Brake job completed....

[Fuzzball]

Well, I just completed brakes on the 84 SD.

Rebuilt the ATE calipers
New Rotors
New Pads
New Hoses
New Wear sensors
New Wear sensor cables

Once everything was done, I have a few concerns....

The pads were very very snug. With the new rotors they seem to drag a bit right from the start. When we took it for a test drive we went maybe 6 miles and when we got back to the house there was smoke coming from the wheels. I may not have gotten all the oil off the rotors before I installed them, so I'm thinking that this could be the cause of that. The smell is not like anything that I have smelled from the car before, so I believe I may need to use the brake cleaner on them a bit more.

Next, I'm not real happy with the feel of the brakes. They just don't feel like they used to. When I apply the brakes I expect an SD to react a lot better, but they seem weak. If I pump the brakes it's like I'm stepping on a brick and stopping power really diminishes.

Any ideas on why these just feel less than "Mercedes" expected?

As a side note, I replaced my voltage regulator due to problems with charging and found that the original one still had plenty of brushes but one of them had a broken spring so was not being pushed to contact the shaft of the alternator. All my lights on the dash now light as they should and we'll see if that fixes everything electrical...I expect it will.

Thanks for any insight on the brakes.