P-30 Soft Brakes?

[jcramphorn]

Hello, have bought a small 97 winnebago a-class on a Chevrolet 7.4 chassis, with 16 inch wheels,
Brakes feel soft and pedal goes almost to the floor when you want to really stop.
ive put new flexi hoses on, new pads, new master cylinder, and bled the sytem out about a million times! have vacume bled it to. also have fully serviced and adjusted the rear drums.
still the pedal still seems to have a lot of play and feels soft. its driving me nuts! Are they all like this or do i have a problem? also, it starts to pull to the right after about 20 mins driving when breaking. then the next day it'll break straight again!

[George Schweikle]

jc,

I have a shop manual for my '99 GM chassis (with 4 wheel disc brakes and 19.5 in wheels)). There is a diagram illustrating the brake pedal free travel, and this is shown as six inches max. (!). Your disc / drum combination might be similar.

Also, the pulling to one side may be due to the caliper sliders needing lubrication. Many cars and trucks with disc brakes use the lowest cost construction possible; there is only one piston in the caliper, rather than one per side and it must slide sideways under braking so the rigid side also pushes on it's brake pad. The calipers must be free to slide - and yours may be binding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcramphorn Hello, have bought a small 97 winnebago a-class on a Chevrolet 7.4 chassis, with 16 inch wheels, Brakes feel soft and pedal goes almost to the floor when you want to really stop. ive put new flexi hoses on, new pads, new master cylinder, and bled the sytem out about a million times! have vacume bled it to. also have fully serviced and adjusted the rear drums. still the pedal still seems to have a lot of play and feels soft. its driving me nuts! Are they all like this or do i have a problem? also, it starts to pull to the right after about 20 mins driving when breaking. then the next day it'll break straight again!

[JonBrazel]

Do you have anti-vibration (anti-squeel) backing on the front pads? This will really affect braking performance on that chassis.

[max49]

I'm used to it but I think all of the P series chassis leave a lot to be desired with the brakes. If it was'nt for the W brake problems, I'd probably complain more but at least they don't stick and overheat. The pedal is about the size of a go-kart brake pedal and mine travels at least half way to the floor before engaging, and I have to stand on it pretty good. I've never had to make an emergency stop and am not going to 'just for practice', but I would be surprised if it could prove to me that it needs anti lock brakes, and it's been this way since it was new.

[oemtech]

I am planning to do a brake grade update on a Monte Carlo SS. I am going from 10.5" with a single piston caliper and rear drum brakes to 12" front rotors with C5 Corvette or LS1 Camaro calipers. The rear rotors/calipers will either be 11.5" or 12" and dual piston calipers with E brakes. What has this got to do with a P32... Well when you make this change you usually end up with a soft brake pedal. The solution is to replace the G body single diaphragm brake booster with a B body dual diaphragm version and a bigger master cylinder B body.

Lastly check to see that you have enough vacuum to run the power brake booster.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonBrazel Do you have anti-vibration (anti-squeel) backing on the front pads? This will really affect braking performance on that chassis.

Jon,