97grand4.0

1997 ZJ front and rear disc
My back brake was 330 degrees and the others 150 ish. Way worse on a longer drive could smell burning and it slowed down and wouldn't go over 35.. Replaced caliper and hose, no joy.

Things to look at when you replace pads, ZJ, XJ, maybe others, :

1. Any aftermarket pad may not be quite to spec. I found the width of the metal plate to be a shad wide, possibly dragging on the abutments. Dry fit the pads into the bracket without the caliper. Look below the ears to see if in fact the 1/8 steel plate is binding. Adjust if can't move it slightly.

2. Rubber boots that go over the slide pins can be squeezed by RUST in the 5/8" bored mount hole. A little conical grinding wheel from Harbor Freight works great. Buy 2. Could not believe the amount of rust dust even after I hit it with a rat tail file. even though it didn't look bad, it really was quite bad. It doesn't take much we're talking tens of thousandths to squeeze on that pin. That conical grinding stone did the trick fast.

3. Use SILICONE brake lube inside the rubber boots, (and outside too) nothing else. Silicon is the only thing that won't bind rubber to the steel pin. This was in the factory manual. $7 at Advance for a big tube the size of a suntan lotion tube.

(4.) Think about removing the anti -rattle clip from the outside pad for rear pads. I did. That does push pretty hard on the abutment.

(5.) Make sure abutments have no divits in them. I welded and ground mine meticulously but you can also buy pads that come with the abutment clips.

After a good 2 days of fooling with this I thought I would share it. Or maybe I just needed to vent! UGH! After all it is a kind of odd designed brake caliper.