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Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go hereXJ (84-01)
All OEM related XJ specific tech. Examples, no start, general maintenance or anything that's stock.
Hello this is my first post so I’m sorry if it not in the right spot etc.
Also I’ve checked all the different forums and can’t find the answer I’m looking for to my exact issue.
I have a stock 2001 xj classic w up country package. It is in good condition well maintained.
my issue is that my drivers side brake caliper locked up shortly after buying it.
I figured probably a bad caliper so I went ahead and bought a new one new pads and lines. Bled it nice firm pedal.
everything was good, for a day then I drove it down a hill and both front brakes started smoking.
so I stopped let them cool off then turned down a flat road and stopped to see if I could coast with out giving it gas and sure enough I could. Meaning the brakes were not locked up.
this led me to believe my front brakes were doing all the work.
I checked the rear drums and found they needed to be tightened the rear drives drum wasn’t doing anything until after I adjusted it.
after adjusting them the brakes worked well.
I proceeded to drive around no problem for a couple days up and down hills.
i live on a volcano in the middle of an ocean, so hills are my life. Lol
then after a few days of driving they started smoking again in the front. Not as bad as the first time they both started smoking but still noticeably more than what should be “normal” So I drove it straight home stopping occasionally to let the brakes cool so I didn’t ruin my new caliper and warp the rotor.
any ideas on what might be causing them to do this? They are definitely dragging, but not all the time. Just occasionally.
Rn this is the vehicle I use to get to work which thankfully is only 4 blocks away but it’s up and down a steep hill so I gotta fix this ASAP.
they don’t get hot enough coming home from work (about a 400 ft elevation drop in 4 blocks) mostly because half the time they’re not dragging, and when they do drag now it mostly only shows it’s self going down hills for longer periods of time.
so just a recap. I have replaced the drivers caliper and both front brake lines and bled them (obviously) and I have good pedal feel so I don’t think it’s the we bled them wrong.
anyway I am very open to suggestions. Just want to fix it so I can start jeepin!
(although I guess fixing stuff right away the last guy never fixed is part of jeepin 😂
my best guess as of now is the proportioning valve???
Did you bed the new brake pads in when you replaced them? There is a procedure you should follow after installing new pads that you are supposed to follow. I would imagine on a hilly environment like you have that would be very important.
Have you checked the rear brakes after making your adjustment? The rear brakes on these are finicky and it is not uncommon (at least for me) to have to make a few adjustments to them over the course of a couple days before I am happy with how they are working.
Did you bed the new brake pads in when you replaced them? There is a procedure you should follow after installing new pads that you are supposed to follow. I would imagine on a hilly environment like you have that would be very important.
Have you checked the rear brakes after making your adjustment? The rear brakes on these are finicky and it is not uncommon (at least for me) to have to make a few adjustments to them over the course of a couple days before I am happy with how they are working.
thanks for the quick reply!
what procedures should I have done?
and I guess that means no haha I haven't
i was going to take them apart again tomorrow and see if there’s any notches where the brake pads slide. I’ve seen that cause issues for some people.
i will check the drums again. Any suggestions other than clicking the wheel until slight pressure in the rear? I’m fairly mechanical but I’ve only ever done basic brake jobs this is a bit beyond me but thankfully my dad has helped a bunch. He used to be a mechanic
Bedding of the brakes typically entails a series of brake applications starting with light applications a slower speed, working up to harder applications a higher speeds.
When I install new pads, I will drive up to about 20 mph, slowing down to 10 mph by lightly applying the brakes. I'll do that 2 to 3 times, then increase to 40 mph, slowing to 10 mph, again about 2 to 3 times. I will then do about 50 mpg again down to about 10 mph, this time applying more brake pressure. In a perfect world, you would never completely stop but that's almost impossible so I just try to come to a complete stop as little as possible.
If you have been driving it for a few days now, it is probably not worth doing this anymore as the pads are probably worn even with the rotors. The logic behind bedding is, new pads do not perfectly match up to the rotor. They tend to make contact in a smaller surface area, which of course becomes a hot spot on the rotor if you brake too aggressively before they are properly bed in.
This could explain some of the front brake smoking you were seeing. I have ruined rotors by braking too aggressively early on (before I knew anything about bedding the pads).
