My rear brakes have been bad since I got the truck. They were what was stopping me. They would even lock up on me if I wasn't careful. I replaced the proportioning valve because the shoes and springs looked okay. That didn't fix it. I did a full rear brake job yesterday and replaced the shoes with some riveted ones. Also replaced all the springs. This was my first time doing a drum brake job by the way. After doing it and redoing the adjusters, it finally stops correctly. However, the pedal goes down much farther than before. It will stop, good...I just don't think the pedal should be going down that far. Do I need to bleed the brakes? Or is this normal? How far does your pedal go down?

Sorry for the double post. My comp. messed up as usual.

 

Air could be in the lines bleed all of them. Have your wife or someone pump the peddle 5 times and then have her hold it down as you slowly open the bleed valve. Have her yell when it gets close to the floor and tighten the bleed valve before it hits the floor. I do it 5-6 times on each wheel. Do this all the way around. If that doesnt help you may have a master cylinder thats shot. My brake start slowing the truck after the first 20% of travel down.

good luck