Front/rear brake balance feels wrong - not enough rear brakes

[Dale_K]

When I press the pedal moderately hard the front tires howl and eventually the ABS kicks in on the front wheels only. The car doesn't feel like it's stopping very fast. If I continue to press the pedal much, much harder - like 3 times as hard - I can hear the ABS finally kick in for the rear wheels. At that point the car kind of squats down and the car stops pretty fast. It feels to me like the front/rear brake balance is wrong.

Is there a way to adjust the balance? Or is there a separate part that is responsible for establishing the balance? What is the recommended sequence of actions to verify the situation and then fix the car if I'm right a the balance is off?

[ekam]

Perhaps the rear pads are a bit worn? The front brakes are supposed to do 80% of all the braking, the rears are there to slow down the car when you press on the brake pedal initially. When the brakes are fully depressed there's more front bias than the rear.

A lot of guys just put sport pads at the back to "adjust" the bias.

[dmairspotter]

Are your tires good? If the fronts are weak, that could cause howling and premature ABS.

[JFP in PA]

The front to rear braking bias is controlled by a proportioning valve system, which normally is heavily biased to the front to prevent rear brake lock up. Testing of the bias is normally done with some very high pressure (3,000 psig) specialty gauges, not something everyone has. The valve system is not adjustable, so if it is off it has to be replaced. On the early cars (ABS/TC), the valve is separate, on later cars (ABS/PSM), it is part of the stability management system.