hey all,

This is my first post and am relatively new to working on cars. I have a 67 coupe 6 cylinder. It is a weekend driver, but I have noticed recently that my brakes are not being as effective when I press down on the pedal. There is no squeaking or noises coming from them but they are definitely not working working like they should. Also there is a lot of heat coming from the rear brakes as well. Do I need new rear brakes? There is no leaking as far as I can tell and there is resistance when I press down on the pedal so I dont think it would be a fluid problem. Any input would help.

Thanks!

 

Well. maybe one or both of your front cylinders is going.
This would cause the load to be on the rear brakes and might heat them up more.
New slave cylinders will solve it and I usually do a full front brake rebuild if I do that.
When you pull the front drums, you might be able to see fluid that leaked from the cylinders.
That's my first take on it.

 

when you pump the brakes does it seem to stop better? Welcome to TMS by the way

 

I'm with Karman. Sounds like the same thing I had with Muskrat, and new wheel cylinders all around were the answer.

...Well, as much of an answer as a 6 cylinder manual brake system can have, anyway.

/leave plenty of room.

 

Maybe your front pads aren't engaging the drum fully and your rears are adjusted to where they get all the load.

 

Yeah, there's that. The adjusters could be rusted and frozen. Good call.

/Don't have to mention the backup-stop technique for adjusting, do I?

 

Thanks guys for the info. I took the front left wheel off last night and only one of the brake pads where moving slightly (and both pads were cracked too). I am going to take the other wheel off tomorrow and see what I get. Braking does not seem to improve significantly when I pump the brakes but that may be because the rear brakes are being over loaded already.