Basically I need to have the pedal almost to the floor before the XJ stops.

 

Have rears ever been adjusted ? this regulates pedal height. And any time a brakeing system is opened up all wheels should be bled unless master has separate chambers for front and rear systems.

 

Replace brake lines. The rubber ones. If they are old they will more with time. Jmo

 

Not sure if the rears have been adjusted. I have yet to touch them. But I intend to bleed them all this weekend.


My brake lines are all good. I inspected the thoroughly before removing the calipers.

 

Are you sure that you are bleeding them correctly? Pump up the pedal until it is tight, and then release the bleeder screw?

 

Small Gatorade and some clear hose works great OP, just be sure and drink the Gatorade first, for hydration you know.

 

Yes, we did this. I was the one pumping the break. Again, I wasn't the person doing the bleeding. I'll try it again as the bleeder. And I'll be doing the rear drums this time as well.

On a side note, I've been doing some research... I don't know if this technique actually works, but I've read; you can slam on the breaks going roughly 10mph and this will "reset" your pedal? Can anyone verify this?

 

I think that is referring to the auto adjustment of the rear drum brakes. A full stop forward and backward will put the final adjustment on drum brakes. Haven't ever heard of it reseting the pedal. It might feel like it does though.

 

Work on rears bleed all 4 post results .

 

Update:

The pedal is stiff once again.

As I was tooling around town this past weekend, the pedal became more and more stiff. I asked my buddy that helped me do the brakes about it. He said something about having to "bed" them, and that was most likely the issue. However it's been replaced with something else... Go figure. I'm getting a jerk/pulse in my steering wheel now when I turn in either direction. Are u-joints hard to replace? From what information I've gathered, it's most likely u-joint related. I'm not getting any popping or grinding yet however.

 

Or I could be stuck in 4wd. It's the same kind of binding you'd get driving on pavement with 4H engaged.