The steel plates do bend, mostly at the anchor pins, and probably more on the rear than the front. But there are so many small items that can lessen the performance, especially grease and oil on the rear brakes. When all is well the standard brakes do actually work quite well, but having shoes that can move on their pins and the two pins anchored together would go a long way toward helping, this should be done on the 8 inch brakes from new.