replacing brakes

deesiexj · Oct 19, 2006

hey, im plannin to replace my front brake pads tommorow morning for the first time with the jeep. i have done this on other cars, just wondering if anybody has any tips or tricks for me, oh, and any brand recommendations? thanks

91xjrunner · Oct 19, 2006

its not hard jus use the antisqueal.

dutchjeep · Oct 19, 2006

Have a piece of iron-wire or something handy so you can attach the callipers to the spring coils while you're working.....that's about it. This job is pretty straightforward on the jeep.

I drive (very) slow so I got ceramics from autozone. Seems to work ok.

Lodi Jim · Oct 20, 2006

8mm allen head is used on first generation xj's, I believe it is also on newer year xj's.

Matthew Currie · Oct 20, 2006

Lodi Jim said:
8mm allen head is used on first generation xj's, I believe it is also on newer year xj's.

My 87 had 7 mm. heads, just to confuse things more! There is a little daemon in my shop that eats 7 mm. allen wrenches. After 40-odd years of collecting tools, I have literally hundreds of allen wrenches. A drawer full, and little stashes all over the place. I don't think I ever did brake work on that thing without taking at least a half hour to hunt down the last remaining stub of a 7 mm. wrench! One time I gave up and ground down a bigger one.

Brad M. · Oct 20, 2006

What year is your XJ? My '99 was very simple and straightforward. Couple of 13mm bolts on the caliper and it slides right off. Whole thing took about 30-40 min for both sides.

AlohaBra · Oct 20, 2006

Consider new rotors also, they are that expensive.

lighthouse jim · Oct 20, 2006

okay, I want to horn in on this. I just upped my tire size from (near) stock to 31's and my brakes are now rendered insufficient. Looks like my rotors are pretty worn, and last time I did a quicky brake job I just did a pad slap and hoped they would wear in to the slight grooving. Now its time to replace, and deesiexj is asking essentially the same Q that I have. Any suggestions on works well and what to avoid. One brake shop guy suggested AC/Delco pads over anything else. ??!

lighthouse jim · Oct 20, 2006

oops, forgot to say it's a 91 with about 3.5" lift, and stock brakes. (I'm searching for older threads at this time, but any input is appreciated)

lawsoncl · Oct 21, 2006

AlohaBra said:
Consider new rotors also, they are that expensive.

They are pretty cheap. I think I paid $18 each last time. Get good quality pads though. Long-life pads frequently translates to less stopping power.

bghrny · Oct 22, 2006

I just put new wheels on and I get a lot of brake dust in just a few days .What pads are recomended?

Brad M. · Oct 22, 2006

Pads are kind of a personal taste thing to a degree... I honestly don't remember what I put on there since it's been awhile since I swapped in the new ones. If I remember correctly though I think I went with either the Mopar ones or something like Checker or Autozone type stuff. Haven't had any issues. I hear Hawk is decent, might look into those next time I need new pads...

Monkey55 · Oct 22, 2006

Same here. I never really had a problem with pads or shoes. If I have extra chunk change, then I get Raybestos.

Oh yeah, for some reason, I try to get ceramic ones.. I don't know why, it's just what I've always done . I think I heard at one point that ceramics last longer than metallic. :dunno:

Elias

deesiexj · Oct 22, 2006

i took the wheels off and tried to get started, and discovered that my xj(90 by the way) has bolts on it like nothing i have ever seen. my brakes didnt have conevtional allen bolts, or even any bolt i have ever seen. the bolts look like an inverted torx bolt. like, it looked like a torx bolt, but the threads stick out instead of being sunk into the bolt head. has anybody ever seen this, or have any suggestions for what this is?

lilredwagn · Oct 22, 2006

you're not confusing the caliper bolts with the hub bolts are you? I'm sure both are probably different on a '90, but on my '96, the caliper bolts (there are 2) are 12mm standard hex, and the hub bolts (there are 3) are 12 point 13mm, which look like this:http://www.burnsstainless.com/Hardware/HeadFlanges/a_bolt.gif

zachxj01 · Oct 23, 2006

i run hawk pads and i got some power slot slotted rotors for free

so i am running those, not sure if they are worth the $ if you have to pay for em though, i put pads and breaks on in about half hour each side

mikeny59 · Oct 23, 2006

raybestos 2x, forgot, prior to that had great luck w/Performance Friction, forget what compound, Ottozone lifetime warranty...

BIGSLVRXJ · Oct 23, 2006

deesiexj said:
i took the wheels off and tried to get started, and discovered that my xj(90 by the way) has bolts on it like nothing i have ever seen. my brakes didnt have conevtional allen bolts, or even any bolt i have ever seen. the bolts look like an inverted torx bolt. like, it looked like a torx bolt, but the threads stick out instead of being sunk into the bolt head. has anybody ever seen this, or have any suggestions for what this is?

Hey man what you're dealing with there isn't a reverse torx. It is a 12 sided bolt like lilredwagn said. Just get a 12pt 8mm socket or combo wrench and you're good to go. You'll notice the hub bolts just look like bigger versions of them as well. Anyway, I would replace them with 13mm hex headed bolts like the later ones used.

replacing brakes

deesiexj

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91xjrunner

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dutchjeep

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Lodi Jim

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Matthew Currie

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Brad M.

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lighthouse jim

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Brad M.

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