xjnm

Hi everyone, I need some help with my front brakes.

When I bought the jeep 6ish months ago, I had the brakes checked by a mechanic and he said they looked good and that the pads had about 90% life left on them.
Now, I have noticed that the front disc brakes are rubbing really bad. I can hear them rub quite loudly when I have it jacked up and I spin them, and sometimes I hear them whine on the road.
The pads look like they are pressing down on the rotors really hard (can post pics tomorrow). The brakes often get really hot even after minimal use, like hand-burning hot. Also, they sqeak when I stop.

I have cleaned them very well with soap, brake cleaner, etc, and checked to see that the pads have not created grooves on the calipers. The rotors have minimal wear on them. I have never really worked on brakes before and hope someone can help me out. I am not totally opposed to taking them to a shop but I would like to try to solve the problem myself first.
Thanks!

tech

To check if the brake fluid is holding the brakes on lift up the front end push on the brake peddle hard and then spin the front tires then open the bleeder valves let a little fluid out and then spin the tire again if it spins better then you probable have bad front brake hoses or maybe a bad master cylinder , if it didn't change then your calipers are probable bad .

xjnm

ok thanks I will do that today. Also here is a picture
t

xjnm

Ok, so the brakes were rubbing the same amount after doing the fluid test. So does that mean it's the calipers? Thanks

jpz

I wouldn't jump into repalcing stuff yet. Make sure the calipers are not sticking on any of the contact pionts. The calipers slide a small amount with every application and release of the brakes due to being a floating type (piston only on one side). If they are sticking on the slides, that will cause excessive wear/heat on the pads.

Also, brakes do get hot. Make sure you are not confusing the normal brake heat, with a problem. Are the pads worn down significantly since the "90% left" check?

You could be throwing money at your Jeep unnecessarily if you just start replacing parts.

Also, if you opened your bleeder valve you could have introduced air into the system. I suggest bleeding the brakes now.

xjnm

Thanks for the response. Trust me, I'm not going to spend any more on this than I have to!!! The pads only have 4,000 more miles on them than when I had them checked. The brakes are rubbing for sure, I can hear it and see it. I also just noticed one of the bolts holding the calipers on is loose, and both calipers seem to wiggle around a lot.

Can I take the calipers off and check/regrease the slides without draining all the fluid out to remove the hose? Or do I need to do that anyway if I have to bleed the system? Is there a valve that seperates the front from the back, or do I have to bleed both? Thanks!

jpz

Yep, you can take the calipers off and clean up the slides. Grease probably won't last, I tend to hit mine with a wire brush and then a light amount of never seize to stop the rust from coming back.

If you found a loose bolth, then you obviously found part of the problem. Check the reest while you are in there.

You will not need to bleed the brakes from simply removing the calipers, but since you previously opened the bleeder screws I would bleed them.

How much have the brakes worn since you first had them looked at? Brakes will always rub because they are always in contact with the rotor (or drum); minor contact is normal, heavy contact and dragging is a problem.

xjnm

I could not say for sure. They are definitely dragging. I will take the calipers off and clean the slides and see how it goes.

tech

Yes check the sides clean them up and make sure there are no grooves in the slides from the pads . don't use (never seize) GM and Ford both make a brake lube that is very good we use it at work on all brake jobs we do . you can remove the calipers and check the slides you can also try to push back in the piston and if that is the problem .

BlueRidgeMark

Never. Use. Soap. On. Brake. Parts.


Soaps, by definition, contain fat, A.K.A., grease. (If there's no fat in it it's not soap.) Nor should detergents be used on the pads. Nothing with water.


Check for grooves on the steering knuckle, like on this post.

LadyKenai

like was said before there is always some rubbing and yes they get really hot.. i tried this too just few days ago when i have the front on jacks and spin the wheel you can hear it drag/make contact.. im not sure where to draw the line (drag or normal contact) but i think when spinning the wheel get it going like 3 turns and it should at least spin a full turn after you spun it by itself. the sqeeking i never had myself but i read that could be cause of not wearing them in right when making sudden hard stop on new pads instead of wearing them in smoothly does that

hope this helps

marc

xjnm

I used dish soap and water on the rotors... and then brake-kleened after. Whats done is done but thanks for the info, I didn't know that.

There were some small grooves so I welded those closed and ground it flat. I also cleaned the slides (all 4 were siezed up) and greased with antiseize-fortified grease. Sadly, the loose bolt was actually a stripped out hole in the knuckle so I need to get some helicoils and do that fix.... I have finals all this week so I won't be able to do it for a while. But thanks for the help everyone

xjnm

Thanks! There was obviously a lot of maintenance that had been neglected on those brakes so either way they needed to be taken off and lubed etc.