90 thru 95 Brakes

littlefish · Oct 7th, 2006, 02:57 PM

90 pathfinder supposed to be HD chassis with 4.63 posi gears in rear, std diff in the front. Disc in front, drum brakes in the rear. Stock tires were 235 -75 - 15 but now I am running 265 - 70 -16 on Toyota rims. The correct cable adjustments have been made and the shoes have even been arced to fit the drums. That was tough finding someone who would do that. I have an ongoing problem with the rear brakes. All the other cars I have owned would lock up the rear wheels using only the emergency brakes, this one will not even try. I have tried using premium Wagner shoes, changed out the drums for new ones, and used the cheapest shoes on the market. The cheap shoes seem to work best. Is there something I am missing or do these emergency brakes suffer from a design problem? I am almost tempted to pull the rear brake backing plates and setup from a 4X4 HD pickup since they are larger than the 10.5 setup on the pathfinder. I only can assume they would work. Does anyone have suggestions? I took it to Midas and they said "Sure we can fix it" and I told the guy to save the old parts in case the rear emergency brakes would not lock up. The best Midas shoes did not even attempt to lock up the rear tires, they just provided a little drag. They put the old parts back on and gave me the money back. The Midas guy said it was a design problem. Would the larger brake backing plates, and setup from the HD 4X4 pickup fix this?

**88pathoffroad** · Oct 11th, 2006, 10:48 PM

I doubt it. Mine work like crap as well. Never have worked even half-assed. It'd be better to swap to rear disc brakes off a so-equipped Pathfinder.

littlefish · Oct 12th, 2006, 09:38 PM

88pathoffroad - thank for the reply - I was beginning to think I was the only one with a problem on the rear brakes. One more question - do I need to change out the proportioning valve or master cylinder?

**88pathoffroad** · Oct 13th, 2006, 01:24 AM

For rear discs, yes. Just the master cylinder. The E-brake cables are different as well.

littlefish · Oct 13th, 2006, 10:51 PM

Thanks for the update - now I need to scour the salvage yards for the cheap route or spend bucks and look at parts houses that provide brake upgrades. Good - more road time!