200 lbs on the brake pedal

i'm tired of putting all my weight on the brakes to get stopped, i addjusted and blead them, so i'm ordering disc brake brackets from scarebird and changing over to disc on the front, will that stop the van? will it stop with minimual foot presure?

I have had the same problem before & it turn out to be the master cylinder. I have also had problems with the rubber brake hoses going to the wheel cylinder or caliper collapsing & either locking the brakes or causing trouble getting stopped. When it was the rubber hose it was usually only on one side though. If it has power brakes it can also be the brake booster.

The scarebird brackets are great but it will still need a good leg to stop it.

You need to make sure the wheel cylinders are not stuck also. One other thing to think about is if the shoes are real old, they almost get petrified and they don't stop as well.

If you do the front disc swap you'll end up with new front hoses anyway.

I did the drilled and slotted rotors on mine. I'm very happy with it, no fade at all. I'd love to have a power booster on it but i just don't see the room for it.

Your drums should not take that much pressure to stop.
Something is wrong.
You can diagnose and repair the current brakes or convert to discs.
I will mention that the only A I've driven with a disc conversion took MORE pedal pressure to stop. Almost like what you are describing with yours.
A lot of basic brake math was posted in the other thread you started. I know it's a bother to actually look up specs, find and use the formulas and gain an understanding of HOW brakes work, so I'll just say this; if pedal pressure is a concern and money is at all part of the decision-making process, completely inspect and repair your drum brake system. The only other way is to do a front disc conversion with a disc/drum master and a booster. That is going to take a lot of money, engineering and cutting to fit.

Mine stops easier and better. My wife drives mine all the time so it must not be too bad.

Pull the drums off one at a time and have someone push on the brake pedal. (slowly) Use a screwdriver to hold the front shoe still and watch to see if the rear shoe moves, then switch.

The reality of any old car is that the brakes suck, by today's standard. Installing disc brakes on the front is a better overall plan if you drive it a lot.

thanks guys i checked the cylinders and there fine, i think i'll go with rear shoes,cylinders, brake hose, and disc conversion, that should make it a little easier, i hope, the way it is now if someone pulled out in front of me its all over,

My wife has a '69 corvette that has 4 wheel disc and manual brakes, it stops like my van.

I did the same with my van, did the rear first.

thanks john, i'll do that, i still want disc brakes up front, when i get all done i'll post how it turned out,

great points from everyone, and thank you all, i was under the empresion if i switched over to disc brakes it would stop easyer,man you guys saved me a lot of money, i just bought this van and i have noticed theres many things half assed by past owners, i know theres a new master cylinder,brake lines,i blead all the brakes, and spun the tires to see if there was a drag on the brakes but i have not inspected them closely, i'm thinking it would be best to change all shoes,hardware,wheelcylinders,hoses, and make sure the e brake cables are free, this way i know whats what and everything is correct. i know about the smaller shoe going to the front, the larger shoe to the rear, thanks to all you guys, you saved me big time, i would have bought a disc swap and still had problems, when i get it done i'll let you know of the outcome, if i ever get to see any of you, i owe you coffee, a pop, or better yet a beer,

[ia Half Rack each will suffice -Thanx!!

ok on the rack of ribs twinpilot, i found all kinds of problems, the rear wheel cylinders were both froze up, and leaking, you cant blow through the front brake hoses, so i ordered up all new everything that has to do with brakes except master cylinder and rear e brake cables that the last owner replaced, the shoes were all cracked and full of brake fluid, so tomorrow when i get it all back together it should stop without breaking a leg on the pedal, lol

When i did my rear brakes i had an axle seal leaking. Make sure yours are dry or you might be doing the brakes again.

yeah thanks i checked them real close, i couldnt beleve how bad the cylinders were, i took a chisal and hammer and couldnt move the peaces behind the boots,it was rusted that bad,

Flush the brake system good with new fluid.

o yeah i have plenty of fluid, thanks for all your help, i realy appreciate it

Yea this is sounding all to familiar. I could at least brake my rear cyls loose enough to clean them for yard to yard travel (neighbors garage). Also had axle seal leak on driver side mixed in with water and brake fluid. What a friggin mess. Now that I have new everything as well, even stock brakes work nice. But I will also be doing the disc conversion as soon as I can afford it. Glad to here you managed to find all the problems before someone pulled out in front of you and messed it all up. This is probably by far the most important thing that all these vehicles should have NEW before leaving for the road.

We should do a stop test when your done. A quick stop from 40 mph and see how many feet it took. I'll do the same. Use a gps phone so we will be close on speed.

sounds like a plan john, i need to wait till the brake shoes seat in, if my part store can got all my parts today, BIG W i was going to do the disc brake change but everyone says its harder to stop without a booster, so i'm just going to stay with stock drums all around,

The kit I have been looking at up here has the booster and complete bracket for everything to fit where it should and comes with a new pedal arm. Problem is the price. $1,400.00-- Now I don't mind spending good money on brakes, I just don't have any for that right now. So I to will leave it stock for now...but yea deffinatly want a booster. Maybe I should put in on my christmas wish list and hope mrs. clause sees it...lol.

he he he, i hope mrs. clause remembers me too!!!

dodge man the disc brakes on a 100 vans/ pick ups are disc brakes and not power brakes the van will stop easier and will not pull . even when dodge made the B series van the 1971 thru 1973 had front disc and rear drums they did not have the booster/ only in 1974 did the B series and the booster to give power brakes. I am very happy that I installed front disc. and i'm sure if you talk to any one on this site that did the conversion is happier with them than with out them. my self there is no comparsion...just my 2cents.....

if the disc brakes are just as hard or harder to push on the pedal, all i can see is there would be no fade with disc, i think if your easy on the brake and down shift to 2nd on a hill the drums should be just as good, what did you find that was better with the disc conversion?

No pull at all and shorter stopping distance. I had $363 total in my disc swap.

You've been stopping your van on what 2 maybe 3 wheels and your brake pedal never moved. Fixing your drums will make you happy, doing the discs will make it better.

thank you.