Are brake floaters worth it?

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by alexiskai

I'm no engineer, but I think it's supposed to be the floating wedge and anchor. The rotational force exerted on one shoe by the rotating drum is transferred as braking force to the other shoe via the floaters, rather than being transferred to stationary components on the backing plate. In this manner, some of the braking force is "recycled" from the wheel itself, decreasing the force exerted by the operator to achieve a given braking force.

Could it be that you removed part of the brake springs?