I have a 1967 Chrysler Newport. I have no brakes in reverse. The brakes in drive work good enough however don’t stop on a dime. 4 wheel drums, haven’t had time to pull off drums. Never seen this or heard of it before. I’ve gotten away without having brakes in reverse as never go more than 2 mph backwards but can’t drive like this forever. Scratching my head as doesn’t make sense
Most likely your self-adjusting drum brakes stopped adjusting themselves, which can happen in 50+ years. It probably would be a good idea to do a thorough brake inspection, as something like a blown brake line or cylinder could make things pretty uncomfortable.
Check the drums. When the shoes are really worn or the self adjuster is way out of adjustment, that will happen. Drum brakes grab better going forward than backward, and if they're worn out or way out of adjustment, that can happen.
A couple years ago I was trying to figure out why my '99 Ranger's parking brake grabbed a little better facing forward on a hill, but I could reverse up the hill like nothing was on. The shoes were shot and the adjuster was frozen. New shoes and adjusters got it all working again.
On a car that old the entire brake system should be rebuilt in the interests of safety. You could look into a front disc brake upgrade if desired.
