I noticed groves where the pads ride. It seems to me that its worn and there is a chance the pads can get stuck in the groves and not clamp down on the rotors properly. The 98 xj has 326,500km (about 196,000 miles).
What do you think?

 

The pads and rotors need to be replaced

 

Are you talking about grooves on the knuckle? If so, it does happen. Mine has this problem. No, its not normal and when you can fix it. I've heard you can try and weld the grooves and grind them smooth but otherwise its new knuckles.

 

Yes, the knuckles.. will this affect braking?

 

It hasn't that i've noticed in mine. I have been warned about it before but that's been a couple years ago.

If you could get a picture of it to see how bad it is would help.

 

Here's a writeup with pictures. I have the same problem with mine. I bought the knuckles because the brake sliders are almost rusted through on mine (see my photo gallery). It's preferred if you can repair what you have and don't need to replace ball joints, unit bearings etc. All my parts need replacing, so I'm going to do the unit bearings, ball joints and driveshaft U-joints. It's a big job and ball joints are tough without the right adapters for the press. Harbor freight (cheap) press often bends and most rental presses don't come with right adapters.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/xj...rooves-924713/

 

I had the same problem too on a '93. If you do the brakes your self USE PLENTY OF GREASE on the pad contact points. Regrease if needed (inspect when you'r rotating tires). Too bad they didn't use replacable inserts. The grooves would have to VERY deep to keep the pads from engaging, but if it's bad you'll get severe brake grab when they engage. The weld fix looks like it would work, as long as it holds under high heat.

 

the grooves can and most often cause the pads to wear unevenly and prematurely. These can easily be welded and ground down flat again. I do it all the time at work and on my own vehicles. This is common on just about every vehicle where no steel slides are used between the brake pad and the caliper anchor/slides. I have seen a few cases where the inner brake pad got stuck in the grooves and was actually bent by the caliper piston during normal braking.

 

Awesome how-to guide Knucklebuster.

After seeing that guide, I think mine are pretty bad.

Here are pics of mine:

 

Mine were that bad (if not worse). They caused my calipers to hang. Braking was goofy and the brakes dragged after pedal release - causing overheated brakes. The "weld and grind-smooth" job worked like a champ.

 

Did this today for a customer, had been sitting for 6 months because the grooves were so deep the right front locked on.

 

Nice work Willy55. That'll work just fine...