So my 97 XJ apparently was built cheaper than the 89 I used to have. Stupid brake button shot off like they're known to do, and this was how I found it when I bought it. Didn't think much of it, but now that its coming time for me to make a trip to VA (I'm military, XJ is registered in VA, I live in NC) , the lack of current state inspection is going to be a pain if I can't sort this out soon.

Any hope of repairing this without buying a used (and possibly questionable) lever? If there's a cheap and easy fix for this, I'm all ears. Apparently it broke when the lever was up, and the guy just loosened the cable adjuster. Never really dealt with this before, so I don't want to do unnecessary work if I can avoid it. I know, there's a few threads, but none of them really answered my questions, and I hate working with drum brakes.

 

I'm having the same problem. Actually on lever #2. I guess the easiest way to fix it is to buy another lever but, like you said, they're questionable at best and the button will most likely pop off on the future.
I'm working on a different solution. Not sure if it will work but I'll keep you posted. I'm going to take pics so if it works I can post it.

 

I was able to tear into mine this past week and came up with a workable solution. The PO had apparently tried to pull up on the lever whilst having this same issue, and bent the crap out of the rod attached to the button. It was wedged inside the handle as a result, and took some maneuvering to get out. Once I straightened the rod out, I used some epoxy to reattach the button, as the threads were nonexistent. Seems to be holding up well so far. No pictures, but then the hardest part of reattaching the rod inside the lever wasn't easily photographed anyway.