Drum Brake Question ???

I am working on a '90 cherokee with 9" drums.The automatic adjuster has a cable type setup,the brass looking guide that the wire lays on will not stay in its hole even with the spring attached.I can get it all together in its place then when I go to adjust out the brakes it pops out the hole.Not sure if previous owner broke something off before I got it .Anybody have this problem and what holds that in place.I think jeep should have asked chevy how to build rear brakes.

The adjuster cable guide is held in place by the curved "tail" of the secondary shoe upper retraction spring.

When reassembling drum brakes, the cable eye gets placed over the upper anchor stud, and the cable guide/retraction spring get installed as a mated assembly into the hole in the shoe.

Then, once the retraction spring is extended and hooked on the anchor stud, spring pressure will hold the cable guide in place in it's hole in the shoe.

Any Chilton's or Haynes (or FSM) manual will show the correct orientation of the parts for Bendix 9" brakes, if my explanation is confusing.

Thats what I was thinking but these parts dont want to operate properly.Problem is when I connect the cable properly the lower part that keeps the adjuster star wheel from moving is about 3/4" above the wheel.So I move arm down to posistion it on star wheel the guide pops out of hole.Strange thing is it works without the guide in the hole.Guess Ill go see what a new spring and adjuster setup looks like,cause something dont act right.This explains why I have a hard time stopping,the adjusters were not even open one turn in fact they were stuck closed.I used pliers to get them to open up.

You need new brake hardware. The kits are only about $10 and well worth it. Be sure you get the kit for 9" brakes -- the early XJs had 10"

This may be a dumb question, but: Are you sure you have the correct brake hardware for the axle in question?

There are both 9" and 10" brakes used on various axles on the various years of XJ's.

Maybe it's time to get a new brake hardware kit for each wheel. This kit includes the adjuster cable, springs, clips, etc. It only costs about $10 per wheel, or thereabouts. It might be worth knowing you are using the correct hardware....

Just a thought......

Thanks for the info guys.Went to u-pull-it for a little class on xj brakes,sure enough previous owner had assembled both sides incorrectly.Makes sense now why it seemed like I was only using front brakes because I was.

Whats the difference of those axles that have the bigger 10" drums.Found several with 10" drums at u-pull-it in older cherokees,I think they were "chiefs",'88,'87.

The early XJs used two "flavors" of 10" brakes. In general (although I've been told even this isn't 100% reliable) the Dana 35 axles got 10" x 1.75" brakes and the Dana 44 axles got 10" x 2.5" brakes. Chrysler changed to 9" x 2.5" in 1990 (??).

Is the rear brake hardware kit a dealership item I'm assuming?
(the adjuster cable, springs, clips, etc)

I got the hardware kit from a finer autoparts store. But the hardware kit I got was just springs. So you'll want to make sure you get the parts that you need included or in addition to the hardware kit.
HTH