Lousy Brakes...What to do??

['70 C/10 SS500]

This is going to be a long one, so bear with me! Well, this weekend I got the exhaust done on my 500 Caddy motor swap project. For those of you following along, I went with my plan with a slight change: instead of a full 3" exhaust, I had 2 1/2" out of the manifolds for the head pipes, turning under the frame and outward toward the cab sides into 3" in/out Flowmaster 40 Delta Flows mounted directly under the cab floor (outward of the frame rails) with 3" pipes out of the mufflers turning a 45 deg. out to dump out the sides directly under the rear edge of the door. Truck sounds great, the exhaust shop did an excellent job!! With the exhaust done, I could finally run the motor more than a few seconds and a bit later I took her for her first drive in over 7 months. I had now completed my journey from I6-292 to V8-500 and with NO BRAKES!! Turns out that the front flexible rubber brake lines were shot and needed replacing, passenger one was leaking very bad. I replaced those yesterday night and at 3 O'clock in the morning was done bleading the brakes and ready to drive her to see if it was better. The truck now has brakes again, but not the best. After spending over 8 hours repairing (front) and bleeding all the brakes, and the thing still feels a bit on the mushy side. I have to plan for my braking and brake early. If I count out the idea that the lines still have air in them, what could the cause be for the weak brakes? Could it be the shoes themselves? Would worn out shoes lead to a mushy pedal till about half way depressed? What can I do to get a firmer, faster braking drum machine? I'm upset that all that time spent on repairing the brakes didn't lead to a stallion on the stoping! Give me some ideas please.

[rage'nrat638]

adjust the rears up.....that will get up your highest pedal

[lukecp]

Originally posted by rage'nrat638
adjust the rears up.....that will get up your highest pedal

Yup....adjust the rears and make sure there is no air in them too. Also make sure the rubber hose that goes form the frame to the rear axle is in good shape.

['70 C/10 SS500]

rage'n rat, when you say "ADJUST" the rears up, what do you mean? I blead the rears first, then the front. Do you mean bleed, or (face value) adjust (something)? Please ex-pain it to me.

[rage'nrat638]

adjust the star wheel adjuster to get the rear brake shoes to just touch the drum....
this is a feel type thing....

if you get them to tight the brakes will over heat....don't want that

you may have a little hole in the backer plate for this adjustment..
may be in the drum face....
or might have to adjust them out and keep putting the drum back on till you get both just right.....

make sure the star wheel adjuster turns freely
and that the star wheel lock tab engauges with the star wheel to keep it from backing off

[lukecp]

Too add to rage'n rat's post, adjust the adjustment wheels in until there is a slight contact with the shoes and the drums...go tighter and tighter on the adjustment in small increments until you can start to feel the shoes contacting the drums when you rotate them.

Pretty easy job...adjust them through the drums with a screwdriver...the adjustment wheel is at the bottom of the backing plate. Pull off the drums if you need to take a look at it.

[krue]

I borrowed this pic from another thread. The arrow shows where the adjuster is. It just extends to keep the shoes in slight contact with the drum. Adjust it as mentioned above. If it is installed correctly it will self-adjust as you brake when you are driving in reverse.

[DUBURBAN]

With a drum set up in the rear, The car or truck gets all its pedal from the rear tension. These are self adjusting. Each time you put the vehicle in reverse and hit your brakes, they self tension. A vehicle that does'nt back up allot, tends to loose its pedal.

['70 C/10 SS500]

I know exactly what you are saying, I just didn't think of it at the time. One thing though, my Dad got me into this habit: when replacing shoes, tighten the adjuster till it's close but a bit loose, then drive around in reverse and brake constantly to "Self-Adjust" the brakes. That is what I did last time I changed the rear shoes about 2 years ago (not a daily driver). I wonder if that little "trick" has ended up getting the best of me. I think I'll check the adjustment and correct as needed. I hope that gets it.

[Blue Beard]

You might try flushing all the old fluid out if its been awhile........

[Longhorn Man]

Adjust the fronts the exact same way. No one mentioned that the fronts are drums and need the exact same treatment.