I agree. Likely an adjustment issue. Since hand brake cable adjustment is slacked off, maybe there's more brake adjustment required than anticipated? If it were me, I'd crank those shoes tight to the drum, back off adjusters til drag felt *then bleed*, drive it, check adjustment again.

Next time I do my rears, drums still off, I'm going to turn each adjuster, observe which direction moves adjuster in or out, draw a picture. In the past I've found it's easy to get "turned around" and turn the adjuster the wrong way.

And I agree re: vacuum bleeder. Tried one, didn't like it. Might've been quality issue or operator error, but it seemed to be a poor tool for bleeding brakes. And depending on how much play there is between bleeder screw threads and cylinder housing, and/or how far bleeder screw backed out, a vacuum bleeder will tend to pull air through at bleeder screw threads.

If the pedal travelled further than usual, (used to bleed brakes or travelled further due to shoes not close enough to drums) maybe master cylinder piston seals got damaged?

Neil.

On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 8:15 AM, Rick Koller <rkoller@helix.nih.gov> wrote: ....

> 2. followed Bentley and numerous archive postings on adjustment > afterwards including loosening the cable for the hand brake before > adjusting the shoes > 3. There is drag on the drums from the new shoes, no leaks at the > wheel cylinders and they moved freely back and forth when I put the > new shoes on,  new brake fluid after flushing all the lines using a > vacuum pump. > 4. Result: mushy pedal with poor braking, van didn't brake badly > before the work  but no pulling sideways at sudden stops,

-- Neil n

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