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Brakes and Trans

zachndorsett

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Tennessee
Alright i replaced my old brakes as they were squeaking really bad and needed to be replaced. I got some heavy duty brakes as recommended to me at the auto store. But after putting them on, about a week later as i start using the brakes to slow down the jeep shakes and vibrates when braking, the harder i press the worse it gets, even braking a little shakes the jeep. What to do to fix this? And i think my trans is slipping, but I'm not 100% sure, how can i be sure of this or just take it to a mechanic to look at it? It quite possibly could be a different problem.
 
Put the transmission in NEUTRAL and step on the brakes.
 
What will that do? Or what am i looking for
That will instantly identify whether the problem is truly in the brakes or in the drive train.

Once that's determined, further troubleshooting can follow.

If you just replaced the pads, it's possible that you have a warped rotor, but it could also be amplified by other problems in the front end, bad u-joints, bad tie rods, a bad wheel bearing, or other issues.

Not to belabor the obvious, but the first thing you should do is make sure your wheels are on tight! If you have alloy wheels, they can loosen after a few hundred miles, even if they were torqued correctly when you put them on, especially on the left.
 
in my experience pads and rotors need to be replaced at the same time. they wear together..and since you just replaced the pads they might not be seating well to the rotors when you brake. this could cause vibration and pedal pulsation. back in the day you could get away cheap by getting the rotors resurfaced, at least once. i'd source out a couple new rotors if i was you..be sure you get the right kind for your hubs. only 1/8 of an inch difference in height between the two styles..but it does matter!
 
That will instantly identify whether the problem is truly in the brakes or in the drive train.

Once that's determined, further troubleshooting can follow.

If you just replaced the pads, it's possible that you have a warped rotor, but it could also be amplified by other problems in the front end, bad u-joints, bad tie rods, a bad wheel bearing, or other issues.

Not to belabor the obvious, but the first thing you should do is make sure your wheels are on tight! If you have alloy wheels, they can loosen after a few hundred miles, even if they were torqued correctly when you put them on, especially on the left.

We didn't touch the rear brakes at all, but i was told by another that it could possibly be the rotors. But yes my wheels are on tight! I just had them tightened the other day when i was at a local co-op getting a tire leak checked out.
 
in my experience pads and rotors need to be replaced at the same time. they wear together..and since you just replaced the pads they might not be seating well to the rotors when you brake. this could cause vibration and pedal pulsation. back in the day you could get away cheap by getting the rotors resurfaced, at least once. i'd source out a couple new rotors if i was you..be sure you get the right kind for your hubs. only 1/8 of an inch difference in height between the two styles..but it does matter!

That sounds like a common problem, hopefully that will be it and it won't be too expensive. Everytime i get ready to purchase something sweet for my jeep mechanical problems keep popping up. :/ Kind of a downer, but all has to run well before off roading, it will only make it worse!
 
"Everytime i get ready to purchase something sweet for my jeep mechanical problems keep popping up. "

i feel you man
 
Sucks! Hopefully after this Pep Boys inspection ill get my radiator and heating/coolant problems fixed. Then do my rotors and then my compressor which gave out over the summer. Then after that ill do the headlights and low lights. Fix the back bumper, then go from there with the good stuff
 
OK, the steel wheels don't loosen like the alloys, which are a nuisance if you forget to retorque. But I throw that caveat in when these discussions come up because my first experience with insertless alloy wheels loosening caught me by surprise. I damn near lost one!

Sounds like a bad rotor or rotors. Not that uncommon for this to arise after other brake work, in part because your pads are working better and pushing harder on them. Jeep rotors are not too expensive, hardly worth getting old ones resurfaced unless they're nearly unworn. Still if you can afford to, get the better quality ones which are less likely to warp so soon again.
 
Okay so if you have the money, then don't resurface the rotors, but how bad would it be to resurface them til you can afford new ones? And without the resurfacing, and not being too expensive, what better quality rotors would you suggest?
 
If they are still thick enough to be machined (they will tell you), I would do that. 8 bucks a pop where I get them done. They don't last as long as new ones obviously, because they are now thinner and warp more easily. I would get them machined and replace them with premium ones when they start pulsing again.

You sure the compressor is bad? Or did it just stop engaging? There is an electrically operated clutch that engages the compressor. It can have a broken connection. The clutch material can wear requiring a shim to be removed. There is also a relay and a low pressure switch that can fail that stop the compressor from being engaged and of course low freon from a pinhole leak can keep it from engaging too.
 
About how long do they last after getting them machined?

And well i was driving down the road with the ac on and out of no where a loud screeching noise started so i turned the ac off and it quit, turned it back on and it started again. I had it checked by my wrangler fanatic cousin and he said the compressor went bad, had it checked by a mechanic and he said the same thing, so he unplugged it and ran the air, no noise.
 
How long they last seems to me to be related to how hard you use the brakes, whether you are driving mainly city or highway, and whether your rear brakes are correctly adjusted and sharing the duty with the fronts.

I do almost no in-town driving and am pretty light on the brakes. I also like to make sure the rears are working well. A lot of people don't give them the attention they are due.

I got a year and a half of DD duties out of my last set of machined rotors - about 40K in addition to how long I had them before machining.
 
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Niice, well i do a lot of city/ interstate driving. From school and work, mostly light breaking, not too much stop go cause I'm on the interstate. How do i check the rears to tell if the are working right?
 
Last time I had rotors turned, and that was some time ago, it cost 15 apiece, when I could get the base NAPA rotors for 20, but if there's enough meat on the rotors and you can get them done for 8 bucks a pop, by all means do that. They can last anywhere from the next panic stop to the life of the vehicle, depending on too many circumstances to bother worrying about, so if you're poor and want to wait till you can afford premium parts, it's worth the gamble.

When you put them back in, try to drive gently for a while while the pads wear to the new surface, and it may help prevent early warping.

You can do a basic quick and dirty check of your rear brakes by getting onto a nice loose dirt road and locking up the brakes at ten or 15 miles an hour. Get out and look at the skid marks on the dirt. The fronts will start earlier and be longer, but there should be at least a couple of distinguishable patches from the rears, and they should be more or less even.
 
Alright alright. So say i do have the funds for new rotors, replace them, but with just any new stock ones? Or is there a heavy duty type i should put on?
And as for the rear brakes ill try that and get back to you, I'm pretty sure my rears are good though, but a double check never hurts
 
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