• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

brakes not holding rear tires

dellstopjeep

dellstopjeep

NAXJA Forum User
Location
KUNA, ID
ON my 89 cherokee I swapped on a factory 44 rear with drums and have had soft brakes ever since. I swapped on a wj booster and master cylinder, bled brakes and theres no air pockets. I noticed a braking improvement big time when I swapped this on but pedal is still to soft. Im not asking for amazing brakes as I run 33's but I figured I dont have these dialed in yet as I jacked up rear axle and tried to hold rear tires from spinning with brakes and failed. Rear brakes are useless I guess. Anyways in all these years I have never had to deal with drum brakes so do you think it is an adjustment issue with drums or should I look somewhere else. If this is my problem is there a good basic write-up on drum brake maintanance.
thanks
 
are they adjusted just to the point they drag a little when you spin the wheel off the ground? if not they should be at least real close to it get a brake tool or a screwdriver adjust em out till they drag then back em off 1 or 2 turns
 
kennzz05 said:
are they adjusted just to the point they drag a little when you spin the wheel off the ground? if not they should be at least real close to it get a brake tool or a screwdriver adjust em out till they drag then back em off 1 or 2 turns
Click to expand...

Properly adjusted back brakes should drag a little. After youve adjusted them the first time, reef on the e-brake to make sure the shoes are centered in the drums, release ebrake and double check adjustment. This sounds like the problem to me.
 
Do they brake adjusters even work? Often times they are seized up beyond hope. Some people spend hours heating them up and PB blasting them to free them up, I just buy new ones.

As stated earlier, there should be a little drag on when you spin the wheel. Don't worry about getting it exact...you can adjust them by driving in reverse while applying the brake.

I'll bet your adjusters are seized...
 
heyjpark1 said:
Do they brake adjusters even work? Often times they are seized up beyond hope. Some people spend hours heating them up and PB blasting them to free them up, I just buy new ones.

As stated earlier, there should be a little drag on when you spin the wheel. Don't worry about getting it exact...you can adjust them by driving in reverse while applying the brake.

I'll bet your adjusters are seized...
Click to expand...

so when I hold down brake should my rear tires completely stop when axle is jacked up or just slow down or a drag a bit. Because they do slow down from the orignial spin speed. I will cjeck out brake adjusters although ium new to drums so im sure this will not be fun, anyone have a good picture or where I need to be looking
Also would it be worth while to swap to a zj proportioning valve or uselss until I swap discs? I was going to maybe pull this one and clean it if it was the culprit.
 
oh and I cant reef on the e brake as the jack ass that owned this jeep before me cut the metal holder below the e brake handlle under frame and e brake lines were already cut at axle. I was very displeased someone didnt take the time to make either work.
 
are we talking about disk brakes... because on drum brakes.. I can lock mine up some times on wet road.
 
dellstopjeep said:
ON my 89 cherokee I swapped on a factory 44 rear with drums and have had soft brakes ever since. I swapped on a wj booster and master cylinder, bled brakes and theres no air pockets. I noticed a braking improvement big time when I swapped this on but pedal is still to soft. Im not asking for amazing brakes as I run 33's but I figured I dont have these dialed in yet as I jacked up rear axle and tried to hold rear tires from spinning with brakes and failed. Rear brakes are useless I guess. Anyways in all these years I have never had to deal with drum brakes so do you think it is an adjustment issue with drums or should I look somewhere else. If this is my problem is there a good basic write-up on drum brake maintanance.
thanks
Click to expand...
 
Have you manually adjusted the rear brakes. Forget the auto adjust. Get a brake spoon (aka Johnson bar) or a big fat standard flat blade screwdriver, remove the little rubber sealer on the backside of the drum, and click the gear (star adjuster) through the back side of the drum. Adjust out until the drum won't turn (make sure it's in Neutral and off the ground) then back it off until you get a slight drag. Then check your pedal. Old school, yes, but effective.

Elsewise, try driving in reverse to about 10 mph and firmly applying (aka slamming on) the brakes. If that works, your auto adjuster is working, if not it's siezed up. So remove the drum and PB blast the mechanism (not the shoes or drum) to free it up.
 
ZJ proportioning valve with drumb dreaks sound like a :nono: to me. (don't the ZJ have rear discs?)

Did anyone mention the wheel cylinders. When my rear breaks failed, it was because the pistons siezed in the wheel cylinders.
 
Hello have you cheked the wheel cylinders they may be froze up or part way froze.Have seen this many times.you can still pump up the brakes and bleed them and every thing seem ok just the cyls dont expand to push the shoes out to the drum.pull the drums offone side at a time push the cyl back in put a c clamp up to the cyl about 1/4 wider that it and have some one push the brake s and see if they move if not replace them.
 
Check the width of your brake shoes. It is possible the previous owner of that axle swapped in the wrong size.

They should be 2.5" wide, and not 1.75" wide.
 
dellstopjeep said:
Should have known gojeep would have a write-up on this. Thanks for the ideas I will pull apart and start trouble shooting today.
Click to expand...

did you just swap in the axle and not rebuild and manually adjust the brakes?

as everyone has said, rebuild the brakes with new wheel cylinders and manually adjust them so that when you spin the drum the brakes shoes slighly drag.
 
When I swapped in the axle I drove to a guys house on craigslist a couple hours away, swapped the axle so he had my old one on his rig and drove home, so I didnt really have the oppurtunity to work on this axle before hand unfortunatly. They guy I got it from fawked me over big time and while I was at the store getting brake fluid to bleed brakes he was cutting e brake lines to skip that step and I never got on until I looked underneath and it was cut by my handle.
 
dellstopjeep said:
When I swapped in the axle I drove to a guys house on craigslist a couple hours away, swapped the axle so he had my old one on his rig and drove home, so I didnt really have the oppurtunity to work on this axle before hand unfortunatly. They guy I got it from fawked me over big time and while I was at the store getting brake fluid to bleed brakes he was cutting e brake lines to skip that step and I never got on until I looked underneath and it was cut by my handle.
Click to expand...

That just spells 'SUCKER' to me...

Wow...
 
yes....yes i was a tool. But it was a year and a half ago so I have recovered from that mistake I made, at least it came with a detroit in it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Drum Brake Tip
Replies
7
Views
2K
cruiser54
C
X
My brakes are crap
Replies
12
Views
3K
xjklmnop69
X
M
Poor pedal feel and weak brakes.
Replies
15
Views
2K
Bill Mc
B
B
Dash brake light on after replacing rear brakes
Replies
1
Views
1K
RCP Phx
R
B
Left rear brake went kapow
Replies
6
Views
2K
Rob Mayercik
R
Back
Top