Master cylinder bench bleeding with a $6 bottle changed my brake jobs

For 12 years I did the old two person pedal push method on every master cylinder install, and half the time I still got air trapped in the bore. Last month I grabbed a plastic squeeze bottle with a hose adapter from the parts store and bench bled a 1998 F-250 master before bolting it on, first pedal was rock solid. Anyone else switched to pressure bleeding or do you still trust the pedal trick on older trucks?

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harper_foster3d ago

That $6 bottle saved my back and my patience on my 2001 Silverado. I fought with a bench bleed kit that had those little plastic tubes for years, always second guessing if I got all the bubbles out. First time I used the squeeze bottle method, I had fluid shooting clean out the ports in about two minutes, and the pedal felt like a brick wall when I fired it up. I keep one in my toolbox now and I'm never going back to the old dance with my wife pumping the pedal while I yell at her to hold it down. Bleeding the whole system still takes two people, but that master cylinder part is a one man job now.