KJ disk swap - ebrake ... useful?

[blistovmhz]

I threw in some KJ rear discs in my d44 long ago but have never seen the e-brake work very well. I was just under the Jeep today and figured I'd give them another shot.
Shortened the cables properly finally (hopefully didn't go overboard... fuuuu).
Lift the Jeep up, pull the lever one click up, tighten the star nuts until both brakes start dragging, let off the lever, tighten the main adjuster until everything is tight. Throw the Jeep in gear and let it spin, and pull the lever. Lever is stiff as all hell, but absolutely nothing I can do to get the brakes adjusted to be able to stop the wheels in first at idle. Yes, this is a v8 with 4l65e trans and 4.56 gears, but come on... I feel like the ebrake should at least prevent me from idling away.
They of course lock right up in reverse without any problem. I'm starting to wonder if there's any way I may have the ebrakes on backwards?
Anyone else have a ZJ or KJ rear setup that can chime in on how well these should work? Brand new rotors/hats/pads/shoes. Tried a few different sets. Always the same result.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

If it stays put in rev and neutral, leave it alone. You have, 100+ more TQ than a 4.0L? The surface area of the park brake shoes is less than a drum brake setup.

 

[blistovmhz]

The whole thing just doesn't really compute for me though. I get that I've got much larger than stock tires, but (at least before today, as I haven't tested on the street yet) they don't even slow me down. Not much help in an emergency, unless I suppose I end up sliding backwards down a hill, and my brakes screw off on me. No use in forward gear though at all.
None of the guys I wheel with have ebrakes so I've got nothing to compare to .

 

[Johnnie Walker]

That why it is a PARKING brake and not an emergency brake...
Maybe swap to an air brake setup, so if it fails all the brakes lock up?

 

[blistovmhz]

Fuuuu. How about the calipers that do both cable and hydraulic? Are any of them capable of stopping my truck when I inevitably blow out a line while cruising down the mountain? Seems there are a tonne of roll-overs around here due to failed brakes and no one has an e-brake (parking, whatever).

I don't completely agree about it being a "parking" brake though. It is a legal requirement to have one, and the most obvious reason feels like it should be "so you can stop when your hydraulics fail".

That said though, I had another brake question. None of my Jeeps have ever had any separation between front and rear. If I blow a line in the rear, my fronts don't work either even on the first pump. Just looking at the mechanics of it though, it seems to me that the front and rear SHOULD be isolated at the prop valve, but for some reason mine never seems to isolate. What's up here?

 

[techno1154]

That said though, I had another brake question. None of my Jeeps have ever had any separation between front and rear. If I blow a line in the rear, my fronts don't work either even on the first pump. Just looking at the mechanics of it though, it seems to me that the front and rear SHOULD be isolated at the prop valve, but for some reason mine never seems to isolate. What's up here?

Do you have a dual reservoir master cylinder and a good unmolested proportioning valve? When I did the rear disk conversion on my XJ I disconnected the rear lines and left them hanging. All the fluid drained out of the read brake section of the master cylinder. When the installation was completed all I had to bleed was the rear. That was 8+ years ago.

Yes, the ZJ parking and I emphasize PARKING breaks are pretty pathetic. Do not depend on them to stop your XJ if the hydraulics fail. After that many years and much more adjustments of both the cable and the shoes themselves I could push my XJ around on flat ground with them applied. The do hold better going backwards,...with better being the key comparative word.

You could try an old-timer trick on the parking breaks. Assembly everything, turn the wheel over a few times dis-assembly everything look for and adjust/reduce the high spots on the shoes using sand paper. Re-assemble and repeat. That should yield a bit more contact area between the rotor hat and the shoes.

 

[trippled]

Have you tried seating the brake shoes? Drive down the road and pull lever a few times, readjust as needed. Sometimes that is all thats needed, especially with new shoes, and it may require you to do this multiple timea. At work ive always tightened the star wheel until the wheel is tight then back off 5 notches or clicks. That should get you in the ball park, but as stated above they are a parking brake, not an emergency brake