anthrax323
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- San Antonio, TX
(Subject vehicle: 2001 XJ, 5.25" lift, 265/75R16 DuraTracs)
Like many XJ owners (and Jeep owners in general), I've been fighting woeful braking since the moment I ditched the factory tire size... I swear I've been through 3 pairs of front calipers and countless rotor/pad combinations over the years trying to remedy the issue, but to no avail. I even did the rear disc conversion using a KJ donor hoping it'd help, but it yielded marginal overall improvements in braking performance (and resulted in an absolutely pitiful parking brake given the leverage provided by the factory E-brake handle).
It eventually reached the point recently where it took over 300 feet to slow down from 75 to 15 mph, while standing on the brake pedal. I was no longer comfortable towing at all, and became reluctant to even carry passengers in the vehicle. Terrifying.
I'd been researching and considering the WJ disc swap for several years as well, but ultimately never pulled the trigger as I didn't want to deal with the rabbit hole that would inevitably result from it.
Well, after years of bugging Mr. Blaine over at Black Magic about his products, the WJ swap, Vanco big brake kits, and other general braking questions, I decided it was time to spend some money. $325 shipped for Black Magic pads, Centric rotors, and fresh calipers.
I also went ahead and picked up a pair of Rough Country extended brake lines, as the K1500 lines I'd been running were stretched out like guitar strings when flexing (not an ideal limiting strap, to be honest).
On previous brake servicing occasions, I'd obsessed over the bleeding process, I'd religiously cleaned every pair of rotors with brake cleaner to remove the anti-oxidizing coating they ship with thinking it was tainting the pads and reducing stopping power. This time I said screw it, and just threw the rotors, pads, calipers, and new lines on, and did a quick gravity bleed to get things ready (bleed, depress the brake pedal gently a few times, top off the fluid, and bleed again til the fluid is a steady stream).
Holy. Farking. Shiat.
Even during the first round of the break-in/bedding process, the improvements were absolutely staggering. I finished it by about noon yesterday, coasted the Jeep into the driveway, and let it sit for the rest of the day (as he recommends letting it sit overnight, which I equate to ~8 or 9 hours). It was bizarre hearing the rotors groan, creak, and ping upon parking it.
Round 2 of the bedding process happened at about 9 PM last night. Braking power nearly doubled (!!) during this time. For the first time since I bought my XJ years ago, I was able to partially break traction while only braking at about 30-40%.
Today I took it back out again and did some more testing, and was able to fully lock my ~32's while braking at roughly 50%.
I've done my best to describe how impressed I am, but words truly aren't enough.
Mr. Blaine, you are literally a life saver. I feel absolutely appalled with myself for not doing this sooner, given how I've been endangering the lives of not only myself and my loved ones, but others on the road.
If you have ANY concerns about the brakes in your XJ, please at least buy a set of pads and rotors from him. At $235 shipped, it will be the best money you've ever spent.
If you have kids, please, please, please make the investment. I'm truly flabbergasted by the whole ordeal.
This week I'll be installing his Wizard Brackets in order to fix the lack of E-brake holding/stopping power. Per his warning, the improvement is substantial enough that if you forget to release the brake in 4-LO, you'll destroy the parking brakes. Sounds fantastic to me.
Again, thank you Mr. Blaine. You're officially on my Christmas card mailing list.
Like many XJ owners (and Jeep owners in general), I've been fighting woeful braking since the moment I ditched the factory tire size... I swear I've been through 3 pairs of front calipers and countless rotor/pad combinations over the years trying to remedy the issue, but to no avail. I even did the rear disc conversion using a KJ donor hoping it'd help, but it yielded marginal overall improvements in braking performance (and resulted in an absolutely pitiful parking brake given the leverage provided by the factory E-brake handle).
It eventually reached the point recently where it took over 300 feet to slow down from 75 to 15 mph, while standing on the brake pedal. I was no longer comfortable towing at all, and became reluctant to even carry passengers in the vehicle. Terrifying.
I'd been researching and considering the WJ disc swap for several years as well, but ultimately never pulled the trigger as I didn't want to deal with the rabbit hole that would inevitably result from it.
Well, after years of bugging Mr. Blaine over at Black Magic about his products, the WJ swap, Vanco big brake kits, and other general braking questions, I decided it was time to spend some money. $325 shipped for Black Magic pads, Centric rotors, and fresh calipers.
I also went ahead and picked up a pair of Rough Country extended brake lines, as the K1500 lines I'd been running were stretched out like guitar strings when flexing (not an ideal limiting strap, to be honest).
On previous brake servicing occasions, I'd obsessed over the bleeding process, I'd religiously cleaned every pair of rotors with brake cleaner to remove the anti-oxidizing coating they ship with thinking it was tainting the pads and reducing stopping power. This time I said screw it, and just threw the rotors, pads, calipers, and new lines on, and did a quick gravity bleed to get things ready (bleed, depress the brake pedal gently a few times, top off the fluid, and bleed again til the fluid is a steady stream).
Holy. Farking. Shiat.
Even during the first round of the break-in/bedding process, the improvements were absolutely staggering. I finished it by about noon yesterday, coasted the Jeep into the driveway, and let it sit for the rest of the day (as he recommends letting it sit overnight, which I equate to ~8 or 9 hours). It was bizarre hearing the rotors groan, creak, and ping upon parking it.
Round 2 of the bedding process happened at about 9 PM last night. Braking power nearly doubled (!!) during this time. For the first time since I bought my XJ years ago, I was able to partially break traction while only braking at about 30-40%.
Today I took it back out again and did some more testing, and was able to fully lock my ~32's while braking at roughly 50%.
I've done my best to describe how impressed I am, but words truly aren't enough.
Mr. Blaine, you are literally a life saver. I feel absolutely appalled with myself for not doing this sooner, given how I've been endangering the lives of not only myself and my loved ones, but others on the road.
If you have ANY concerns about the brakes in your XJ, please at least buy a set of pads and rotors from him. At $235 shipped, it will be the best money you've ever spent.
If you have kids, please, please, please make the investment. I'm truly flabbergasted by the whole ordeal.
This week I'll be installing his Wizard Brackets in order to fix the lack of E-brake holding/stopping power. Per his warning, the improvement is substantial enough that if you forget to release the brake in 4-LO, you'll destroy the parking brakes. Sounds fantastic to me.
Again, thank you Mr. Blaine. You're officially on my Christmas card mailing list.