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muddeprived
12-18-2012, 10:21 AM
My TJ has superman brakes that send me into the steering wheel. They are ultra-sensitive especially when it rains. I'm thinking the pads and rotors aren't working out despite them still being new-ish. I'm thinking the previous owner installed some cheapies? I'm been using the engine braking to slow to a stop just to avoid the embarrassing nose dive stops.

tjblair
12-18-2012, 11:52 AM
Rear drums locking up.

muddeprived
12-18-2012, 12:06 PM
You think so? I was thinking the fronts were warped but you da man so I'll check out the rears.

tjblair
12-18-2012, 01:39 PM
Yup.

oros35
12-18-2012, 02:27 PM
I had a broken spring in the rear drums that did that once.

muddeprived
12-18-2012, 09:49 PM
I forgot to mention the extreme pulsating of the brake pedal. It just got alot worse lately.

tjblair
12-18-2012, 10:32 PM
The pulsating pedal is the rotors. But the brakes locking up when they are wet is the drums. I would do a spring kit on the drums. And rotors. Pads and shoes if needed. Might as well have the drums mic-ed while your at it.

muddeprived
12-19-2012, 02:44 AM
The pulsating pedal is the rotors. But the brakes locking up when they are wet is the drums. I would do a spring kit on the drums. And rotors. Pads and shoes if needed. Might as well have the drums mic-ed while your at it.

Looks like I'm gonna have to do a complete brake overhaul front/rear. I drove it to work and applied the e-brake lightly while it was coasting and the jeep started shuddering so I guess that's warped drums or broken spring/hardware like you said. It's weird cuz the previous owner gave me the complete service list from when it was brand new and the brakes were serviced every 12k miles and replaced shortly before I bought it.

What sucks is the rear wheel cylinders on the 01 xj went bad 3 weeks ago and I had to replace them along with soaked shoes, both rear brake lines, and e-brake cable that got smashed in half at the outback three years ago. It still needs a new muffler, tailpipe, evap system smoked to figure out what's causing the CEL (evap leak), and then get it inspected. To top it off, the battery died while it was sitting waiting for the brake fix and now it won't start. Gotta jump it and drive it for a while to get it going again.

We might be selling the 01 after it gets all fixed up cuz affording two jeeps is quite a challenge.

joe_and_jeep
12-19-2012, 08:57 AM
Drive the Jeep 50 mph, hit the brakes. If you feel it pulsate In the wheel then it's the rotors. If you don't feel it in the wheel and just in the pedal or your ass then it's the drums.

Your evap leak, Chrysler used crappy rubber elbows on the evap hoses. The rubber usually joins hard plastic lines. Very well known to dry rot and crack on Jeeps/Chrysler products.

muddeprived
12-19-2012, 10:32 AM
Yeah I'm getting both symptoms so I guess I gotta replace em both plus more.

Thanks for the tip on the evap leak. I'll check em out.

Sloth_Fratelli
12-19-2012, 07:48 PM
The drums may have just been replaced but i know alot of times even brand new off the shelf drums are out of round, id have the drums mic'd/turned first. dd you do rotors when you did front brakes or just a pad slap?

muddeprived
12-19-2012, 09:51 PM
I haven't touched much on the wrangler since I bought it, except for a t-case lever mod, trackbar replacement, and bilsteins. The PO had the brakes done just a few thousand miles before I bought it. I've put 4k miles on it since (currently 84k). The front brakes and rotors look relatively new except for the surface rust but I've noticed the front tires don't spin freely when you turn em by hand. I think the calipers may be sticking or dragging causing the fronts to heat up and warp. I dunno yet, still gotta take it apart and look at things up front. Been pretty busy lately with the other jeep so it may sit for a while, or the entire winter (LOL).

muddeprived
01-08-2013, 08:08 AM
I ended up doing the whole job, front and rear. I replaced the rotors, pads, drums, shoes, and hardware. The passenger front rotor was eaten up on the inside and I'm suspecting a stuck caliper but I could still collapse it with my big set of pliers. The rear passenger backside spring holding the shoe on was broke as someone mentioned above and that's what was giving me the superman power stops. Got everything on and it stops on 32 dimes.

One little problem I noticed though. When I apply the e-brake while coasting slowly, the jeep shudders slowly as it stops. It did this with the old drums but not as bad with the new ones. Could I have gotten a warped set? I keep thinking bent axle shafts cuz the jeep ran away from me a couple weeks ago and ran over a curb........hehehe.