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Any suggestions on rotors, calipers, etc after disc conversion

TylerA23

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Greer, SC
I’m looking to do the disc conversion on my 98 xj with a Dana 35 here soon.

just planning a head and thought I’d ask if there were any preferences or suggestion on which brand or stores to go with on the rotors, calipers, and pads. Prices seem pretty cheat on rock auto and amazon versus autozone etc. Just thought I’d ask for person thoughts or suggestion on certain parts / stores

ill be getting the backing plates, prop valve, and caliper (core) from the junk yard.

thanks as always
 
I have had good experiences with the full Power Stop kits from Rock Auto.
 
EBC yellow truck pads hands down!
 
so. I hate to be the stick in the mud... but drums are fine.... u don't really need disks. the gains are minimal at most... money better spent elsewhere in my opinion.
sorry just my 2cents here.
I thought about this myself years ago and some people on this forum talked me out of the idea. glad they did.
 
so. I hate to be the stick in the mud... but drums are fine.... u don't really need disks. the gains are minimal at most... money better spent elsewhere in my opinion.
sorry just my 2cents here.
I thought about this myself years ago and some people on this forum talked me out of the idea. glad they did.

I have to agree that rear discs do not provide much more powerful brakes and that the stock brakes can be made to work fine.
The biggest difference is not having to adjust the shoes and maybe a little more resistance to water.

Too much rear brake can cause rear wheel lockup in wet conditions. The Grand Cherokees equipped with rear discs have 4-channel ABS, to prevent lockup, a feature that cannot be transferred to XJs.
I would love to reactivate my 1997's ABS but with a 8.25 axle installed, no one has found a way to do this.

If you want to see a big difference in braking power, spend your money on upgrading to larger brakes with a WJ or Vanco conversion.
Under hard braking, most of a vehicle's weight is transferred to the front end brakes, the rear brakes do much less braking, bigger front brakes is where the real benefits are.
 
I have to agree that rear discs do not provide much more powerful brakes and that the stock brakes can be made to work fine.
The biggest difference is not having to adjust the shoes and maybe a little more resistance to water.

Too much rear brake can cause rear wheel lockup in wet conditions. The Grand Cherokees equipped with rear discs have 4-channel ABS, to prevent lockup, a feature that cannot be transferred to XJs.
I would love to reactivate my 1997's ABS but with a 8.25 axle installed, no one has found a way to do this.

If you want to see a big difference in braking power, spend your money on upgrading to larger brakes with a WJ or Vanco conversion.
Under hard braking, most of a vehicle's weight is transferred to the front end brakes, the rear brakes do much less braking, bigger front brakes is where the real benefits are.

This tread is 100% accurate, and so it the one above it. I too have disks in the rear and see no improvement in stopping distance over drums that was on the 8.25 I replaced. Well,...there is just one advantage,...one do not have to continually get under the XJ and adjust the rear brakes. There is nothing wrong wit going disks in the rear. Just do not expect to see any improvement over a good working set of drum breaks.
 
There is an advantage for disc brakes on a 'C-clip' axle if you are unfortunate enough to break an axle shaft. Depending on the shaft damage they could enable a slow limp home or at least off the trail.


iu
 
I notice the improved performance of discs, not having to adjust is quite noticeable on long trips where drums start to fade. Discs react better to mud too, self-cleaning and easier to clean with a hose than drums that full up with mud
 
Besides mud, cleaning, etc, another way disks are Superior is on long stops. Think interstate off ramp. Better heat dissipation keeps brake fade down. This is where I saw improvement in my setup.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
'I would love to reactivate my 1997's ABS but with a 8.25 axle installed, no one has found a way to do this.'

It has been done with the Ford 8.8. I think the guys sig was Jordach88 or Jordan88.
 
Talyn did an ABS project on his 8.25, basically machined some ZJ rings so they could press fit over the 8.25 shafts without rubbing the tubes.

Supposedly an 8.8 can be done by machining off every other tooth on the differential tone ring. Something like that might work with the KJ 8.25 housing too (don't know).

XJ D44 can be done by swapping in shafts and parts from the ZJ aluminum D44 housing.
 
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I had good experience with the pads from Black Magic Brakes, and he's a jeep guy so good to support him

Rotors and calipers I prefer the Centric Premium, but harder to find them. BMB has them sometimes too.

This is what I run, though I'm on an 8.8
 
I am thinking of doing the Terraflex rear disc conversion and upgrading the rear axle says at the same time.
 
Isn't that kit like 600 bones? I swapped my complete 8.8 in for less than that....
$200 axle
$100 brackets
$100 soft brake lines instead of bending hard lines (because I'm lazy)
$50 u joint adapter
Reused rotors and new pads for cheap at Az. ..
Just throwing that idea out there.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
I went with EBC rotors and pads on all four wheels when I put in a Ford 8.8. They are amazing.
I originally had plans to go with a wj big brake setup, but that's been de-prioritized after getting the ebc.
 
I have DBA ceramic pads and T3 4000 series rotors front and rear ordered from Summit Racing for my XJ with rear ZJ disks. These are great performing brakes but they are pricey.
 
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