2004 f150 triton Brakes or lack thereof

[Trying to make Herwayhome]

OK, I could really use some help right now. I am the second owner of my truck. My father owned it before me and I know he took very good care of it. Its in excellent condition, or was until just recently . BTW, 84,000 miles.
I'm not sure if a little background will help but here goes; replaced the alternator last summer.
About 4 weeks ago the steering became rough, almost as if I had manual steering which I guess I pretty much did. Replace power steering pump. Started to leak fluid with the rough steering increasing. Took it to the shop and had the power steering gear box replaced. Still lose some fluid but as of right now that is the least of my worry. I am in another state so I am not able to take it back to the shop that did the repair. Not today anyway.

Now, the biggie. I have just relocated to a mountainous area. My ride into and back from the job site at 35 mph requires a constant pressure on the brake. There is a 350 foot drop on the other side of the guardrail so needless to say when my brake pedal became soft last Friday I had the brakes looked at right away. No leaks. No excessive wear. No noise. BTW, right now there are no rear brakes. A good friend crawled under the truck and checked the calibers and brakes lines, bleed the brakes. Still the pedal goes to the floor. While I was pumping up the brakes we both heard air escaping from what seemed to be the cap on the reservoir. Off to Auto Zone I go and buy, in 2 pieces of course, a new cap and rubber seal that inserts into the cap. Still no luck. Is it possible that there is a crake in the reservoir around the area that the cap screws on to, that could be causing the air getting into the lines? Naturally, that auto parts store does not sell the reservoir alone. Or could the master cylinder be leaking without a visible leak and or is it the brake booster?

Thank you for any insight and thoughts on this.

[AlfredB1979]

Leaks in the hose coming from the intake manifold to the booster sounds like the issue.

As for the steering issue, I believe the 04-08 trucks have issues with the intermediate steering shaft.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8b8JStNezo

[dpm1]

Have you replaced your brake fluid? If there is air in the line the fluid needs to be bled and replaced, easy enough to do in a driveway. Have you inspected your pads for wear?

If you are needing to ride the brake you should consider putting the truck in a low gear. Riding the brakes can overheat them and reduce braking power when needed using the engine brake is the better route.