Truck has issues

[JRead]

ALL INPUT ON HOW TO GET THIS TRUCK RUNNING IS WELCOME
2wd 72 f100 360 5.9L 2bbl

had some stalling issues then truck sat a few months. Now i have rebuilt the carb, replaced the battery cables, starter solenoid, starter ground, starter, altenator and all connectors along the way, belts, sparkplugs and wires, airfilter and oilchange and i am using a fairly new battery.
Truck wouldnt start,(solenoid made a bad buzz noise sitting in auxillary or would do nothing at all) finally got it to start to crank after replacing the new solenoid with another new one. (everything sounded fine), but did not turn over. Tried again but this time starter did not kill out even when i pulled out the keys, i had to pull the neg battery cable off (which killed it) Battery keeps getting drained, and when i jump it the cables get melting hot and give off a little smoke from both cars???
The key would not turn sometimes anyhow so i pulled off the keylock/ignition switch tonight and will replace tomorrow along with getting battery tested.

ANY IDEAS ?????

[fordman]

the power to start the truck comes from the battery to the starter realy on the inner fender. and then down to the starter. when the key is turned that gives the starter relay the signal to energize the starter relay. the relay then clicks down to send the power through the realy and on down to the starter. now constant starting or holding the key in one posistion to start for an extended time. can damage the starter and or starter realy. it can also melt the cables on the truck. battery cable connections is the most common point to where the trucks loose contact. even though the cables seem clean and tight they may not be. i had this happen to me. a little bit of grey color inside the cable end and it wouldn't start. i cleaned the cable end and it has started ever since. the reason your jumpers were smoking was from a slightly bad or loose conection to the battery terminals. it happens alot. wiggle the cables to make sure they are getting a better cantact when this happens. or you may have just got them too hot. while trying to start the truck. so stop and wait for them to cool. the truck running on after the key has been pulled is probably becasue the starter relay got stuck and was putting power through to the coil via the brown wire on the rear small terminal on the starter. (that question was asked the other day and my mind went blank). if it happens again pull that wire off and if it kills the enigne the relay is stuck and either needs to be tapped with a hammer or replaced.

[JRead]

Also, after truck ran without the key, and i pulled the neg battery cable, a few minutes passed, i went to put the cable back on the battery, it hit the terminal and wham truck tried to start again and i was no where near the cab, keys were in my hand?????
What would cause the solenoid/relay (they are the same thing right?) to keep going out? this is going on the third replacement in three days bc everything i read says its the solenoid, and i keep exchanging it out and not getting to much farther, Though last time the truck finially made some noise, i dont leave the key turned long at all mainly due to it either acts like its going to fire up right off the bat (and doesnt) or it doesnt make so much as a squeek. I dont want to replace the starter again so i have been careful and its only been spun two or three short times so i think it should still be ok.......................the first prob i had was the truck was just dead (this was a month or so after we had rebuilt the carb and then it had just set in the garage), so i tried jumping it, and it almost drained the denanli (low battery light came on), so i replaced the altenator and gave it a tune up with all new plugs, wires, battery cables, and oil change. Truck still didnt even make a squeek so then the relay/solenoid got replaced, still nothing, then the starter got replaced and all i got was a bad buzz/spark from the solenoid, so i replaced the solenoid again, this time the truck started to turn over so i let off the key and it just died (this is while it was on a jump, so i pulled the battery out of explorer and put it on the truck) tried to start it again and it tried but would not turn over. Had to put the wifes battery back or else so went back to a jump and that is when it just keep running even after i pulled the key. after i reconnected the neg batt. terminal the truck tried to turn over again???????? This was three starts all in about an hour, truck sounds good no bad noises other then it doesnt kick over.
Orginally the battery was grounded off to the bolt just below the altenator, but the new cable would not fit around the bolt, where would be a better place to ground off to? Would a bad/weak ground be the cause?

[fordman]

that may be part of the problem. maybe you can bolt the negative wire to the alt bracket i have seen that done before.

[Thunderfoot]

Yes, be sure all the ground connections are good and also be sure the starter solenoid (relay) is grounded to the fender good where it is bolted down. If you unhook the Red/blue striped wire from the stater solenoid and try to hook up the battery again, and the starter still tries to turn over then the solenoid is bad (I have had 2 new ones in a row be bad from the parts store ), if you can hook the battery back up and it doesn't turn over then after hooking the battery up, hook up that Red/blue striped wire and see if it tries to turn over, if it does then there is a problem with the ignition switch or a short in that wire to a 12V source somewhere. (more then likely the ignition switch at this point though).
This should help diagnose where the problem is at, let us know what you find out.

[JRead]

ITS ALIVE !!!!
got the beast agoing finally replaced the battery, solenoid (again) and changed the grounds and it fired right up!
Took it for a spin around the block and it did fine only issue now is the brakes are hitting the floor i had to start stoping halfway down the block on the way back, there is full fluid in one resivoir(closest the engine) and the front res(closest the dash) is all but empty????? is this right ?????

[fordman]

the rear one being empty isnt correct. you have something wrong with the front brakes.