TJ Brake Upgrade

ncsutj

ncsutj

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Concord
What's the best bang for the buck brake upgrades for a TJ? Mine just isn't to my liking for holding on a steep incline or obstacle. Currently all braking components are stock. Brake fluid could probably stand to be changed and will do that when I do upgrades.

D30 front with stock disk
D44 rear with stock drums
35's with 15' steel wheels
4.0l with 5 speed

Is a drum to disk conversion on the rear worth the money?

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Are the discs in good shape?

Rear discs are easier to modulate. They dissipate heat better, and they don't get clogged up with mud. But the only time I've ever had problems with either of ours not stopping or not stopping well, there was a mechanical issue - sticking calipers, rusty rotors, etc.
 
shawn said:
Are the discs in good shape?

Rear discs are easier to modulate. They dissipate heat better, and they don't get clogged up with mud. But the only time I've ever had problems with either of ours not stopping or not stopping well, there was a mechanical issue - sticking calipers, rusty rotors, etc.
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I will have to look and see their condition. Haven't looked at or messed with them in a while.

I rebuilt the drums when I put the D44 in around 2010ish. But that hasn't been many miles ago.

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ncsutj said:
Pads and rotors only or calipers too?

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Depends how much you want to spend, if you want to be cheaper on 35s get their pads and new rotors (they have a "kit"), and it works well for 35s. If you want to spend more money, get the Vanco big brake kit that he sells.
 
I pulled the front driver side tire off and looked at the pads and rotor last night. Didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Pads still had plenty of material and looked like even wear.

Only thing I noticed was on the caliper bracket where the inside pad rest it has worn a groove. Could this cause the inside pad to not be making full contact with the rotor? Tired to take a picture of the wear.

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Doubtful it would make the pad hang up, because of the groove shape and the amount of pressure involved. But, it could possibly cause a pad alignment issue. If you're concerned, you can just replace the caliper bracket with the groove in it.

If you're having problems with the fronts, make sure that the caliper slide pins are lubricated and slide freely. If they bind at all, you'll get uneven pressure from one side of the disc to the other.
 
Looked at the passenger side tonight and same wear patterns. Noticed that on the bottom there is wear on the inside of the guide for the outside pad. Opposite of the inside pad. All slide pins are free moving. Probably going to replace the pads and rotors and go from there.

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Are the pads glazed? Glue leaking out? How do the rotor faces look? What about the rear brakes? Are they working? Does the parking brake work? Are all the flex lines in good shape?

What concerns me here is it sounds like you're not satisfied with the braking ability on the trail... not on the road. Braking from speed is going to be greatly affected by tire size. Holding the vehicle in place on the trail is much less affected. There's some leverage at play, but the tire mass and heat generation don't factor in as much.
 
Those divots in the pad backing contact area Do affect pedal feel. I filled mine with weld and ground smooth (since that's part of the knuckle). You won't notice it with new pads until they wear down to where it gets caught the divot at the side close to the rotor.
Did the outboard pads have more wear than the inboard pads?
 
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