you haven't lived until you've driven a 1970 Plymouth Valiant with no defroster and drum brakes during a bad rainstorm at night.....

so i drove through a pretty big puddle, doing like 20mph and after that my brakes felt very weird, i would have to really hold it down in order for the brakes to work and i also experienced a drag to the left when i would do so...
help!!!!

from now on, i will be driving my toyota truck in the rain at least until i can get this fixed, i scared the bejesus out of my girlfriend....

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70 Plymouth Valiant 4dr

I havent done it in a 70' but ive done it in a 69 with bald tires down I-5. Anyways you said your brakes feel like you really have to hold it down? I dont know what driving through a puddle has to do with any of this but bleeding your brakes will fix it. Also my car used to and still does(because im to lazy to do it right) pull to a side when i brake. That also can be easily fixed by getting a couple of flathead screwdrivers and adjusting your front drums.

ValiantBoyWonder, thats standard behavior for 4 wheel drum. The only real way out of that is putting discs in the front at least.

Before I upgraded to front discs, when I was driving around with 4 wheel drum 9" brakes, I always was antsy about driving in the rain. If I had to go through big puddles, after the puddle I would always tap my brakes several times to help get rid of the water then my brakes would return quicker.

Holding light contact on the brakes while driving through a puddle can help prevent the problem.
I've often seen guys toss out those rubber plugs in the adjustment slot on the backing plates. Never figured out if doing that helped or hurt drum performance in the wet. Does it keep the water out, or not allow the water to get out once it's in?

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Last one out , turn off the light

Now you know how we old farts got to be such good drivers! Hit a big puddle of water and you'd drag your brakes a little until they started to grip again. You also learned to allow for the unexpected when driving a fully loaded '65 Valiant V100 wagon with 9" drums, three passengers and pulling a trailer loaded with two racing motorcycles

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"Former Owner" of '65 Barracuda, 225, Auto, MP 2bbl intake, MP cam, Dutra Duals. Presently Moparless.

ValiantBoyWonder: How about going sideways on the I-8 in a 69 Dart? This happened last week (the car is my co-worker's) in rush hour traffic.....it scared me so bad I had to pull over and sit for about 10 minutes to collect myself again.

This thing has a built 360 sitting on the original slant 6 K-frame and suspension along with the stock front drums and 13" pizza cutters. I should have known better, I guess...