on a trac/kick bleed your brakes from the drivers rear to the passengers rear and then the junction point in front of the third member. Then passenger front and finally drivers front. Only in that order will it be bleed properly.

They way their plumbed, the drivers rear is actually the furthest from the MC.

I also have my ABS sensor disconnected from the rear diff (when I swapped, the new 3rd was non-abs). I've had no ill effects (other than the "brake" light now comes on).

So, I don't think your problem is related to the rear sensor being unplugged. Sure sounds like air in the lines tho ...

on a trac/kick bleed your brakes from the drivers rear to the passengers rear and then the junction point in front of the third member. Then passenger front and finally drivers front. Only in that order will it be bleed properly.

They way their plumbed, the drivers rear is actually the furthest from the MC.

I also have my ABS sensor disconnected from the rear diff (when I swapped, the new 3rd was non-abs). I've had no ill effects (other than the "brake" light now comes on).

So, I don't think your problem is related to the rear sensor being unplugged. Sure sounds like air in the lines tho ...

That is how I bled it.  The 'T' junction is on the passenger side in the rear.  So we did the drivers side rear first.  
I didn't bleed a junction box in the front though.  Is there a bleeder cock there?  Or just crack the line loose and let is seep out?

Our 'brake' light is perma-on too, because the rear sensor is unplugged.  But I haven't 'disabled' anything else either.

IT DOES feel like there is air in the lines!  Has anybody ever used those brake fluid pumps?

You can get the break light to go out by unplugging the black box on the firewall behind the clutch pedal.  I've done this on mine with no ill effects.  Plus you Ebreak light will start working again.

We have been asking around (father & Bryce) and they believe that you should have the booster & MC from a LandCruiser because of the different size of brakes(being bigger brakes, more pressure needed).  Pressure would build in the rear brakes first and and by the time that happens, you have a lack of oil in the front with smaller booster.  Might need to call Toyota dealership to find out how much the ABS senor contributes to oil pressure from the booster.  Hope this makes sense.

Tokiko (OEM for Toyota, Nissan and Suzuki)
so you might find a Master Cylinder and or
a Booster that will bolt on, easy to measure
at a wrecking yard, or for that matter, find
a autoparts that has one on the shelf and
measure it and compair to the Stock MC

Wild

Thanks for your help guys.  This gives me plenty to try to track down!

~Nate

UPDATE:

We finally got this issue taken care of. After 5 months of driving and having to pump the brakes, replacing the master cylinder and booster twice, bleeding several quarts of fluid and replacing lines....

...

It was the spindle nuts inside the hub.  An hour and a half of work, and the problem is GONE!

My passenger side rotor had about 1/4-1/2 inches of movement, and it was causing the caliper to retract. I guess this is called "rotor slap".

Welp. That'll teach me.... sometimes the easiest things need to be checked first! But I can go Four Wheelin' again! Whoohoo!

 

That's great, good brakes are nice

Could this problem also happen to a Track/Kick
(stock) front end if the spindle nut were loose ??

Yes

Any where you have a nut retaining the wheel bearing if it gets loose you can geet the problem.

Zag

What's so cool about this....

Is that there's NO problem running the Sidekick M/C and booster with FZJ80 axles that have quad piston front calipers and single piston rears.

Stops on a DIME. Locks them right up.

 

Ok, well it's good to hear you got your problem fixed, but the Goblin is still giving me fits! The brake light came on today and since I was right next to a muffler-brake shop that does free brake inspections, I had them throw it on their lift and check it out. I have the right front caliper a little sticky, but not frozen, and the right rear wheel cylinder developed a leak since last time I checked it. So I stopped at the parts store and picked up new cylinders for both rear brakes and a new hardware kit while I was at it. I came home and swapped on the rear parts, put it all back together, bled it out good and tightened the handbrake cable. Dropped it down and tried doing a few backward stops to self-adjust the brakes. Keep in mind that even with new shoes and new hardware, as well as new cylinders and good drums, I still can't adjust the shoes to drag on the drums much. I can get them close so I can hear them contacting the drums, but there's no rotational drag when I turn them by hand. The pedal is still soft!!! I checked the front wheel bearings and they're tight, no play in the rotors or rims. I'm not losing fluid anywhere, either. Pulling the handbrake doesn't seem to affect pedal feel, either. I ran out of daylight before I got to swap the right front caliper with another one I have, plus it started raining I have a garage, but the Goblin is too tall to fit in it!

Would a sticky front caliper cause my soft pedal? Maybe m/c? Booster? At least replacing the wheel cylinders got rid of my brake light on the dash, but the brakes still don't inspire confidence...

It quit raining, so I dragged out the worklights...

The caliper I pulled from Silver was frozen solid, so it didn't do me any good. While I had the Goblin's caliper off, I noticed one worn pad and one like new pad(the inside one against the piston was like new!). The parts stores are all closed now, but I wanted to get this thing running for a ride tomorrow...

I took the inside pad off of Silver and noticed it was the same thickness as the outside one on the Goblin. I figured that since the piston has a sticky spot with the fat pad, it would be past the sticky spot with the thinner pad, so I swapped them. It worked, the piston extended past the sticky spot and has a nice fresh smooth surface to slide on and is working fine. I'll just have to rebuild the calipers when I put fresh pads on next.

Anyways, I bled off the system again and now have a firmer pedal. I can live with the pedal feeling like this, even if it isn't as tight as Silver's. When holding the brakes just tight enough to let the car move slightly, I can hear the pads grabbing at all 4 corners now, so I think I finally have all 4 brakes working, but I still have a strange problem going on with the handbrake. I adjusted it following the instructions in my Haynes manual so that it's fully engaged around 10 clicks up. It feels nice and stiff when I pull it, too. But while messing around in the driveway, I noticed the handbrake wont slow the car down or hold it in place at all. Now I'm really befuddled If I seem to have the rear brakes working and a nice tight brake cable, why wont the rear brakes hold the truck on a slight grade? Any suggestions here? The cables seem solid enough and when I pull the handle, I can see the lever moving behind the shoes on both sides...

I dont know much but this I know.  You should use the master cylinder and reservoir from the toyota or maybe an after market unit.  There is a certain psi all brake setups should.  So a factory setup has to have that volume/psi coming from the mc.  If not then the brakes will not ever work correctly.  I used to modify imports.  Switching civics to rear discs is a big money maker.  When you take lets say a integras rear disc setup  and put it on a civic EX you must use the master cylinder off the integra or you will get the same symptoms that you are explaining.  Good luck on the setup, it sounds like it should stop on a pin head when your done.

I adjusted it following the instructions in my Haynes manual so that it's fully engaged around 10 clicks up.

10 clicks sounds like a long way up to me. I was always taught rule of thumb, 6 clicks maximum. I'm not sure 10 clicks would get through an inspection over here. Anyway the ebrake should adjust itself up to around 3 or 4 clicks IIRC.

Total clicks with no resistance is around 20, so 10 is only half-way up...

Freakgolf, Your comment is aimed at Natebert, right? Cause I'm running all stock brakes...