Dodge: smoking front brakes in 1997 Dodge Ram Van, dodge ram van, fluid reservoir

Question
Dear Ram Man,

What happens if you don't bench prime the master cylinder correctly and also we replaced the calipers, brakes, and master cylinder today and the front brakes seem fine now BUT the back brakes seem like they're smelling now which they weren't before. Could we have done something that affected the back brakes? Should we also have bled the back brakes too since we put the new master cylinder in today?

Thanks again for your time and responding to our questions.

Dave

Answer
Dave,
If the front brakes are working good now maybe this fixed the problem.It's just a good idea to get some fluid pushed through the master cylinder before installing it.It basically just primes the master cylinder.You do need to bleed the back brakes also.Just make sure you keep the fluid reservoir full when doing this,if not it will pump air into the lines and you'll have to rebleed the system.No you couldn't have affected the back brakes,you just need to bleed them.