1997 Dodge 3500 Ram Van brake problems

[lar426]

Here we go I am working on a 1997 Dodge 3500 Ram Van replaced both front rotors and pads also resurfaced both rear drums and new shoes, since this work was done the van just dosen't stop like it used to, not that it won't stop just acts like you have to apply more pedal pressure and panic stops would not end up very quick more than likely it would hit what ever was in front of the van before it would stop. Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated.

[taillight]

Are you sure the rear shoes are ajusted right. Did you use the best brake pads ?

[alloro]

Do you mean that the pedal is harder to push or that you have to push it further down?

[lar426]

The rear brakes are properly adjusted and the front pads are Napa's best they are the commercial grade fleet top of the line semi metallic, the rotors are Powerstop drilled. I am just wondering if when I compressed the caliper pistons, that maybe I pushed some trash up into the proportioning valve or the master cylinder or if the calipers are just not functioning properly. I don't want to just start changing parts with out some idea on what parts to need to be replaced.
The brake pedal feels the same as it did before the brake job, no excessive travel or is it extremely hard to push, it just has to be pressed harder to get the van to stop.

Thanks for all the ideas and help

[taillight]

How about vacuum to the booster ?

[lar426]

Yes it has vacume to the boster and it holds vacume after the van has been sitting with the engine off.

Thanks for all the good ideas.

[alloro]

Originally Posted by lar426

The brake pedal feels the same as it did before the brake job, no excessive travel or is it extremely hard to push, it just has to be pressed harder to get the van to stop.

The new pad/shoes need time to break in. When new, pad/shoes have high and low spots on them. Because of this you don't have the benefit of every square inch of pad/shoe material making contact with the rotor/drum. After a break in period those high spots wear down and the whole pad/shoe is then working to stop the vehicle. Depending on the stop & go frequency of your driving habits this break in period can range from days to weeks.

[rhandwor]

Did you bleed the brakes properly? This is a common problem if you were tired or upset when doing the job.

[lar426]

Sounds like a good theory and I will try that, driving it a few days and see if it improves, although I have never had this problem before on much heaver trucks and or lighter trucks/cars when having done the brakes.

I never broke open the brake system, no new wheel cylinders or calipers everything cheched out OK so the system did not need bleeding, although I think I will flush the system and replace with new fluid, just as a good idea.

Thanks again

[alloro]

On a side note, you said you installed semi-metallic pads. If the ones that came off were not SM pads, you just might be feeling the different braking ability of the SM pads. Add to that the fact that you now have drilled rotors on there and the feel of the entire braking system could just be different.

[lar426]

It did have semi metallic pads on it before, maybe not the top of the line. The drilled rotors are new I just thought they would be a good idea for all the towing the van is used for and it needed new rotors so why not.
Its not just that the braking feels differint, the van just dosn't stop as well as it did.

Thanks