1999 Sport - Rear Brake problem

Hey. First I wanted to thank you all for your help, in previous threads. This Forum really helps out in the worst of jams.!!

It's a 1999 cherokee sport. I believe I have 9" rear brakes.. The problem is the rear shoes do not stay adjusted. I do manual adjustments by using the star nut and spinning the wheel untill the shoes grab, making sure not to over adjust.
The brakes feel fine and the brake peddle grabs higher and harder but after 2 week ( at the most ) the brake peddle becomes soft, travels further down and the jeep begins to work more off the front brakes instead of the back , making it harder to stop.
I recheck the rear brakes and they need to be adjusted again. All the hardware seems to be fine and non broken. Pads are fairly new and cylinders are working ok.

Any ideas?
Thanks you guys!

First, jack it up in two wheel drive. Put it on stands and run it. Press on brake pedal and see it it stops.
On mine both rear cylinders were "sticking" (Jeep had 120K on it then).
Took me awhile to figure this one out. Easiest fix is to replace the cylinders ($15 each) and lube the backing plate rub areas. Lube your adjusters at this time.
I am curious to see if yours has this problem.

Did you do the brakes yourself?

Sounds like the brake adjusters are assembled wrong.

The cylinders look ok. I did replace the passenger side before.
Lubing up the backing plate and adjusters are a good idea. I'll try that right away.

Would anyone have a colored pic or diagram of the rear brake assembly? It is a good possibility that I did put the adjusters on wrong.. I was thinking of that myself but have nothing to compair them to. The Haynes books doesnt do justice.

It's for a 98 (and earlier) but should be the same.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/15/46/52/0900823d80154652.jsp

I think Saudade's right. Your brake adjusters should tighten the brakes over time, but it sounds like they're loosening them. I'd think they're installed reversed.

I think they're installed reversed.

I'm sure glad I never did this! ;)

Thanks guys for all your help.

I checked the hardware this weekend to find everything in the proper positon. I soaked everything with brake cleaner and did notice the adjusting lever that is next to the adjusting nut wasnt even close together.. I re adjusted the e-brake which brought the lever closer to the star nut.

I'm not too sure on how to properly adjust the e-brake and rear brakes in conjunction with eachother.

I hope this did the trick and will let you all know.

Try this;
1. deadjust the adjuster a little for clearance
2a. adjust the park brake cable under vehicle until the arm touches properly
2b. if you can't adjust underneath, go to the brake handle and go to #7
3. put the drum on
4. adjust the rear shoes with the adjuster
5. (optional) take drum off and inspect
6. try brake pedal for feel
7. use the adjuster on brake handle if necessary (4-6 clicks with drum on)

It looks like it was the e-brake causing the problem.. It was way out of adjustment. The lever never the star nut wasnt even touching. Once I tightend the e-brake , the auto adjusters kicked it..

Thanks you guys for all your help !!
This forum is too addicting.. lol