Rear Drum/Cylinder Replacment - how easy?

Hey All,

just got the bad news and saw the #'s... Drums are below spec for safety, cylinder leaks and shoes are just ugly... beyond having to replace my battery as well all is right with the world. :wow:

How easy is it to do this job on a 2000? Haven't messed with brakes before, so I guess it's time to start... this could have happened in the fall, but no... snow and freezing rain to deal with now.

Any help is appreciated.

Z
:us:

People sleep peacably in their beds at night, only because rough men stand willing to do violence on their behalf. George Orwell

Not sure about the rear drums at all, but had to replace my one cylinder as it was totally seized. It's pretty easy to change actually, and pretty cheap [$16US each is all they cost]. Mine being a '90, there was problem with corrosion, so was a bitch to get off. Ended up having to cut the back off with a hacksaw to get it off, and had to replace the brake line from the small block that's on the axle to the cylinder. Just a bit of work, but once done, it's worked great. Need to do the other one, but putting that one off at the moment. The cylinder on it is working fine, and other things I need to worry about first. [ used just used the Haynes book to do it]

Rear drums are a pain in the........... I have changed them a couple times on my TJ and if my XJ needs brakes I am either going to convert to disk or pay someone to do the work. I don't believe in giving money to people to do work I can do but drums are such a pain doing and balancing and adjusters that don't adjust. Disks are easy as pie, drums SUCK. Got a chiltons or take a picture of your brake before disassembly, you can use it to reference if you get lost putting it all back together, I just used the other side to look at when I got lost the first time. Good luck.

Well, at least since someone just had them appart for inspection the drums should come off for you relatively easy.

I'm not believing the drums are shot on a 2000 already by the way. Pull them and have
them measured by someone not trying to sell you a $500 brake job.

Take the drums off,look at one,do the left side using the right for referance.
If your changing wheel cylinders:
Don't just change one,change both,cause you can almost bet the other will screw up a coupla days later,"MURPHYS LAW"
The system will have to be bled.

Haynes manual "should" have a view of how the shoes and hardware are set up.Usually it's the left side

They can't be any harder than an '87. My 2000 needs em. I have done them on my 87. Should be about the same I would think. Am I wrong?

8700xjs

All due respect to the advice you've gotten so far . . . if you've never done brakes, I'd really suggest you find an experienced friend to help you through the first time. There's really a lot you can do wrong. I quit doing my own brakes years ago but, the way shops charge nowadays, I'm back to doing it myself again. Don

I am fairly well versed in doing drum jobs...and feel totally confident once the drum is off, but I tried to work on mine today (the rear right one actually locked up on me today but once it broke loose I tried to get in to inspect it all) and I couldnt get the damn thing off for the life of me. The drum would spin easy by hand, and I could get the drum to come off about 1/4"...but just not the rest of the way off....

....any tips? I've done plenty of drum jobs on my Bronco, Trans Am, and VW Beetle, this is a first for this XJ....

GusDaDog said:

I am fairly well versed in doing drum jobs...and feel totally confident once the drum is off, but I tried to work on mine today (the rear right one actually locked up on me today but once it broke loose I tried to get in to inspect it all) and I couldnt get the damn thing off for the life of me. The drum would spin easy by hand, and I could get the drum to come off about 1/4"...but just not the rest of the way off....

....any tips? I've done plenty of drum jobs on my Bronco, Trans Am, and VW Beetle, this is a first for this XJ....

Click to expand...

How about loosening the star adjuster thing to retract the shoes?

Good riddance...(my drums in my apt dumpster)

If you just pay attention to how everything goes together, the rear brakes are a piece of cake. It helps if you have a brake spring tool to take the springs on and off, otherwise it just takes a bit of elbow grease to take em apart. Once you've done it a few times like I've had to, it's no big deal.

GusDaDog said:

I am fairly well versed in doing drum jobs...and feel totally confident once the drum is off, but I tried to work on mine today (the rear right one actually locked up on me today but once it broke loose I tried to get in to inspect it all) and I couldnt get the damn thing off for the life of me. The drum would spin easy by hand, and I could get the drum to come off about 1/4"...but just not the rest of the way off....

....any tips? I've done plenty of drum jobs on my Bronco, Trans Am, and VW Beetle, this is a first for this XJ....

Click to expand...

Of course make sure the adjusters are all the way loose. It's important to pull straight back on the drum to get it off, else it will bind up. Sometimes turning the drum while pulling straight back helps.
I wonder if there is a write up anywhere online on swapping rear drum brakes for disks on the XJ. Not only are disk brakes easier to work on, they work better than drums.