Put on new wheels, now have terrible brake noise

[Briman2021]

I just put on a set of 31's but everything else is stock, so I figured this is still in the realm of OEM tech, and the truck is a 97, 4wd, 4.0, with the high pinion dana 30 front.

Anyway, never had any brake noise in the 8 months since I bought the jeep, drove it in rain, snow, slush, etc. and up until 2 days ago it had Dodge Magnum take-offs, so 17" rims and street car tires.

I put on a set of 31 x 10.50 mudstar M/T's on 15x8 3.75"BS summit racing d-Window steel wheels, and the last couple days when I am backing out of my driveway, or moving around at slow speeds in a parking lot, I have been getting some terrible brake squeal and sometimes some shuddering from what seems like the front right wheel. It has been wet/rainy the last few days, but like I said, this is not the first time I have driven in the rain, and I got it plenty wet all winter long driving through snow and slush.

I am assuming it is coincidence that it happened right after the wheel swap, as I didn't touch anything but lug nuts, but is there anything I could be missing here?

 

[8Mud]

Did you use a torque wrench to tighten the lug nuts? There is a margin of error when tightening the lug nuts down, they can be unequally tightened and you my get away with it. Sometimes unequally tightening the lug nuts warps the disc or drum (more common with the drum).

There are some factory clips on the disc and drum to hold it in place during assembly at the factory, they usually get popped off and thrown away by a mechanic during the first brake service, if not, they can cause issues.

The calipers should slide on the rods (with moderate force), if they get really sticky and the caliper doesn't center itself correctly, one pad can wear much more than the other.

You may have displaced a pile of dust and rust flakes off the inside of your drums that is now causing issues.

In my experience with squeaky brakes, the first thing I check is for a leaky wheel cylinder in the rear.

Sometimes just letting the XJ sit for awhile with wet brakes and they can get coating of rust. The squeak isn't usually persistent and the rust wears off.

There is likely to be other causes I haven't listed, sometimes getting the squeak to stop can be a real pain.

There is likely to be some other possibilities, these are just a few.

I you drive next to a brick wall with your window rolled down you may be able to better tell if it is the front or rear that is causing issues.

 

[sidriptide]

jack it up and turn the wheel by had... process of elimination really. look for noise when you turn it. pull the wheel off and look for fresh wear marks in the wheel and on the caliper.
pull of the caliper and make sure there isnt any crap interfering with the pabs.
also check to see if you bent a backing plate/dust shield and it is contacting the rotor.