and done a full bleed using a bleed bottle. my mechanic also did a bleed using pressure bleeder. they are still very squishy - but do stop just fine.

 

Yup. That was the issue. They were OK, worked fine, etc but my wife constantly complained about them being soft. After, that's all gone.

Pisses me off that you need electronics to bleed brakes, but hey....

 

Any way to put the testbook software on a laptop?

 

You can do the same sort of thing with the hawkeye. Last time I bled the brakes I used the ABS modulator just for fun.

 

One thing that has not been mentioned are the rubber brake hose, as they get old, they ballon up when braking causing a soft pedal.
All D2's have a soft pedal, but a good 2 quart bleed, the old fashion way usually always takes cre of it with those rare times when the master cylinder is failing.

 

I though the 2003-2004 Discos had updated brake system, so the brake feel is better than the previous years?

 

Time for my periodic brake hose rant....

I've raced, amateur and professionally and vintage, since the mid-80s, ran an IMSA team in the laet 80s-early 90s, my daily driver has been a Porsche 911/930 from '84 until about two years ago. I owned a Porsche shop for about five years.

I *might* have some idea what I'm talking about when I say, un-categorically, steel braided teflon brake hoses are EVIL.

With rubber hoses, you can inspect them, you can measure them for ductility and expansion and best of all they're super-cheap so changing them is no big deal, particularly if you're doing a full system flush anyway (which you SHOULD do at least every two years unless you live in the Mohave or something).

The teflon hoses, often sold to "give better pedal feel" because "they don't expand", have all the inspection points hidden under the steel braid, and you just can't tell what's going on in there. Plus, we found in the late 80s that the friction from the inner hose rubbing on the braid caused failures, usually at the worst possible moment (as if there's ever a convenient time to dump all your brake fluid)

So, guess what? We used rubber hoses, and changed them frequently (more frequently on some of the cars, like 962Cs, than others, like 914/6's).

On my personal cars, I change the rubber lines every time I do a full flush. It's about a hundred bucks, and I never have to worry about how my hoses are. It's in that "just do it" category of maintenance that will save your ***, and not cost the earth.