Front Brakes Lock Way Before Rear Brakes!!

So, I have a 2000 XJ with stock size tires. Like the title says, the front brakes lock way before the rear brakes, especially in snow, but also in normal conditions if braking hard. The rear brakes work fine and have brand new shoes, but still fail to keep up with the fronts. Is there a way to INCREASE REAR braking force on the stock drums?? I know they sell rear disk brake kits, but I don't have the cash for that yet. What about other proportioning valves? Thanks

remove the o ring from the stock proportioning valve. Pretty easy

http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Suspension_Steering_Axles_and_Brakes/Proportioning_Valve_Mod.htm

The Cherokee rear brake self adjusters often do not. Properly adjusted, do the brakes work better ? Have tried servicing the rear brakes and using better quality drums and shoes ?

Make sure the drums are true,arc grind the shoes,and keep them well adjusted.

I thought about the proportioning valve, but I thought that if you remove the o-ring that the rear brakes are no longer isolated from the fronts, so if you lost pressure in one area you lost it all. The rear brakes were defiantly adjusted well when I went back though and replaced the shoes. Also, I had the drums machined when I did the shoes.

Dumb question, but you didn't mix up the adjusters while you had it apart, did you? They're handed, and reversed, whenever they "Adjust", they loosen up, not tighten.

As far as the proportion valve, rather then remove the O-ring, how about thraw it away and install an adjustable valve on the rear line? I don't know if you've ever had a line/cylinder blowout, but on the stock system, you loose one end, you loose both. I don't care what they say, it's not a true split system. Loose the rear brakes, and you loose over half the front power too. Loose the fronts, any your E-brake better work, cause that's the only thing stopping the car.
(Lost fronts and rears on different cars, neither one showed much/any inclination to stop afterward.)

To go along with tbburg, I've had brakes fail on me, and it's not a good experience.. The worst was when my buddy's Sami lost all braking power on the freeway doing 80 (don't ask how we got it to go that fast..) and he didn't hook up his e-brake after his lift.. We finally stopped it by rubbing the tires on the outside barrier in a construction zone and we were promptly greeted by the fuzz..

Yeah, those adjusters are defiantly in the right way, I made sure of that, and the e-brake has some pretty solid grab to it. Where could I find an adjuster to put on that rear line? Also, if I put that adjuster on the rear line, would I have to modify the proportioning valve to put more pressure to the rear?

UPDATE:

Ditched the drums a year or so ago in favor of disc brakes....Should have done it sooner! Stops FAR better than the stock configuration, especially in the snow. Also, I went with an adjustable proportioning valve from summit racing to compliment those discs. It cost a little bit more than I wanted to spend originally, but now I don't have to worry about getting T-Boned for sliding through red lights in the winter.

escout said:

UPDATE:

Ditched the drums a year or so ago in favor of disc brakes....Should have done it sooner! Stops FAR better than the stock configuration, especially in the snow. Also, I went with an adjustable proportioning valve from summit racing to compliment those discs. It cost a little bit more than I wanted to spend originally, but now I don't have to worry about getting T-Boned for sliding through red lights in the winter.

Click to expand...

Thanks for updating your thread!

Good to see how things turn out, and it may help others down the road.