XJ front brakes?

XJ_Mike

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2013
Location
Arden
Recently had a braking issue on my 95 XJ. Driver side pad started gouging the rotor, only on the outside-inside was normal wear. The outer pad was worn to the limit, actually past that... Replaced front rotors and pads, however my braking isn't "how it should be" considering. I did seat the pads (couple 50+mph fast stops, etc), it does stop better but not great. Just put new rotors on a buddys XJ earlier tonight and it stops ALOT better than mine, same tire sizes but he's also running a 2" BB lift, mine is stock height. Should I just flush my brake fluid, since his being half the mileage of mine/much better condition, and see what that does?
On top of this, I've noticed under braking and making sharp (think 120* or so) turns, I hear a slight gouge noise from the same driver side. Could this be a bad unit (wheel/hub bearing)? I do have very worn tie rod/track bar issues I need to address, not sure if that relates to my issue though.
Any insight?
 
it could be anything from a worn out hun to something as simple as the sliders on the caliper that need relubricating... to check the hub just jack up one wheel at a time and grab the tire at 12 and 6 position.. try and wobble the tire up and down to check for movement.. for the calipers simply take a wheel off,, remoce the 2 bolts that hold the caliper to the knuckle... pull the caliper off then push and pull the sliders to see how free they are
 
It wouldn't hurt to push new fluid thru the front circuit. If its all crappy and full of water, it will boil causing steam pressure to hold the caliper until it cools. Its a fairly easy job with 2 people too.
 
have two different year xjs and my 96 stops on a dime but my 92 is terrible. the noise could just be the pad adjusting to the rotor?
 
Could be. I did lube the sliders when I did brakes, also noticed on mine and my buddies 96 I did the other night that our calipers seem "loose." Not terribly, but they just seem to have some play side to side (in the direction they normally move in) is that normal? I'm going to look into to doing rear drums/shoes/wheel cylinders, and a full flush. Rear brakes I have no idea when they were done last, wouldn't hurt especially if I'm making this thing a rig. Can't rely solely on front brakes alone. I'll do this and change the fluid and report back, I'm pretty sure its either old fluid, worn brake hoses, or both, but I'll start with the fluid. Thanks fellas
 
XJ_Mike said:
Could be. I did lube the sliders when I did brakes, also noticed on mine and my buddies 96 I did the other night that our calipers seem "loose." Not terribly, but they just seem to have some play side to side (in the direction they normally move in) is that normal? I'm going to look into to doing rear drums/shoes/wheel cylinders, and a full flush. Rear brakes I have no idea when they were done last, wouldn't hurt especially if I'm making this thing a rig. Can't rely solely on front brakes alone. I'll do this and change the fluid and report back, I'm pretty sure its either old fluid, worn brake hoses, or both, but I'll start with the fluid. Thanks fellas
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Calipers are ment to slide laterally but I am sure you assembled the calipers back together with the bolt sleeve that keeps the caliper away from the rotor limiting travel. If you forgot that sleeve then the caliper will be all over the place but I doubt you forgot that. Just tighten the bolts and call it done. Don't over tighten them! Stripped one of my knuckles and I still only have one out of the two bolts holding the caliper to the knuckle :eek:. It will be fixed soon :flipoff2:

Not trying to discourage you from tackling your problem with this but I wouldn't hope to have complete performance brakes by just replacing worn brake pads and fluid. With brand new rotors and pads on all four corners of my 92, I did a rear disc brake swap, I still didn't have the stopping power of the stock 96. That's why you see a lot of wj knuckle swaps on XJs. The rotors are larger and the calipers have more pressure than the stock XJ caliper. And when I used to have the drums in the rear they would wear very slow because the larger amount of the stopping power comes from the front rotors. The front of the jeep will squat transferring more energy to the front brakes and unloading some of the weight off the rear axle and its brakes. If the shoes on the drums look ok then personally I wouldn't be in a huge hurry to replace them.

Basically my opinion on XJ brakes are some cherokees have nice stopping power and others are just plain :poop:. Luck of the draw I guess.

Good Luck
 
Thanks for the insight man, and I agree. I feel like I got the :poop:end of the stick with my brakes, but we'll see. I did get the sleeves in though, at first I was "why the F wont the caliper go back in" then realized my bottom dust boot for the slider was hitting. I did notice, the little sleeves in mine are MIA, while my buddies 96 had them. (His is clean as sh#t, with like 105k or something, while I'm at 221k or whereabouts, lol) Also, I was a typical cheap ass on pads, he got expensive ceramics for his and I think mine are semi metallics, could be the difference right there. Im going to try and get it on the lift at work tomorrow and get the drums off and check it out, I'm leaning towards the fact they need replacement, but perhaps I could get away with a clean & adjust for now, checked out a how to thread on that earlier. Been a MINUTE since I've touched drum brakes. I'll see what I can come up with and how it does then, sounds like I might help it some but will end up having to accept the fact that I drive an older SUV and the brakes aren't that terriffic. I've always had a car background until I got my XJ, completely different world as far as suspension and braking goes. Went from how low/stiff can I go for handling and stopping on a dime, to the opposite haha.
 
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