Originally Posted by dankup
Ok look. Both springs are in the middle hole. Only ONE brake pad touches the rim when the wheel is moving, the other brake pad is fine (3 - 5 mm away). I want the brake pad that is touching also to be 3 - 5 mm away. There IS a centering screw. What I did was screw it in all the way, it didn't change anything. Then i unscrewed it ALMOST all the way (so it doesn't fall out), and it also didn't change anything.
Ok, assuming you are good with bike mechanics, and your v-brakes are of recent standards you can either 1) loosen the tension screw for the non touching side and then tighten the one for the touching side, 2) fiddle with the combination of washers in the pad set up to thicken the non-touching side and "thin" the touching side, 3) you can change the holes that the springs go in, 4) you might want to check to see if the wheels dish is correct, 5) dismantle the clean, lube and bend the weaker spring, or 6) any combination of the above.
There might be other options, but I can't think of them.