I removed my front wheel the other day and noticed my brake pads are still meaty, almost like new. The chevelle stops when I hit the brakes, but it could be way better. These brake pads were installed about a year and half ago, can't remember what brand but the best from autozone with liftime warrenty. My rear drum brake pads, which were installed way after the front disk pads, are just about gone. It seems to me the front brakes are getting minimal brake pressure. Could it be a prop valve problem? If I stand on the brake and give it gas, when it's past the stall rpm, it will move forward.

BTW: 71 chevelle, power disk brakes front, drum rear. Thats how I bought it.

Maybe u just had cheaper lineings on the rear shoes so they wore away faster. Just a guess though. By the way, is your car lowered in the front?

Yeah it's slammed. 3" drop springs from OPGI.

I don't think they wore quicker becauser they were cheaper. I still think it has something to do with the front brakes not recieving enough pressure because if i try to power lock, the car will not won't to stay in place and move forward no matter how hard I stand on the brakes.

Do you guys think if I replace my proportion valve, it'll help my situation?

Prop valve or air in the front lines.

Try bleeding the fronts first before you spend money and replace parts.

When I suspect uneven or unbalanced brakes, I usually find a gravel road, drive slowly and brake just hard enough for one or two (whatever will happen) wheels to lock up. It's a rough test and doesn't tell you what the problem is, but it will often tell you if there is a problem. If your rear brakes lock up before the front, there might be something wrong with the prop valve.

Edit: As Derek said, bleed the front brakes. Front and rears are on separate circuits, so air in the front will leave the rear brakes functional, while the fronts will be weak.

Actually, I've had my rear brakes lock up on the street several times, but not every time, when I was driving at about 35-40mph coming to a stop. Does this sound like symptoms of a bad proportioning valve?

Thanks for everyone's input

Prop valve or air in the front circuit. Bleeding the calipers would be a good (and cheap) start before doing anything else. Rear brake lock-up is a dangerous thing, better get it fixed!

BTW: How does the pedal feel, and how far down does it go? If there's air in the system, it would feel mushy and go down quite a bit when you brake. I don't think that would be the case if the prop valve is malfunctioning.

the brake peddle usually feels a bit mushy but doesn't sink in much. I used to have that sinking in problem a long time ago and I replaced the mc. There are times were the brake peddle is super sensitive, mostly in the cold early in the morning or late at night when I first start it up.

Bleed the fronts. I'd bet you have air in the front lines, which would give you the soft pedal.

That sounds like a typical rear drum being "sensitive" when cold. I don't know how to fix that... I've honestly never fixed a drum brake, just thrown them away and converted to discs :D

Has it been like that since you changed the m/c? If bleeding the calipers doesn't help, you might need to take the m/c off and bench bleed it.

Thanks everyone! I'll take everone's thought and take it into consideration this weekend.

Take off the expensive pads and go down to the next lowest,The metallic pads are extreamly hard, And then loosen the spreader screw on the drums they should just lightly drag.And you will notice improved stoping power,more expensive does not mean alot better!It just wears out the disks themselfs