both pushrod lengths not the same?

You can have the shop adjust them equally.

If one tire pulls before the other on snow or ice or rain you are going to be pulled out of line pretty quick.

If I dusted off the memory of the air system the front steers probably do not get the full application of air that the other tires get. But even so, shop should adjust both of them down.

 

In physics, the braking forces will be different if the lever is smaller on one side compared to the other. As you know a longer lever produces more torque. A shorter lever produces less torque. If the slack adjuster itself was a different size this would be a no-go zone in your PTI for that reason.

The pushrod in itself being shorter or longer is not as important as whether or not the shorter pushrod will bottom out against the pot at full air pressure when the brakes are hot causing the brake pads to loss contact with the drum which will result in loss of directional stability for you and your truck and trailer. This possibly will results in the truck taking a nap and causing you to take a permanent dirt nap 6 feet under who knows where and when but most definitely at the most inopportune moment. Hopefully search and rescue finds you before too long. Hide your porn collection under the bunk just in case this happens to you.

Prior to this dirt nap and the bottoming out of the pushrod the slack adjuster to pushrod angle if less than than 90 degrees at 100PSI will cause a loss of leverage for that slack adjuster and therefore less braking force compared to the other side which has an angle greater than 90 degrees.

No amount of adjusting your brakes can fix a pushrod that has been cut too short during installation. The entire brake chamber needs to be replaced.

Rule of thumb: The only time you should be napping is when you decide to.

 

Most important is having the same amount of travel.20/20 chambers max travel length is 1.75”. Ideally when applied both are at a 90 degree angle to slack adj arm, Either one is too long or one has been cut too short. Best to be the same length. That’s how I understand it, anyway. Best to have mechanic check it out.

 

Are you familiar with the "Six Pack"? Your front steers do not get any braking unless the application is 60% or greater on the treadle valve, (Brake pedal) which is a pretty serious desire to stop actually.
When you are pre-tripping your air brakes a 100% application of brakes (with the system released and the air pressure at 90psi or greater) then release and repeat six times. Allow time for the system to react, 1-2-3 release 1-2-3 brake 100%. That should keep the fronts adjusted as long as everything is working correctly. It is not unusual for the front slack adjusters to seize from lack of use.

 

I lost my six pack after 50.

 

Oh yea... now ye talking.

 

Got a Keg now, I suppose?