drum brake reassembly

should the adjuster lever be touching the adjusting screw at all times? just put mine back together and it's about 1/4" away, pulling the adjustment cable tightens it up ok but then it droops.....e-brake is disengaged if that makes a difference

The spokes have to "ratchet" to keep the adjuster from backing off, so yeah the arm needs to be in contact at all times.

Loose cable is usually from the wire falling behind the curved elbow piece.

The parking brake does not affect the tension of that wire, it affects the position of the shoes against the drum.

I was always told to drive in reverse for about 30 ft after changing rear brakes to adjust them to the drum. Idk if that's a bunch of bull or not but I did it after I changed my rears and they are fine.

Driving in reverse is the traditional way to get brakes adjusted, but it may depend on how the adjusters work. The Xj manual says you should go back and forth, making full firm stops in each direction. I suppose reverse alone will do it too, but you can get it done faster in shorter space if you go back and forth.

If you've just put in new brake parts, check that the curved cable guides are properly seated in the shoe. The replacement parts have a very shallow protrusion on the back, and fall out easily when you're assembling them. Once they're seated, and the springs are in properly, they should stay, but it's also possible to put the spring in even if the guide is slightly out of the hole, and that will cause the cable to be too slack to work.

well I know the cable is on the guide right cause I checked in a bunch of times, heading up there to get the other side off in a few mins and check to make sure that guide is in properly, thanks

make sure the cable went on the top stud first and that it is completely over the large shoulder in the back. I've seen a ton of brakes reinstalled with the eyelet over the stud, but not the shoulder and the cable will be about 1/4" too long.

got the other drum off and compared, I apparently didn't have the tab on the back of the guide in all the way (first time even seeing drum brakes) got it in and it "looks" good to go....find out on monday

thanks for the help, sorry in the delayed responses, has chosen to not email me the responses for some reason

It sounds like you solved your problem.

When I did the shoes on my 2000, it was obvious that the adjuster cable assembly on one side was not the right length. It did not touch the adjuster wheel. I had to put it back together anyway, because it was late at night. I think it was built wrong at the factory.

IIRC, there were two different rear brake sizes available, so maybe the cable was replaced with the wrong one, or built with the wrong one from the factory. Next time that I take it apart, during the day, I'll bring the cable into the parts store to see if I can get the correct lengths on both sides.

I should have replaced both of my cables at the same time when doing my drum brake service a month ago.
(But I just got one since this side was shredded, the other looked 'okay')...
I put new wheel cylinders in today and found that the 'okay' side broke sometime in the last month, probably from the stronger, newer springs.
These were probably OEM adjustment cables from 1987 (swapped d44 into my 1997).