I've identified the emergency brake cable adjuster for my 1996 XJ (DRUM BRAKES) and it looks/feels like it has plenty of thread left. Should have spritzed it with PB blaster or Liquid Wrench while I was under there, will do that before I touch anything.

Is the cable stretch/failure limit some point beyond where it can be adjusted, or do I have to watch out for the cable snapping as I tighten the slack out?

Also having a little trouble finding a tutorial on this one. Search engines have been serving up disk brake stuff and have not run across anything for what I am attempting. Apparently auto shops since the early 2000s are unaware of this too, since back around 2002ish, two of them (one a 4x4 shop) adjusted the adjusters in the drums, rather than taking the slack out of the cable from the e brake handle to the rear brakes.

 

Start by making sure the adjusters inside the drums are adjusted correctly. That adjusts both the normal brakes and the e-brake. After that, then you can tighten the adjuster in the e-brake cable to take up some slack to get handle/pedal slack within reason. Don't overtighten or you'll just case the brakes to drag.

 

The adjusters in the drums automatically adjust and if they are not hanging up now they should be ok?

The way it sits now, I have to leave it in gear with the e brake pulled all the way and the wheels turned sharply to keep it from creeping down a small incline.

 

That's the problem, the adjusters in the drum don't always work that well. That's why you should make sure they aren't the reason for the parking brake problem first. If you have obvious slack in the e-brake cable and pulling the handle full-up doesn't feel like it has any tension, then you probably do need to adjust the cable too.

 

NO! Adjust the shoes yourself.

 

New cables stretch a lot after a few months, so the adjustment nut needs to be tightened to compensate. Too much slack and the adjustment bolt will hit the drive shaft (found out the hard way after the oxygen sensor wires got chewed up).

 

BUT, the rrear brake shoes need to be adjusted first.

 

And, iirc, the wheel has to come off to do that, can't do it from the back side?

 

It's done from the back side. Check you tube

 

Ah, then that is doable at my place.

This vid looks nice enough.