I have an 89 4.0 4X4 Cherokee Laredo. I am the second owner and have had it since 98. I have used it to tow a boat with a trailer that didn't have "surge brakes". I noticed the braking ability wasn't too good but adequate to get around. Well now I wouldn't dare tow with it! The brakes can barley stop the vehicle.

It started when I changed out the rubber brake lines on the rear axel for preventive maintenance. I noticed they weren't as good after the change and so I re-bled them. They seemed ok and a while later, I had to brake hard. I put the pedal to the floor and the Jeep just slowed down (they couldn't lock up in a million years). I had to serve and barely avoided an accident. I thought, maybe the booster/master cylinder are going bad, so I changed the assembly as a whole.

Well now they are worse!!! I am beginning to wonder if it's my brake bleeding ability (but I have no problems with other vehicles). I may have gotten a bad booster assembly ( I don’t think this is the case) or is there an adjustment procedure for the "push rod" that is between the MC and booster that is bad from the factory? Or maybe there's a trick to bleed the brakes on a Jeep that I am unaware of?

PLEASE HELP! Has anyone else out there had this much trouble with such a simple system?!!!

 

Hey Kurt. Go over to off-road (dot) com (backslash) jeep or jeepsunlimited (dot) com and ask those guys. There is more activity there and a ton more people who can give you advise. Personally I prefer the first link but both will work fine.

 

Thanks, I'll give those a try also!

 

Check www.NAXJA.org Much better tech than JU. JIM.

 

I would not recommend touching the adjusting rod, you can end up locking the brakes and burning the pads up or making your problem even worse by doing that.

You should check the wheel cylinders/ calipers for leakage and get fresh brake fluid in the lines just to make sure there is no water in the brake fluid.

 

yea i would have to say to just bleed the system a few times to get all the air out. if that doesnt work it could be a possibility be a bad plunger in the master cylinder, or O ring...mostly check for leaks around calipers...