Just purchased my 2001 XJ. Stock except for Zone 4 1/2" lift and 31s. Brakes are a little soft and I intend to pull a 17' Walleye boat 500+ miles occasionally. Boat and gear will weigh about 1500 pounds. Brakes seem a little weak without a trailer. I see no obvious problem with brakes other than the drums are a little thin. Pads and shoes are at 50%. Any advice on what pads/shoes to run? Or am I looking at a major system upgrade?

 

In your situation, I'd run with what I've got. People are gonna downpour with rear disc brake conversion suggestions, so be prepared.


For what it's worth, a simple upgrade is a Dodge B350 or 1st Gen Durango Master Cylinder, direct bolt in and pushes more volume.

 

you can upgrade your rear axle to a ford 8.8 off of a ford explorer. they later years, 96+ i think, came with disks. plus the axle shafts are beefier than both the d35 and the c8.25. you can up grade the booster also. not sure from what though

 

Will the booster work ok a 97 too?

 

Do the basics first, make sure the rear brakes are adjusted propperly, flush all the old brake fluid out with new DOT 3. Make sure the pads, shoes, rotors and drums aren't glazed over. If the rotors are glazed you can get them resurfaced if they're within factory specs, I personally don't resurface rotrs or drums on my vehicles I just replace them. If this doesn't make a difference you can put on slotted rotors braided brake hoses or do the WJ steering and brake kit. All this stuff can be used when or if you do upgrade the rear to disc brakes.

 

don't waste your time with disks. Why do ford, chevy, and ram still make their full size trucks with drums? because they work. theere is nothing wrong with towing with them. bleed all your brakes, that is guaranteed to be your number one problem. number too, you need to adjust your drum shoes. not many people know about that, or how to do it. but on the backside of your drums, where the backing plate is, near the bottom there is a little slit. maybe a half inch wide and an inch across and is oval. get an adjuster tool. or a flathear screwdriver and spin the starwheel so it will push your shoes outward. do it til you can spin the tire and hear the shoes just barely rubbing the drum. and it will work wonders. otherwise, replace the shoes. but those two are key, bleed the brakes, and adjust your drums. and it'll stop like an italian sports car.

 

I shouldn't have said "soft" as that implies air in the system. Weak performance on a moderate stop is what it is. Pedal is firm and the fluid is clean so I don't suspect hydraulic problems. I think I will start with some new drums and shoes that aren't quite as hard. I adjusted the rears up last night and it definitely helped.

 

Uhm, they don't. I'm pretty sure new trucks come with rear discs. The only trucks with rear drums are 1/2 ton base models I believe.

 

Does the trailer have brakes?

 

Yess! Glad to see my suggestion helped! Haha

 

And yes I just did some research and you were right, haha. My bad... but its been very recently that they started using disks!

 

no, and it hasn't been a problem even when using a Ford Escape as a tow vehicle. Hoping the Cherokee will get it done as least as well.

 

I actually towed with my cherokee for the first time last weekend. I had a trailer with ten 38 inch tires on it. It pulled fine everywhere except uphill it lacked. And it was a littlebit underbraked. But it wasn't so bad. I think you'll be okay.

 

The Cherokee has the same size brakes as the lighter Escape, maybe even smaller brakes on the Cherokee.

 

Escape has a bit smaller drums (width anyway), but yes it is lighter. I will ensure the Cherokee brakes are in top shape before I try it. I am a little more encouraged after driving today with the rears adjusted. Still getting new drums and shoes anyway since I am towing. A lot cheaper than rear ending somebody.