OK, I pulled the rear drums and see no sign of leakage from the axle. I will check the emergency brake operation.
I rebuilt the master cylinder and the front wheel cylinders. I honed all of these because there was some pitting, which I didn't entirely remove but I reduced it quite a bit.
The rear wheel cylinders, drums, and shoes were all replaced. I've bled the system twice now and the pedal goes nearly all the way to the floor before there is any braking action and you have to lean on the pedal to stop the truck. On a hard stop, it pulls to the right. I've adjusted all the shoes so that there is a slight drag on the drums when turned by hand.
I checked for leaks and everything was OK. But when I got back from a short drive, I found that the backing plates on the front wheels were wet with brake fluid. I cleaned them off, got in the truck, and pumped the pedal several times. Checked the front wheels and no leaks. Went for another short drive, then took a look at the front backing plates. Wet with brake fluid. I believe there are only two possibilities: The rubber line going to the wheel cylinders and the bleeder screws. But I see no evidence that any of these are leaking.
One thing I noticed while bleeding the brakes. When you pump the master cylinder, it takes a long time to return to its starting position. You can watch through the opening in the reservoir (compensation port?). The piston returns very slowly to its original position. Is it supposed to work like that? Could be I have something installed wrong there. I checked the thrust washer because I know if it's reversed it can block the compensating port, so I'm certain that is in correctly.
