I was curious if anyone else has experienced brake fade on their XJ (or maybe the fluid got too hot)

So I had an individual in my vehicle who demanded to be taken home "as quickly as possible"

As they were acting up badly, and I could not wait to get them out of my vehicle, I decided to take them at their word

The trip was only just over 10 miles, with some freeway, but some twisty streets and corners

I kept my speed reasonable on the freeway, but the rest of the way decided to test my rigs handling to the max

This meant maximum possible throttle and brakes

I twice managed a 4 wheel power drift around corners. This would cause a normal individual to **** their pants, but they pretended to ignore and fiddle with their phone

The last road to their place was a ~1/4 mile, and I really lit it up

As I approached required braking area, they faded badly, and I nearly overshot the corner

This certainly got their attention, but I did manage to pull it nicely around into their parking bay, so all good

There was strong smell of burning brakes

I have new front pads and rear shoes

Is this all it takes to induce brake fade in an XJ ? (15min hard driving)

 

I don't tend to drive my XJ like that but I drive enough mountains ( never been there but under the impression AU is pretty flat) to know that you can absolutely fade the brakes pretty easily. They're not that big, drums in the back.
Pad and shoe material matter, and it's also possible your new pads and shoes had not seated yet.

Edit:; OK, I googled it. Australia does have mountains. My bad. Your brakes can fade there too.

 

Ever flushed your brake fluid?

Did the pedal travel increase during this event?

 

hehe

think it would have been a bit less than 1/4, did not look at the speedo, as I was concentrating hard, as one needs to in those conditions


According to the ProfessCars™ estimation this Jeep would accelerate 0-60 mph in 8.8 sec, 0-100 km/h in 9.3 sec and a quarter mile time is 16.6 sec.
Country of origin: USA United States
Make: Jeep
Model: Cherokee 2nd generation (XJ-series)
Modelyears: 1996

At least I know the absolute limits of my vehicles handling and braking now

My XJ is only lifted 2" and runs on 31" road tyres, with all poly, and yet passengers seem to be fearful (even when I drive "normally" )

I have concluded this is due to a combination of factors including body roll, lack of precision rack & pinion steering, a tendency to torque steer, typical squirrelly XJ rear end and low down torque thru 2-1/2" pipes

anyway, they can keep their $100k jobby, I will keep my 2k XJ and $98k

anyone else receive passenger whining or scared-e-cattery ?

 

Did you provide a nice dinner and theatre before starting to grab and grope?

 

I have experienced brake fade driving in the mountains. Certainly a scary feeling when the harder you press, the less they work. Big tires + stock brakes + big downhill = no good. WJ brakes up front would make a big difference. I think rear discs would cool better than drums as well.

 

Sounds like you overheated your front brake pads, which is fairly easy to do with crappy parts-store pads (not sure what pad you're running specifically). My suggestion is to upgrade to a better pad compound that can take the heat and has good bite. I like the Hawk LTS, but there are other compounds out there that are similar. It's the simplest and cheapest braking upgrade you can make.

Also, like Cruiser54 suggested, change your brake fluid if it's been a while. DOT4 will take more heat than DOT3, but it's more hydroscopic and needs to be changed more often. Not sure if Australia uses the same fluid ratings.

While we're on the subject, make sure your rear drums are adjusted correctly. That'll take some stress off the front brakes.

 

I agree, overheated brake pads. If you are experiencing brake fade, you can change the front pads to harder material, which will cause you to have to step on the brakes harder in low speed stops, or change to ceramic pads. Some on here will say that is a bad move. But you will not experience brake fade and stop a little faster at other times. The only drawback is that the rotors wear faster

 

Did a brake flush on mine like 2 months ago.... but dang bro.... the newest of our XJ's are nearly a quarter century old... you can't just "drive it like you stole it" and expect nothing to happen.. even if it IS in good nic.

 

That and taller tires make stock brakes less effective, because of the tire acting as a longer lever arm from the hub to the road, as well as the additional rotating mass. A lot of people change gearing to regain power lost by larger tires, but I think more people leave the brakes alone.

 

doesnt take much to cook your brakes in an xj, i was doing a few hard stops with mine from 40 mph and after about 4-5 i experienced fade quite badly. the rotors are quite small, pads generally of cheaper quality if bought from the part store and also with your jeep age they also may be sticking a little bit. no surprise. coupled with your tires maybe being bigger and load inside and gear yeahhhh itll overheat em quickly. id suggest not driving like that alot or else ya will break thy jeep they arent race cars lol. my younger self learned this alot lol. if you wanna carve corners. drop it a little, smaller tires and better brake pads. but keep in mind hard corners you will lose oil pressure that or long sweeping turns, i had cooper cobras on my cherokee at one point and it exploited this quickly lol.

 

Time for a baffled oil pan.

 

hehe mate

The actual story is far more sordid than you can possibly imagine, and not at all suitable for this forum (sorry to be so titillating )

However, I will say that I was the person being wronged, and did not commit any criminal or moral wrongdoing (although I did break some road rules)

I am assured by the replies my brakes work as they should

I drove as though I was on the racetrack

I often travel to my mountain property, and sometimes push it very hard on the downhill heading home, 8miles of incredibly twisty dirt road, I know every corner intimately, 4 wheel drifts. done carefully

I must say, a 4 wheel power drift on dry bitumen in an XJ is an awesome thing, lots of smoke and sound from the tyres, engine roaring as one balances hard throttle

fluid was pretty new, as I bled them when replacing front hoses with longer ones

 

Did you do a short stint as a Formula 3 safety car driver?

 

Oh c'mon!

You can't do that!

How about a picture of those titillates (altho up here we use the shortened version of that word)?