Hello,

The rear brakes on my 1991 Jeep Cherokee are not working very well. They were not working well before so I decided to rebuild the drums. I replaced the shoes, all the hardware, the automatic adjusters, and the cylinders in both drums.

I bled the brakes but the rears still are not working well. With the rear end still up in the air I put it in drive and the brakes wouldn't stop the rear wheels all the way - they would only slow them down a little. If I accelerated and pressed the pedal in they would stop the rear wheels for a second and then they would start to spin slowly again.

I did notice the drum had a decently deep lip on it. I am wondering if I need to replace the drum too? Or should I just try to adjust the rear brakes? I also read that it could be a bad master cylinder but the pedal doesn't sink at all like I have experienced with bad master cylinders in the past. Also, the front brakes seem to work fine.

Thanks everyone!

 

Honestly, if you are doing all that work as far as parts, might as well put new drums on as well. How long have the old drums been on for, or are they original? Did you adjust the brakes at all since you put it back together? Also, drum brakes will usually self adjust when backing up. Have you driven it at all since you did the brake work?

In regards to your brakes in general, how does the pedal feel? Does the pedal have excessive travel?

What makes you think they were not working well before?

 

Thanks for the reply! I am thinking that too - I might as well through a new set of drums on. The old drums seem like they probably were the ones that came on the jeep. I have not adjusted the brakes at all yet, nor have I driven then on the road yet.

The pedal feels fine. It's firm and engages quickly. I know that they were not working before because when I took the Jeep to get emissions done (they put it on a dyno), the tech couldn't stop the rear wheels with the brake.

 

Start by adjusting them properly. You'll need to adjust them through the hole in the back of the backing plate, especially if the drums have a big ridge that prevents adjusting them out enough and still getting the drums back on. You probably also need to bleed them again since you mentioned replacing the cylinders.

 

Update: I put it in reverse and hit the brake hard a number of times and they are actually stopping the wheel when its in the air now. I think once I get it down tomorrow and drive in reverse and hit the brake on the road it will adjust them really well!

And yes, I bled them after replacing the cylinders!