Hey guys,

So I'm trying to get my new parking brake shoes on my ZJ backing plates, and I'm having a little trouble with the springs. The bottom spring, no matter what I do, sits against the adjuster screw. Is it really supposed to be like this, or am I doing something wrong? I'm quite confused. I've never installed these before.

Also, some Lithium Grease came with the hardware kit. What exactly am I supposed to do with this stuff? Thanks much for any help for a noobie

 

No one?

I think it's normal from what I'm seeing so I'm just going with it...but I have a new challenge. How the hell do these brackets go on???



That's the passenger side, but I'm thinking that perhaps I put the wrong part on the drivers side now because I can't get this one working right at all. Any guidance is much appreciated!

 

Try this, maybe it will help…

 

Thanks. Yep, looks like that spring is just supposed to rub against that thing. Seems like a poor point of engineering on Chrysler's part! But, as long as it works.

The parking brake actuator things there look a bit different though from what I can see of them...I reckon I'll be tearing apart the drivers' side again tonight and seeing what pieces I got mixed up.

 

The spring keeps the star wheel from moving on it's own. My dad always said "do one side at a time, then you can refer to the other side to get it right." That was a true thing he said.

 

No doubt--problem is, my girlfriend was helping me with that part and I told her to keep one side together...but did she listen? Of course not.

But, she's quite a catch for helping me out with my mechanical work. She enjoys it as much as I do

 

The spring keeps the star wheel from moving on it's own. My dad always said "do one side at a time, then you can refer to the other side to get it right." That was a true thing he said.>>>>>>

Thats exactly what I did but when I took of the rear wheels off I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I had disc and drum brakes, when I took off the shoes the brake pads crumbled on me.

 

That's at least better than my ZJ. When I took that apart for the first time, there was NOTHING there! The PO had removed everything! The drum part of the rotors as scaley with rust. I just put it back together and whistled my way thru the next inspection.

 

Nice, lol. Didn't they check your parking brake/did it work at all? I still need to figure that part out. My conversion is complete except for that.

 

In NY, inspections are done by local repair shops with liscences from the state. Not many of them check the parking brakes, however. I asked one inspector why they didn't and he said "They won't stop the vehicle anyhow."

Some will reject you for a cracked passenger's side mirror! They will lose their liscence if they pass something that a cop will pick up, but it's a crap shoot otherwise. A friend of mine got his car passed with a crack in his windshield. I asked him how he did it. The inspector said "It must have happened after he left."

The big thing is, when they plug it into the state's computer net, it's got to pass emissions. The state IS cracking down on violations by sending undercover people out, but if you know the inspector, or he knows you, you can sometimes get by with a simple problem. NEVER with brakes, except e-brakes. I know a guy who I've taken my cars to for years and last year, he said, "There better not be anything wrong with it. They're watching me." I said, "What?" He said, "Look across the street. See that brown car? It's a state car. It's been there for about 3 hours." It looked like a stake-out to me.

I did notice the parts in your pics looked brand new.