Lots of older rigs did not have self-adjusting brakes. The "self" was the owner/user or their mechanic.
In my case, as in most cases of older cars and trucks that I've worked on or known of, the self adjusting feature was rarely functional. In my case, my brakes were kept pristine and maintained for it's entire life and they never worked. Ever. Well, ever since I got it that is. They might have worked in the 5 years between the dealer's lot and when I picked it up, but I stopped worrying about it and just kept adjusting.
It was kind of a ritual with me, after experiencing some pretty scary braking moments in other Broncos. Sometimes it seemed I was re-adjusting my brakes every other week, just to keep them perfectly set. Never had a problem, and they stopped straight and true every time.
Except once, after which I went to front discs and never looked back.;D
If you want it to drive well on the street, and do it consistently, you're probably going to become very well versed in brake adjusting.;D
Paul