72 brake pedal soft and brakes grab- no feathering
 

Happens all the time. Can only slow down by locking up brakes?
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Re: 72 brake pedal soft and brakes grab- no feathering
 

The most common cause of grabbing brakes is oil or brake fluid on the linings... Severely rusted drums or disks will also cause grabbing.. Have you tried jacking up the vehicle and removing wheels so you can take a look??

Re: 72 brake pedal soft and brakes grab- no feathering
 

My rear brakes were doing this on my blazer. Had new shoes in it, they looked clean and dry but i replaced them anyway and problem went away!

Re: 72 brake pedal soft and brakes grab- no feathering
 

Agree with above. Also, power brakes?

Re: 72 brake pedal soft and brakes grab- no feathering
 

Good advice from Rusty, but if that fails, I don't know, my experience with a bad Master Cyl. is the pedal is soft and the brakes barely grab. What happens when a booster fails?

Re: 72 brake pedal soft and brakes grab- no feathering
 

Let's differentiate between "grab" and "apply".. "Apply" is defined as the friction surface (shoe or pad) coming into normal contact with the drum/rotor.. "Grab" is when the brake pedal is applied normally, but the friction surface locks onto the drum/rotor, causing the wheel/tire to slide..

With booster failure, what usually happens is the pedal gets extremely hard to push, EXTREMELY HARD, but no grabbing at the wheels. I've seen a few booster failures that take both feet to get the brakes to slow the vehicle.

The following is for the OP.. When you say "soft pedal", do you mean a low pedal before brakes start to apply?? If so, I'd look at brake shoes out of adjustment or severely worn so much that the wheel cylinder pistons are at the end of their travel and fluid is leaking past them.. As I stated in my original post, remove and inspect...