XJ rear brakes

01XJ

Well-Known Member
Location
Pleasant Grove!
I have a 96 XJ with the 8.25 in it, the problem im having is my rear brakes don't want to work. Everything in them is good but they just don't want to grab. I can push the pedal to the floor and still grab the rear wheels by hand and turn them and tonight when backing out of a spot that was covered in ice i put my foot on the brake to shift out of park and the minute it hit reverse the rear tire starts to spin just under idle. I pushed the brake peddle to the floor as hard as i could and it still wouldn't stop the tire even just sitting there idling in reverse. Is there a valve i can adjust or anything i can do to make these work? My front pads are not wearing out even though it seems they are doing 90+ % of the stopping. I just get tired of coming to a stop in the snow and the fronts locking up or coming down a dirt road and hit the brakes and the fronts lock up i need the back to do its share of stopping too. Any help would be great:)
 
Also forgot to mention you get the rears wet by going thru a puddle or anything and they will work so good they actually lock up and make you skid but that only happens for the first 2-3 times you hit the brakes after going thru water then it stops?
 
Have you pulled the drums off and looked at them? I used to have problems from time to time when I had drum brakes. If you take them off and everything looks together. you can try playing with the adjuster at the bottom. It will have like a little sprocket on it and a spring. Play with that until your drums barely go back on. If both of these are fine I would start worrying about either your splitter valve(name avoids me right now) or the master cylinder is starting to go.

I would say the best thing to do though is upgrade to disc brakes using ZJ mounting brackets. I did the switch about a year ago and have really liked it.
 
i am betting the adjusters are not working. you should be able to tighten them by going in reverse and slamming on the brakes a few times. try to go straight so they will adjust evenly. but, i am betting they have just quit doing their job so just go to the zone and get a new hardware kit(recommended) or even the adjusters by themselves.
 
i am betting the adjusters are not working. you should be able to tighten them by going in reverse and slamming on the brakes a few times. try to go straight so they will adjust evenly. but, i am betting they have just quit doing their job so just go to the zone and get a new hardware kit(recommended) or even the adjusters by themselves.

Don't see the point of slamming the brakes or going in reverse as the brakes function exactly the same no matter the direction you are going or how fast you push the pedal, the wheel cylinder is still going to extend and the shoes still come into contact with the drum :). The automatic Adjusters should move the adjuster barrel whenever the wheel cylinder has to extend X far nothing to do with direction or how fast you do it. (some also adjust VIA the E brake too)

Just get in there with the adjuster tool and adjust them, (Lift wheel off ground adjust until you can no longer turn the wheel and then back of 3-4 clicks and then repeat exactly the same on the other side. If you can't turn the adjuster get a new brake hardware kit and put new in.
 
i have always had better luck in reverse because it puts more pressure on the rear brakes. just my experience with it. i bet the adjusters are rusted stuck or the tab they hit is bent and not working properly so all that is irrelevent anyways. they are cheap and easy to replace so thats nice
 
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