MISS4X4

I have recently replaced the entire assembly on both rear drum brakes for my 6l 4.0 renex 89 xj without abs, this includes the wheel cylinders, all new hardware, brake shoes, e brake cables and star adjusters. One of the old drums was warped and began getting stuck. I purchased a new drum and installed it with all the new brake parts. It was rubbing a little when turning by hand but otherwise it seemed to drive fine and turn freely. After driving for about 20 miles the brake on the drivers side tightened up and would barely turn. I removed the brand new drum and took to the auto parts store and they said that one was warped now too. I have triple checked that everything is in its correct place, the only thing that seems out of whack is one of the hold down springs doesn't seem very tight. Does anyone have any idea's about what could be causing this? I've heard that the master cylinder or the booster being bad could have an affect on it, but wouldn't that make both sides bad or could it still be the case?

All your help would be greatly appreciated, this is a very expensive issue at this point.

notop46

If both rear brakes are adjusted to the same amount of drag, then braking should apply equal pressure to both sides and they should heat up equally. If they are adjusted differently, one side will drag and heat up more than the other.

Are you getting good braking forces on the front axle? Drive about 15-20 MPH on a slick, empty parking lot and apply brakes until wheels lock up. Which wheels lock? Does it pull to one side? After braking, do the brakes fully release? You should be able to let off the brake in an auto and the vehicle move on just the idle. In a 5 speed, you should be able to slowly slip the clutch on a level road and go without touching the gas.

HCCAFan

Dang. You got rear brakes?

crystalion

If the old drum was "warped" and now a new "straight" one is in and you now have a binding problem--sounds like something is slightly bent.. Seems like the old one had worn in on whatever is making it not straight and now the new one is hitting a high spot somewhere

MISS4X4

Thanks for the good ideas,

unfortunately there aren't too many slick roads around here right now, but just rolling at 10-15 mph I could tell the only one getting stuck was the rear driver's side, which was the one with the brand new drum.

I sanded down a random rough spot that I found on one of the pads and took the whole kit apart and put it back together...so far so good but KNOCK ON WOOD! It took a few days for it to bind up last time so I'll find out soon.

My next move is to upgrade the master cylinder and booster to a 2000 grand cherokee setup for more braking power and a whole new rear brake spring kit since i think they got heat warped from the drum overheating.

Any new ideas or tips on the making the brakes stronger or the booster/master swap would be great and much appreciated!

Thanks again buddies you guys never fail!

DaddyCat

FYI very common for old rubber brake hoses to collapse internally. What happens then is the fluid can be trapped in the wheel cylinder (or caliper) and not allow the brake(s) to release. Often this happens on one wheel at first but when one has failed the others are not far behind. Be very careful when you loosen the rubber brake hose from the steel lines. Use a good penetrating oil like Kroil so you have a better chance of saving your hard lines. Kroil costs more and is harder to find then the popular PB Blaster but it works much much better. http://www.kanolabs.com/
Good Luck!

freegdr

simple brake booster up gradehttp://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticl...des/index.html

MISS4X4

Been there...currently doing that

MISS4X4

Okay...so I figured out what my braking issue was...a neighbor had seen my unfinished brake job sitting in the drive way and decided it would be a great idea to surprise me by putting them back together...nice right? Well they had put the two small brakes on one wheel and the two large brakes on the other...very nice huh? I don't hold them accountable but it was a very expensive surprise for me.

Use this as a cautionary tale.

If you want something right you have to do it yourself.