Dana 35c Brake Problem - Need Help

Hi,
This is Bob. I am helping my son's friend with the brakes on his new to him 1989 XJ Limited. It has the 4.0, automatic transmission, 4WD and ABS. This is his daily driver and he needs it for school and work. Need I mention he is on an extremely tight budget which is why I offered to help. He is new to mechanics and I have been a "shade tree" guy for years.

The problem is with both of the backing plates on the Dana 35c with ABS and the 1.75" brake shoes. The pads on the backing plates have groves worn in them from the brake shoes (a "V" pattern).

I can't find new brake backing plates from the aftermarket and Chrysler discontinued them. I searched three different PicknPull's and didn't find a single '87 - '89 axle with ABS and the 1.75" shoes.

:hang:

Does anyone know if we can switch the backing plates, shoes and drums from the 1.75" pads to a setup from an '88 Dana 35 ABS and 2.5" shoes? Do I have to worry about c-clip vs non-c-clip axles?

Before anyone starts suggesting a disc conversion, he really doesn't have the extra money for the conversion.

Thanks for listening. At a minimum, being able to vent helps me!

90-01 D35s are c-clip axles.

Dana 35 axles sometimes referred to as Dana 35C - The "C" does not stand for c-clip. It stands for "custom" meaning it came from Dana unfinished.

Kudo's on helping your son's friend. It sound's like you are really trying to do it the right way here. The backing plates aren't starting to wear through, are they? Personally, I would smooth off the sharp edges (if any), lube it up with disc brake quality of wheel bearing grease and put 'er back together with new shoes, clips and springs.

you can allways have the grooves welded full then grind flat again. if you were closer id do it for free for him, so im sure you can find someone in your area aswell. as for the swap question i dont know for sure, but i wouldnt think it would be a problem. as long as you are useing the backing plates, all the brake parts, and drums from the doner vehicle. plus youd be getting better brakes. on a side note, those bendix antilock systems are dangerous. i too have an 89 limited with the antilock system and removed it and replaced them with a 95 booster and master and pedal assembly. cost me about $41 total from a junk yard. brakes work awsome now. the bendix system had a nation wide recall and most dealers wont replace the entire system, you end up paying a hefty bill when all done. and you still get the bendix system that will fail again. mine locked up, which meant no brakes when depressing the pedal, and no stopping. not good. might be something to look into. there are alot of threads on it and links to websites for the swap.

Thanks for the thoughts. The XJ owner decided he would save up the necessary $ for the disc brake conversion and be very cautious with his braking distances. We ended up performing the brake job on the front end. I doubt the pads had 100 miles left in them. The lining was as thin as construction paper. The rears were put back on (had at least half the lining left) after smoothing the edges of the grooves, lubing the plates, bleeding the brakes, etc.

ibobmc said:

Thanks for the thoughts. The XJ owner decided he would save up the necessary $ for the disc brake conversion and be very cautious with his braking distances. We ended up performing the brake job on the front end. I doubt the pads had 100 miles left in them. The lining was as thin as construction paper. The rears were put back on (had at least half the lining left) after smoothing the edges of the grooves, lubing the plates, bleeding the brakes, etc.

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Might want to talk him into ditching that POS ABS system. The system has been recalled for years and replacement parts are getting hard to come by.

Bryan C. said:

Might want to talk him into ditching that POS ABS system. The system has been recalled for years and replacement parts are getting hard to come by.

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Agree, the ABS on the early XJs is problematic. Unlike the later system that you could disable just by pulling the fuse, the early system can't be done that way and must be replaced with non-ABS components.