I believe you adjust it tighter while turning the wheel until you feel drag. From there back the adjustment off 2 turns. Then you drive forward and back a few times, coming to a complete stop in each direction with firm brake pressure. Go at least 25' each way to get the self adjusters to equalize the adjustment between the left and rear.

 

Much of the braking force is done at the front wheels... rear wheels contribute very little... reason why you need new pads every 20-30K miles but rear shoes every 100,000+... am I wrong alloro?

self adjusters often don't work...

 

Although it can vary between manufacturers and models, a good rule of thumb is the fronts do 60% and the rears do 40% of the braking. Yes cleaning and lubricating adjusters is often overlooked when doing a brake job. It is important that they turn smoothly if they are to keep the brakes adjusted up properly.

 

Alloro & Rsdata,

My Thanks once again, to both of you.

I took My Van down our Farm Road which is black topped, & giot the Van up to about 40 MPH, & Stomped on the Brakes going forward & backward, about ten times each way, & I did some Serious squalling of the tires, .... Yet, I still have that "Soft Pedal", with pulling to the Passenger side, while braking "Forward", as well as No Emergency Brake.
I'm suspecting some kind of issue with the Drivers side Caliper or hose,"Maybe" air? But, my ABS & Brake light do not come on.

Once I wrap up some other business here this morning, I'm going to jack the Van back up, & attempt to get the Rear Wheels adjusted, as well as take a look at the Front driver's side caliper.

While I'm at it Rsdata & Alloro, what are your opinions on upgrading the Rear Wheel Cylinders to the larger GM Wheel Cylinder?

And Again, My Sincere Thanks to the both of You, for all of the help that you have provided.

SHALOM Ya'll!

 

I wouldn't "stomp" just apply firm steady pressure.
If the adjustment is way off it'll take forever to get the self adjuster to do the job. First adjust them by hand then let the adjusters do the fine tuning. BTW, the rear adjustment although necessary, is just a suggestion for your brake problem, you very well could still have some air in there somewhere.

For the wheel cylinders, upgrading will not offer any improvements to the braking since the same amount of fluid still gets pumped by the master cylinder.

 

Alloro, I Understand about the "amount of fluid". Somewhere, here in the Forum, I ran across a lengthy post from 2006, where several members were stating that the GM Wheel Cylinders gave approx. 23% more Rear Braking Power. If I was understanding correctly, that would be roughly the same as running 5 gallons of gas through a 4 Cylinder motor vs running the same amount of gas through a 318 motor. Same amount of gas but a great difference in Power. At this point, I've not received any "Replies" from that topic, nor have I found any further mention of it.

 

That's just the blind leading the blind talk. The misguided theory is that the wheel cylinder pistons have more surface area and thus can apply more PSI. The fault in their theory is what I mentioned earlier...there is no extra fluid being pumped to them. If you increase both the surface area AND increase the volume of fluid you would then indeed get more braking power. That would then bring up the problem of the rears doing more of the braking than the fronts. In a non-ABS world this would cause the rears to lockup rather often. Back in the world of ABS, the ABS system would kick in to prevent the rears from locking, resulting the fronts doing most of the braking...bring you back right to where you are now.

 

Alloro,

Now I understand.

I Didn't make make much progress on the Van today, because of the other ongoing issues in my life, but, I do Know that when the Parking Brake is applied that the "Equalizer" (where the two Rear Emergency Brake Cables join together), does move approx. an 1 1/2" towards the Front of the Van, & then when dis-engaged that it moves back to it's original position.

I'm going to use my "Better 3/4's" car tomorrow, after I drop her off at work, & run a Service call. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back here, & Jack the Van up, & finally get the "Adjusters" in to the proper Position.

I also hope to Test the Brake Booster, & MC that I've been talking to RalphP about, & determine whether they are also "Faulty".

Thanks Again Alloro!