Forum newbie - with a question about the rear shoe size on my 89 Cherokee Laredo...
 

Just bought my first Jeep ever yesterday... WOO!

It's a 1989 Cherokee Laredo with the 4.0, a 5 speed manual, and all the power toys (except seats).

I noticed when I was going over it before the sale that the parking brake when fully applied didn't do much to keep the Jeep stationary - I could push it by hand a bit if I really tried. My first thought was worn shoes, so I headed down to Lordco to see what that would cost me to replace. Turns out there are two different sizes of shoe for my model (a 10.5 and a 10.25 I think?) so I'm wondering if there is an easy way to tell which one I have aside from removing the drum and getting out the measuring tape.

Thanks in advance :)

Re: Forum newbie - with a question about the rear shoe size on my 89 Cherokee Laredo.
 

Congratulations Jeff*

I have a 1989 Pioneer, great unit. hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.
Relatively ineffective parking brake is fairly common in this series of Jeep. Your rear shoes are not necessarily worn down. I'd check for slack in the cables first, and yes they are adjustable.

But with the 4.0 you likely have the larger rear shoes.

Good luck.

Re: Forum newbie - with a question about the rear shoe size on my 89 Cherokee Laredo.
 

Congratulations on the Jeep! Always good to see more Cherokee owners with a 5-speed.

Word of advice: If you have the Peugeot BA10/5 transmission they tend to blow up. Usual replacement is an Aisin Warner AX-15 as installed in XJs from 1990(some of them) through 1999. Both of these transmissions have brass components which are not compatible with the 75w90 gear oil sold on the shelves these days. You need something specific to synchronized transmissions that is the right viscosity, like Pennzoil SynchroMesh or Redline MT-90. Royal Purple 75w90 and I believe Mobil1 75w90 are suitable as they don't have the harsh additive. Unfortunately since these transmissions are so old boutique lubricants are really the only suitable.

As for brakes, I thought the two sizes were 9" and 10" drums. :dunno:

Re: Forum newbie - with a question about the rear shoe size on my 89 Cherokee Laredo.
 

Congrads on the Jeep I had an 89 xj that wud still be running if it weren't for the major fire. Was also my first Jeep (when I bought mine it had close to 200,000 km on it so they just go and go) One other thing u might look at b/4 going and buying new ones, is the brake cable from the handbrake to the rear drums may have been snipped (as for me I never use a hand brake so i becomes jammed up) rather than fart around trying to get it to work snipping it inside the drum is the easy way to remove it without being noticed which could be the reason your hand isn't working so good.