murfanater

My 1989 jeep comanche is all up and running now but i have a problem i found out 2day. the parking break dosent work the best. Also the back breaks dont work at all. but the front one work fine. i need to find out how to fix this quick. The break pads have been replaced and drums rotated. I dont know if the it dosent have pressure or what. thanks all

jrh97007

I have not done much on brakes on my Jeep but I did turn the adjuster in the rear drums to as close to the drum as possible and it helped. It did not cure the problem but it really helped.

Dan91

Adjusting the drums will get you the most performance increase, assuming you haven't done that already. Other than that it could be old worn out slave cylinders, replace them, like 8 bucks each.

murfanater

Could you explain to me what the slave cylenders are? And also how to adjust the drum i dont know how to do that eather haha. Piccturess help bbut if u ccan just explain that means alot to man! Thank youu!

ColoradoCorey

I havent taken apart my Jeeps drums yet but on most drum brake there is an adjuster

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-p...rum-brake2.htm

What this does is makes the shoes closer to the drum. You can typically see this through a window on the back plate, it looks like a star poking through a hole/slot. Another thing is the brake proportioning valve, it controlls the amount of fluid/pressure going between the front/rear brakes. From what it sounds like I would go with the adjustment before the valve. Also underneith the crar is a e-brake cable that splits into 2, before that there is a coupling that when tightend will engage the e-brake even more.

Enginebuilder

Weak (or non-existent) rear brakes:
The Wheel Cylinders (previously referred to as the slave cylinders) are the hydraulic rams that push the brake shoes away from each other, forcing them outward towards the brake drums when you push the brake pedal. These are located at the top of the rear brake assembly (inside the drum)

Prior to adjusting the star adjuster, (located at the bottom of the brake assembly) install the drum (wheel off, lug nuts installed) and bleed the rear passenger side brake, then move to the drivers side.

Once the wheel cylinders have been bleed, remove the drum and adjust the star adjuster until light contact is made between the drum and the shoes.

With regard to the parking brake:

Attached to the parking brake lever is a single cable that runs down the center of the vehicle to a T-bar. Attached to the T-bar are two cables, one per rear brake. There is some adjustment to be found at the T-bar, which should help with the parking brake engagement.

Prior to doing anything, double check that all brake hardware has been installed properly, and that the star adjuster & parking brake lever pivot are greased.

If you still have problems with the rear brakes, after double checking your installation, bleeding & adjusting the brakes, then you can start to look at the master cylinder & proportioning valve as possible culprits.