caliper problem?

I went and washed my xj this morning,and then went cruising the car lots looking for a used car for a lady friend of mine. Well,i started smelling this burning smell,but all the gauges were ok,and the jeep was running fine. Then I noticed when I put the brakes on the jeep didn't want to stay straight,had to fight it to keep it in my lane when the brakes were applied. I pulled into my driveway and the left front fender had smoke pouring out of it!! The rim and caliper were very hot to the touch compared to the other side as well. For some reason,the jeep accelerated fine though,no drag or feeling like it was being held back. would this be a caliper probelm or something else? It didn't start doing this until after I washed it. Just coincidence or did I mess something up when I washed it? this is for my 92 xj with 3" lift and 30x9.5 tires on it. thanks for any tips on what to check,Ben

Check the brakes:sure:

May be time to bleed your brake system, everytime my brakes have locked up on any vehicle I've owned it has been from old, contaminated brake fluid. New fluid has always fixed it for me.

Sounds like you have a seized caliper.
You sure it wasn't pulling to the left while not braking?

Bandaid it with a hammer.
Fix it with a new caliper.

yes,now that i am home safe and not wondering which way the jeep is going to jump when i hit the brakes,i do recall it pulling to the left a little. I did not have time to look at it today,I spent the day with my kids. a couple hours after it did this,I drove it around the block and put it in the garage,and the brakes worked fine again. It must be something it does after they get really warm or something.

Check the area that the pads slide on to see if it is flat. If you have a "dished-out" spot the pads may not be releasing because they get hung on that spot.

i had the same problem. what happen was that i greased the shit out of my steering and went out and flexed it up. well what happen was, there was a hole in tie rod end boot and grease squeezed out on to the rotor. so it made that one slick and would only apply the brake to the other side. the greased side got hot like normal and started cooking the grease. which stinks like crazy and lets off some smoke. took the rotor off and sprayed brake cleaner real good and wiped off the access grease from the boot.