Touchy Brakes at Startup

[blk95lumina]

Hello.
I have a 95 Lumina 3.1L w/ ~155K mi.
Whenever I first startup my car in the morning, the brakes are very touchy and seem to be unbalanced.

For the first few uses of the day, the rear brakes seem to make contact before the fronts, bad enough to where once I had to brake hard and the rears immediately locked up and it felt like the fronts had not made much contact at all.

All brake pads were changed at the same time some years ago and all have ~50% life remaining.

This only occurs when I first use the car for the day and only for the first few times the brakes are used. After that they seem to adjust.

Do my brakes need to be adjusted?..maybe just lubed?

Thanks.

[maxwedge]

Pull the rear drums, there may be a lot of brake dust and when damp this can cause the brakes to grab. Rear drums I assume?

[jeffcoslacker]

In that scenario, assuming drum brakes, most times you're gonna find a rear wheel cylinder that is leaking slightly.

Look at the backside of the backing plates, see if one has a dark stain on the upper part where the brake line enters...

[blk95lumina]

Thanks for the advice.
Yes, these are rear drums.
I'll pull the drums, inspect the cylinders, and clean everything off.

Should I avoid spraying the pads directly with brake cleaner?

Thanks.

[maxwedge]

No, you can clean up everything with brake clean.