Every time I hit the brakes all I hear is the tell tale , so I'm thinking it's time to replace the brakes.... Pads are no problem, and if there were any meat left on the rotors I'd have them turned, but sadly it looks like I won't be able to do that (I'll have them checked before I put new ones on). I was looking at napa's website and saw that they have 2 rotors listed for the 99 cherokee, a composite, and a cast, one for the 1 1/2" stud (cast rotor) and the other for the 1 1/8" stud (composite rotor). I was wondering if there's a way to determine which rotors I would need without actually removing the tires and rotors to measure the studs, ie by the vin number.
Thanks

 

Check your lug nut size? Pull one off and measure it then put it back on?

 

No, I need to know the length of the wheel stud, not the lug nut size, Jeep/Chrysler, apparently made a change to the wheel hub mid-production for 1999.

 

Oh my mistake, i thought you meant diamete... But now that i think of it that would be a huge stud lol

unless you can tell by the VIN which i do not know if you can or not maybe someone else could help us out in that division, you will have to pull your wheel off at the least.

 

do a search... there are a bunch of threads on how to tell your rotors apart... basically it involves measuring them... "Cast or Composite rotor" search it i dare ya...

 

your a meanie...

 

I did the search, I knew I could do it by measuring, but I was hoping there was a way to do it with just the vin, didn't really want to take the tire off and all... guess I'll have to though.

Next question, hypothetically if I have the 1st design, could I replace my wheel hubs so that I have the 2nd design? I know I'd also have to change the rotors which obviously I plan on doing anyway...

 

yeah... i wanted to be lazy and know what type of rotors i had without taking the tires off too... i even tried measuring it with the tire on... didnt work. You can tell if you have a certain year XJ... but anything 98-01 is a grab bag of rotor combinations...

Yes and no... as long as the hubs match the rotors then your good... cast wheel hub assemblies are more expensive... but you get more durability at increased weight (less fuel economy).. the composites hubs are cheaper but the composite rotors warp easier under extreme breaking conditions (hill descending, tailgating, two foot drivers) but they are lighter so you get better fuel economy (maybe 0.25 mpg)

so chew on that before swapping rotor materials... id say go for composite rotors that are drilled and slotted, that way you get cheaper hubs and save a few lbs without the worry of warping them.

 

You can replace just the studs to the longer choice without replacing the whole hub assembly.

 

That's not the only difference, there's also a difference between the distance from the flange and the braking surface on the rotor, as well as possibly other things...