• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

FRONT Disc Brake Upgrade?

S

Shogun

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Arizona Territory
Need to rebuild fronts and would prefer to upgrade if possible. Been lookin at past threads but mosly Rear drum to disc upgrades and none-too-specific on the details.

89XJ, stock D30 front axle, upgraded to 96 dual booster, 31s, stock 15" wheels.

There was some talk of ford or chevy calipers but hard to decipher which was on front. Adapter plates from Poske, again, rear or front or doesnt matter? Might have seen an article on WJ fronts but I dont think it explained why these are better (bigger piston, dual piston?). I would prefer daul or four piston calipers, not afraid of new purchase, Wilwood/Brembo/SSBC? Baer said they have nothing for XJ.

If I spring for other-than-OEM I want to be sure it is an upgrade, not just a swapout. Seems most brake stuff these days are cosmetic upgrades and very short on facts/details.

Does anyone have specific recommendations? Part numbers, companies, etc.

Thanks
 
Search on the WJ conversion here. There are a couple of ways to do it but it works out to be a huge improvement.

Here is one of the reasons why WJ is the way to go: http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/brakes/xj_wjbrakes03/47.jpg

Here is a copy of Mike's article; a must read if you are going to do it. I've been able to test out the brakes on this rig and it stops amazingly.

http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/brakes/xj_wjbrakes03/knuckles/index.htm

And then there is Mr. Hinkley's article and parts for sale at JKS MFG. This is, in my eyes, the best way to do the conversion and it lists all parts needed:

http://www.jksmfg.com/db/fab_parts/

BTW, both authors are on this site pretty regularly.

Lastly, for the knuckles I'd go to car-part.com and search long and hard. You'll eventually find a set for about a c-note. The bearings I picked up off of a friend of mine as well as the rotors. The calipers were on ebay brand new (Akebono's) and a friend also turned me on to those.

You have to source a bunch of stuff and have a good welder, but really, this is the way to upgrade. There are a bunch on here who have done it with great success... again, search is your friend.

One last thing, you may have to think about new wheels if you are running 15's... search will have the answer for you. ;)
 
Both of these write ups seem to include a lot of fabbing. I have neither the skills nor tools for most of what they describe.

So here's the question: could you just bolt the whole front WJ axle right in?

Assuming you can, I figure more money, less time, no fabbing
 
jmsull said:
Both of these write ups seem to include a lot of fabbing. I have neither the skills nor tools for most of what they describe.

So here's the question: could you just bolt the whole front WJ axle right in?

Assuming you can, I figure more money, less time, no fabbing
Click to expand...

Find a good welder and have that person do your welding. That is the only fabbing needed. Everything else can be purchased off of the shelf (JKS sells all of the parts except the knuckles, bearings, TRE's and calipers).

WJ D30's use CV joints, which you may not want to use on a trail rig.
 
jmsull said:
Both of these write ups seem to include a lot of fabbing. I have neither the skills nor tools for most of what they describe.

So here's the question: could you just bolt the whole front WJ axle right in?

Assuming you can, I figure more money, less time, no fabbing
Click to expand...

I've been searching - I'd like a D44, too, but cash flow is important. For a big brake upgrade, will swapping the axle be feasible? NO fab for the brakes, use the bent WJ lower arms (grind the bushings to fit the chassis mounts ) and probably use the '96 dual diaphragm booster and MC.

Surely there is a show stopper in this mod. Axle width? Bolt circles can be redrilled. Steering hookup? Upper links? Odd combination U-joint for the front yoke necessary? Track bar or sway bar problems? Is the differential housing aluminum?
 
Bolt circles cant just be redrilled, the WJ uses 5x5 unit bearings. You'd have to use XJ/TJ unit bearings, but the spacing would be off. Arent wj's low pinion anyways? The WJ conversion isnt that hard, $200 and three hours at any general welder and you can have it done. (plus the cost of all the parts of course). Otherwise just upgrade your master/booster, throw some rear disc brakes on and keep to small tires. :)
 
Braking is a combo effort. IMO the older D35 brake setups bit badly and caused most of the braking issues. The 98' I have stops much better than the 86' I had with the same tires.

I know of folks who have invested in double boosters and the like, to no avail.
Plan on spending time and money upgrading, also plan on machining/welding.
The rear disc option really does seem to produce the largest bang for the buck return as well as cutting down on trail related mantance. A friend did the WJ rear mod on his 99' and was really pleased with the results.
 
Zuki-Ron said:
A friend did the WJ rear mod on his 99' and was really pleased with the results.
Click to expand...
Is there a writeup about WJ on XJ rear brakes ?
I am quite interested. Is your friend here on NAXJA ?
 
Slonopotam said:
Is there a writeup about WJ on XJ rear brakes ?
I am quite interested. Is your friend here on NAXJA ?
Click to expand...

I looked that up, I'm sorry it was ZJ brakes not WJ.
Bill Ansel's article is on MADXJ under Technical articles.

Another approach I have seen is to make brackets (1/4" plate) for the front caliper mounts from a early XJ, weld them to the axle tube, mount up the caliper mounts, front rotors, and calipers in the back. You will need to mod the retainer plate and there will be no parking brake doing it that way. I think I have seen a kit for this somewhere.

