[VB] Brake shoes

[c.dreike]

Hey List,
I just replaced the brake shoes on my bus. Reason was that the old ones 
just didn't seem to stop as well as I thought they should. They look to 
be a semi-metalic composition. The new shoes are the same.
I honed out all the wheel cylinders and also disassembled the master 
cylinder, cleaned and reassembled. I replaced the right rear drum with 
another that had been turned. I did a clean up on the left rear drum.  
Front drums were already at max diameter so I sanded those to remove the 
glaze. I also filled and flushed the system with fresh DOT4 fluid.

The stopping power does not seem to be improved with the new shoes. Also 
the parking brake really needs a hard pull to keep the bus from rolling 
down my driveway. Not much friction being generated.

In my quest I looked through my junk pile and found a set of front shoes 
that are an asbestos grey and almost unused. Composition unknown.

What type of brake shoes works best in our buses?
What are all you folks using out there?

Thanks,
Chris