As for the rear brakes, you sound to be adjusting them correctly. It just tends to take me a few tries before I find an adjustment that I am happy with.
Bedding of the brakes typically entails a series of brake applications starting with light applications a slower speed, working up to harder applications a higher speeds.
When I install new pads, I will drive up to about 20 mph, slowing down to 10 mph by lightly applying the brakes. I'll do that 2 to 3 times, then increase to 40 mph, slowing to 10 mph, again about 2 to 3 times. I will then do about 50 mpg again down to about 10 mph, this time applying more brake pressure. In a perfect world, you would never completely stop but that's almost impossible so I just try to come to a complete stop as little as possible.
If you have been driving it for a few days now, it is probably not worth doing this anymore as the pads are probably worn even with the rotors. The logic behind bedding is, new pads do not perfectly match up to the rotor. They tend to make contact in a smaller surface area, which of course becomes a hot spot on the rotor if you brake too aggressively before they are properly bed in.
This could explain some of the front brake smoking you were seeing. I have ruined rotors by braking too aggressively early on (before I knew anything about bedding the pads).
As for the rear brakes, you sound to be adjusting them correctly. It just tends to take me a few tries before I find an adjustment that I am happy with.
ok that’s good to know. I totally forgot about doing that. I had read to do that a long time ago but it slipped my mind completely.
im going to remove the front brakes tomorrow and check for the notches in the brake anchor that seems common. I didn’t know to look for it until after doing the brakes so hopefully that’s the only issue now.
Just had this same issue on a Cherokee I just bought. My driver side pads were not sliding properly on the knuckle. The pad guides on the knuckle were worn/rusted. When the piston pushed the pads to the rotor, the pads would never return, they would stay clamped to the rotor. This smoked the rotors pretty good. I had to resurface the pad guides on the knuckle and get some new hardware on the pads. You might want to give your knuckles a good look. Also, make sure the hardware is in good shape and lubricated well.
Just had this same issue on a Cherokee I just bought. My driver side pads were not sliding properly on the knuckle. The pad guides on the knuckle were worn/rusted. When the piston pushed the pads to the rotor, the pads would never return, they would stay clamped to the rotor. This smoked the rotors pretty good. I had to resurface the pad guides on the knuckle and get some new hardware on the pads. You might want to give your knuckles a good look. Also, make sure the hardware is in good shape and lubricated well.
thabk you both for your replies. I couldn’t wait till tomorrow so I checked the brakes and sure enough they had some bad groves in them. I’m almost certain that was my problem.
i ground it flat and added caliper grease. I’ll let ya know in a few days if it solved it.
https://brakeperformance.com/bedding-in-rotors.php
I just followed this procedure on my Mazda. The second time I drove it afterward the passenger front was about 100 F hotter than the other corners, but it all evened out the next couple times I drove it.
X2 on making sure everything is lubed up.
I'm sure those grooves were contributing to the issue. I will be curious to hear how you make out after driving a few days. Keep us posted.
ok will do. So far so good.
went down palisades which is one of our two roads to get to sea level here in Kona no problem. (About a 1,800 ft drop in elevation in less than 8 miles)
no smoke and brakes cool enough to very carefully touch haha but not blazing hot as they were before
I'm working on mine now, and I think I'm going to have to weld up the tops a little cause there's a limit to how much you can grind down.
Anyway, if you grind a lot, there comes in the pad box (or should anyway) a package of shims. If the shoes are too sloppy in the knuckle you may want to slap some in to tighten it up a tad. See shims in place on bottom.
People have forgotten the proper way to adjust drum brakes. You should tighten to star wheel until you can't turn the tire at all, then back the adjustment off until the shoes just touch the drum. That centers the shoes in the drum and beds them into their anchor points so there is the least movement before they do any braking. I learned this from my dad and was important to know with my 67 SS Camaro with 4-wheel drums when racing. Only the Z28s had discs until they all got them in 68. Front only.
Brakes are perfectly fine now no issues what so ever. Definitely look at your brake anchors if you have a similar issue. I can almost garante this will fix it for you
07-14-2020, 03:57 PM
Brake problem. Proportioning valve??
