Ford: 93 Ford Explorer with ABS brakes, old fashion way, pressure pot

Question
I recently acquired a 93 Explorer that I believe may have master cylinder trouble, as the brake petal is spongy and seems to have a lot of travel.  The car stops ok, but also seems to lock up (or rather the ABS kicks in) easily on wet roads.  This is the first car that I've had that has all four anti-lock brakes.

Anyway the question/situation is this:
I would like to know about replacing the master cylinder myself. The Hanes book is telling me that I cannot replace the master cylinder at home because it takes special high dollar tools to bleed it and possible the anti-lock controller. It basically says that any opening in the system above the anti-lock controller has to be bleed by a professional shop. As an aircraft mechanic, I have a hard time dealing with many shops due to cost and many times they do sloppy work.  (I am sure that some don't but I probably can't afford them.)

Is there any other way to do it myself without paying for a shop?  What about reverse flushing/bleeding the system with a pressure pot.  That is how we do it on some airplanes, but they don't really have the same type of anti-lock systems.

Thanks for any help that you can give.
MB


Answer
MATT

you can try to bleed the brakes the old fashion way.most of the time it will not work.its true you need a special tool to do the job, and yes it cost,about a grand.you can try reverse flushing/bleeding,it may work i have never tried it.good luck hope this helps.

ken