The ZJ brake setup is the best option. Parking brake and Discs.
If you look around the web you can likely find kits that make this a bit less painful on the fab side, but a more painful on hte pocket book side ;)
 
A lot of TJ and XJ guys have done the WJ knuckle/caliper swap and I've never heard or anyone regretting it. Search here and on jeepsunlimited.com, there are several good writeups on JU.
Maybe Cal won't be as lazy as I was and will do a thorough step by step write-up when he does his install. :kissyou:

It's not brain surgery, but I did spend a lot more than 3 hours, partly cuz I fabbed some of my own junk. Since we have swapped swap stories over a couple of beers, I'm pretty sure Grant's took longer than that too, even though he used all the JKS stuff. Get the stuff listed below for the easiest project or you can fab some of it yourself.

Junkyard parts:
- WJ knuckles (try car-part.com)
- WJ calipers (you can get em from MJR on this board)

Dealer parts:
- WJ TRE's and DLE's

JKS parts:
- knuckle/hub flange spacers (welding req'd)
- tie rod
- drag link
- jam nuts (for TR and DL)
- track bar and bracket (welding req'd)
- OAB (welding req'd)
- swaybar brackets

Misc parts:
- rotors, you can redrill WJ's or buy something else that fits, I wanted new rotors with 5x4.5 bolt pattern so I used 2002 Explorer Sport Trac and I think 1999 Crown Vic would work too (measure for yourself to be sure)
- longer brake hoses (from RE or ProComp)
- if you want OTK steering, flip inserts from goferrit or OK4wd
- stabilizer mount stuff
- shorter swaybar disconnects

Your stock rims will not clear the calipers but you might be able to make them work with 1.5" spacers.
 
Oh, I'm documenting mine all right .. but mines taking weeks, not hours. ;) I'm going down to bare tube, sleeving the tube in a second layer of 1/4", putting the knuckles back on rotated for caster, moving the coil buckets back to 0*, moving the lca mounts up and back a bit for clearance, a few more mods here, a few more mods there, etc, etc. Granted did his WJ mod in a bit more than a weekend fairly easily.

-C
 
Precision Brakes do do a 6 pot Wilwood setup but I would not touch it as they have their bracket between the hub and the knuckle and do not address the axle uni joint alignment or the fact you have 10 mm less axle in you side gears!
See where I talk about it here.: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=77159
 
Thank you all for solid responses and good reasons - plus the alternatives. I'm running steel 16" rims from a Liberty with 5 3/4" back spacing - the rims should clear vertically; if not horizontally, then spacers won't be so bad to widen the track back to stock.

Fabbing is an issue for me only because the Heep needs to be running as my primary RCA delivery vehicle - but that's an incentive to be ingenious, eh Watson?
 
cal said:
Grant did his WJ mod in a bit more than a weekend fairly easily.

-C
Click to expand...

Man, where was I? A weekend?????? ;)

Hell, I think it sat on CleanRC's bench for at least two weeks alone (perhaps three) before I even had the right parts for him to build up (very patient and kind guy... thanks again, Scott). Then there was the welding... The cutting... More cutting... cutting still more.... Custom trackbar.... Modified swaybar....

And my steering wheel STILL isn't straight! (yes, I've been putting this project off)

Actually, if I had all of the right parts from the get-go it would have been a fairly easy build, but I had fubar after fubar so it was a royal pain. Order the JKS stuff, spend far more than you need to and shop the dealer parts... then cut crap off and slap it together. Easy-peasy!
 
jonboy said:
A lot of TJ and XJ guys have done the WJ knuckle/caliper swap and I've never heard or anyone regretting it. Search here and on jeepsunlimited.com, there are several good writeups on JU.
Maybe Cal won't be as lazy as I was and will do a thorough step by step write-up when he does his install. :kissyou:

It's not brain surgery, but I did spend a lot more than 3 hours, partly cuz I fabbed some of my own junk. Since we have swapped swap stories over a couple of beers, I'm pretty sure Grant's took longer than that too, even though he used all the JKS stuff. Get the stuff listed below for the easiest project or you can fab some of it yourself.

Junkyard parts:
- WJ knuckles (try car-part.com)
- WJ calipers (you can get em from MJR on this board)

Dealer parts:
- WJ TRE's and DLE's

JKS parts:
- knuckle/hub flange spacers (welding req'd)
- tie rod
- drag link
- jam nuts (for TR and DL)
- track bar and bracket (welding req'd)
- OAB (welding req'd)
- swaybar brackets

Misc parts:
- rotors, you can redrill WJ's or buy something else that fits, I wanted new rotors with 5x4.5 bolt pattern so I used 2002 Explorer Sport Trac and I think 1999 Crown Vic would work too (measure for yourself to be sure)
- longer brake hoses (from RE or ProComp)
- if you want OTK steering, flip inserts from goferrit or OK4wd
- stabilizer mount stuff
- shorter swaybar disconnects

Your stock rims will not clear the calipers but you might be able to make them work with 1.5" spacers.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the 2000 unit bearings if you are going that route!
 
krakhedd said:
Brembo used to have a 4-caliper front conversion, but it was damn near $3k. This is going back 3, maybe 4 years.
Click to expand...

Ouch!!! No wonder they dont sell it any more. Who would pay that much???
 
Noticed just now that you can still get them for the WJ's at $3,221.12 !!

http://www.importperformance.com/store/121-7017A

brembo-gran-turismo.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

1
The money pit needs brakes
Replies
0
Views
317
1-tonxj
1
J
17" big brake upgrade for XJ?
Replies
18
Views
3K
RCP Phx
R
B
Brake Up Grades for Rear Disc
Replies
9
Views
2K
techno1154
techno1154
Vince
Master cylinder and booster swaps advice
Replies
0
Views
500
Vince
Vince
F
big brake options
Replies
8
Views
2K
Jeep Driver
J
Back
Top