Hello, a bad booster means high braking effort to get the job done.A bad master cyl means you need to pump up the brakes to stop.What you may have is incorrectly installed rear shoes. If you get good straight stopping, read on. How well does your parking brake work?If not so good, you may have incorrectly installed rear shoes.If this is so, do this:Raise the rear wheels off the ground,and then release the parking brake.Spin a wheel and turn the star adjuster till slight drag is felt. Now release the adjuster 1 notch. Go to the other wheel and do the same.Now test the parking brake adjustment.Do this by pulling up on the handle.Pull up on the handel and count the clicks needed to get a tight hold.Turn the nut that is under the van where the 2 wheel cables come together until it takes about 3 or 4 clicks to grab the drums real good.If you get iffy parking brake preformance now ,and this gets progressivly worse in , say, 50 miles, you have incorrectly installed rear shoes.Would this be the soft braking you talked about?You can also bleed your brakes (about 3 pints) to purge any air that is hidding in the lines.Worn backing plates can cause the shoes to be cockeyed and not grab the drums completely.This may show itself as weak braking,and bad parking brake preformance.Also a bad backing plate will have grooves worn in the bosses where the shoes ride.this will cause a "clunk" every time you apply the brakes,and cause cockeyed shoes.Maybe you have a leaking wheel cylinder or caliper piston. How is the level of fluid in the master cylinder?JVanagons like to leak in the wheel cylinder.They know it will cost you more money(ha Ha).Good luck,Roger Sisler |
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