Brake fade/fail

Hi just befor xmass changed brakes at 37000km drilled & slotted disc new pads fluid flush bleed ect.
Befor heading off 5week trip around Tassie
towing 17ft van kids & bride put the brakes on to stop at lights thought i was going though them pulled on handbrake & pull the auto down to 1st
just managed to stop.

then going into Berry brakes still not real good stop to the side rebleed with help from bride.

once home went to mates workshop rebleed flush rear right /frt left then rear left/ frt right pedal feels nice but the truck still will not stop well.

Have heard our brakes are a pain in the butt to bleed.Might pay to get them professionally done.
I heard you can sometimes get away with pumping the pedal really slowly and I do mean slow.
Has something to do with the ABS

This raises a couple of questions/issues with me.

A 17' van probably should be dual axle and probably should have electric brakes. I know I can crank the brakes on my van all the way up and have the van stop me nice and quickly - there's an option for next time. Of course, if you don't have electric brakes in the van, that won't be easy - but 17' of van on inertia brakes would be nasty.

I'm not clear on what happened, either.

Brake fade: you press your foot on the brake and you get the customary resistance from the hydraulic system, your foot does NOT reach the floor but the vehicle doesn't slow down.

Brake fail (due to fluid issues): you press your foot on the brake and it goes straight to the floor.

The brake fail is easy fixed - get a brake specialist to go over the system checking for leaks and fix it. Replace all of the hydraulic fluid, make sure no water gets in.

Brake fade is most often attributed to the brake pad material - change the type of pad you're using. I can't remember the brand it was, but we put some new disc pads in the front of my Jaguar and pressing the pedal did nothing after a short distance. Had a modest amount of metal in the pads, which were supposed to stop the brake dust problem. Turns out the metal just conducted the heat and held it, so 2 tonnes of V-12 powered sports car just kept hurtling along, and if you know anything about the old XJS handbrakes ... they aren't brakes, they're "clamps" that hold the wheels still when the vehicle is stopped but can't be used to stop the vehicle. Thank God for test tracks.