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Poor Brakes

dlarrivee

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Canada
I've been driving a company vehicle mostly lately, and when I come home and drive my XJ, the brakes feel pathetic on it...

The '06 F150 I drive at work has much more pedal travel, and it takes much less effort to press the pedal, it also feels much more sensitive than my XJ.

The XJ feels stiff, and it feels like I need to press a lot harder to get any braking from it.

I drive an '01 XJ Sport, w/ ABS, the pads, shoes, and drums are all brand new... It has stock size tires, and no modifications.

Is this just the design of the Master Cylinder (the bore of it), the diameter of the lines, the calipers and drums?

Basically what I'm asking is, do the brakes on all XJs suck like this? Or is this something wrong with mine?
 
This is true, it is 4 wheel disc.

I'm just wondering why the Jeep sucks so bad compared to it... I never noticed until I started driving the '06 all the time and the '01 XJ rarely.
 
all vehicle's brake different, so it's really just like eating MCD's or a resturant they both get the job done but one just tastes alot better
 
make sure your rears are adjusted up, that can make a big diff in the way the pedal will feel
 
silent_bob_662001 said:
make sure your rears are adjusted up, that can make a big diff in the way the pedal will feel

Thanks. I don't believe the "self adjusting" on them actually works, haha.
 
dlarrivee said:
Thanks. I don't believe the "self adjusting" on them actually works, haha.

Just remember if they are out of adjustment the wheel cyl has to travel that much farther to get the shoes to work. IE the pedal my seem to need more effort & travel to work-vs - if they were adjusted.
 
That makes sense for sure, I'm not so sure that we adjusted them well enough before putting the drums back on come to think of it.
 
Same boat. I always felt my 1990 had acceptable brakes, until I started regularly driving a company truck for work (98 F150). To be honest, when I drive my jeep now the brakes feel so weak I'm sometimes scared to have to stop suddenly. I'm probably coming close to needing new pads/shoes in another 4 thousand miles, but they are still well within factory specs at the moment.
 
clunk said:
Same boat. I always felt my 1990 had acceptable brakes, until I started regularly driving a company truck for work (98 F150). To be honest, when I drive my jeep now the brakes feel so weak I'm sometimes scared to have to stop suddenly. I'm probably coming close to needing new pads/shoes in another 4 thousand miles, but they are still well within factory specs at the moment.

It's not really like it has "bad" brakes. I just never noticed how superior newer braking systems were (different make, models too)... I suppose 4 wheel disc and larger rotors helps.
 
dlarrivee said:
It's not really like it has "bad" brakes. I just never noticed how superior newer braking systems were (different make, models too)... I suppose 4 wheel disc and larger rotors helps.

you are right. drum brakes are like running a points and condenser for ignition. caveman stuff.
 
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