Alignment affecting brakes?

My front brakes on my 01 xj started making a constant dragging noise following an alignment... it was really out of alignment (18 degrees), will that affect how the brakes wore? now that its aligned do the brakes need to "even" out?

Are you sure it is a brake noise? Does the sound change at all when you step on the brake pedal?

If it's the brakes, the two are unrelated and purely coincidental. It is possible (however much unlikely) though that during the alignment a backing plate was accidentally bent to touch the rotor slightly, but that noise wouldn't change with brake pedal application.

It almost sounds like i have a rock in there, it does stop when the brake is applied.. the sound isn't really audible with the windows up, only when you drive by something to reflect it back.. maybe i need to get some debris out of there or its time for new brakes...
Thanks,
Jeremiah

Sounds like its time to lift 'er up, pop off that wheel and have a look-see down there. Just might be some debris stuck in there. Or maybe a tool or something left by the mechanic who did the alignment...Doubtful. Anyhow, as said earlier, they are two separate systems, operating independently from each other.

Reflected sound is omni-directional. It could very well be your back brakes making the grinding sound. I had the auto-adjuster spring break once. It was lying around in the bottom of the drum. It wore a nice deep groove in the drum.