Front disc brake pad and rotor replacement

[fourlow]

I just got my powerstop rotors and hawk brake pads in and was planning on doing the pad and rotor replacement myself. I know that there's write-ups listed in the tech thread... But I was wondering if anyone has used these as their guides and if they? This is the first time ill be messing with my brakes and I want to make sure i do everything right as brakes are kind of important.

Any pointers fellow XJ'ers?

[olds442]

so easy, the rotors just slide right off, pull old pads off push new ones in, shouldnt take longer then 45 mins

[ChewyXJ]

If you provide some links to the write-ups you'll be using we can check them for mistakes or add info if its missing.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to work on disc brakes.

[MoodyCrawler]

i was a little intimadated at first. after i did it, i couldn't belive how easy it was. i used the FSM as my guide. unless you have a cross threaded lug nut, it's easy and quick to do.

a simple write up:

Originally Posted by gregmondro

Piece of cake

Undo your wheel, the two caliper bolts holding on the caliper, take off the old brake pads and use a c-clamp to compress the caliper to install the new pads, remove your rotor (simply pull it out) and swap in the new one, reinstall the caliper and tighten the caliper bolts, go bed in the new pads and you're done

[fourlow]

Originally Posted by montana xj

If you provide some links to the write-ups you'll be using we can check them for mistakes or add info if its missing.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to work on disc brakes.

I'll be using the ones in the tech thread. I'll also have the haynes handy. Im not mechanically retarded, just worried about working on things like brakes since I like living and stuff. I'll be doing them tomorrow after work so ill post some pics afterwards.

http://jeepin.com/features/discs/index.asp
http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoFrontDisks.htm

[severous01]

hope you didnt get drilled rotors. bring them back for slotted if you did.

the metal around the hole cools much too fast and cracks, causing extreme fade and in some cases ... catastrophic failure. meaning the rotor may split in half. slotted on the otherhand retains the "heatsink" material and allows for proper cooling.

[fourlow]

Originally Posted by severous01

hope you didnt get drilled rotors. bring them back for slotted if you did.

the metal around the hole cools much too fast and cracks, causing extreme fade and in some cases ... catastrophic failure. meaning the rotor may split in half. slotted on the otherhand retains the "heatsink" material and allows for proper cooling.

DOH!

Source?

[xjrrrdx]

Its not meant to poke trouble. But I dont see a need for cross drilled or slotted rotors on an XJ. If you are braking that hard constantly where you need the heat distribution, you are in the wrong vehicle.

I can justify spending big $$$ on certain things, that pay off big, but not on rotors that wont help you stop faster than say a solid rotor. I got my rotors for like $40 for both and fluid and they stop me and my 34s with plenty of confidence.

The only time I ever had brake fade was coming down a trail that was all downhill and didnt have it in 4lo to slow me down (first wheeling trip ever). Other than that I have never had any issues.

[tangofox007]

Originally Posted by xjrrrdx

I can justify spending big $$$ on certain things, that pay off big, but not on rotors that wont help you stop faster than say a solid rotor. I got my rotors for like $40 for both and fluid and they stop me and my 34s with plenty of confidence.

I bought my Powerstop crossdrilled rotors for $61. They work great. The cadmium plating alone was worth the extra money.

[fourlow]

I didnt get them for looks or anything like that. I do alot of driving, most of which is long distance stuff that has lots of steep grades. My old ones constantly got way to hot when coming down mountains to the point where I would have to pull over and let them cool off for a bit. I actually heard they got good reviews in JP magazine which is why I picked them over the slotted ones.

[ChewyXJ]

Originally Posted by fourlow

I'll be using the ones in the tech thread. I'll also have the haynes handy. Im not mechanically retarded, just worried about working on things like brakes since I like living and stuff. I'll be doing them tomorrow after work so ill post some pics afterwards.

http://jeepin.com/features/discs/index.asp
http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoFrontDisks.htm

You shouldn't need to bleed your brakes since you don't need to open any fluid lines. Other than that those write-ups should get you through your project.

If your brake fluid hasn't been changed in a long time you might want to consider flushing the lines at some point. I flush mine every 3 or 4 years.

Happy wrenching.

[tangofox007]

Originally Posted by montana xj

You shouldn't need to bleed your brakes since you don't need to open any fluid lines.

It's smart to open the bleed valve when retracting the piston. Otherwise, the contaminated fluid from the caliper gets forced back to the master cylinder.

Even more important with ABS.

[ChewyXJ]

Originally Posted by tangofox007

It's smart to open the bleed valve when retracting the piston. Otherwise, the contaminated fluid from the caliper gets forced back to the master cylinder.

Even more important with ABS.

Thats a good point, but I've never open the bleeder myself. I may do that in the future if I remember. Its hard to teach an old Jeeper new tricks.

[severous01]

Originally Posted by xjrrrdx

Its not meant to poke trouble. But I dont see a need for cross drilled or slotted rotors on an XJ. If you are braking that hard constantly where you need the heat distribution, you are in the wrong vehicle.

I can justify spending big $$$ on certain things, that pay off big, but not on rotors that wont help you stop faster than say a solid rotor. I got my rotors for like $40 for both and fluid and they stop me and my 34s with plenty of confidence.

The only time I ever had brake fade was coming down a trail that was all downhill and didnt have it in 4lo to slow me down (first wheeling trip ever). Other than that I have never had any issues.

i couldnt agree with you more but when people get something in their head that something is great or better than something else i just let it go. he's going to spend the extra money in extremely high performance parts over lift/tire/recovery, let him. i just want to warn him about the dangers of drilled.

you'd be better off buying some high quality blanks over drilled/slotted because brakes are heat sinks. while they dissipate energy in the form of heat, drilling "increases" performance by allowing outgasing and passing of heat through the rotor. true but what they dont tell you is that you're taking away from the mass of the heat sink. in the long run you'll actually hurt your braking by drilling rotors. here's a linky. there's tons more but i'm not going to waste my time when i know how bad drilled is.

http://www.ws6.com/cryo.htm

and proper replacement of ALL brake fluid is 1 year in high humidity areas and 18 months in low humidity areas. if you have brake fade, change to high performance pads and a good solid rotor blank. you can upgrade to dot4 fluid but do not get the dot5. it's a synthetic and will not work properly unless you replace all seals in the system.

[tangofox007]

Originally Posted by severous01

i just want to warn him about the dangers of drilled.

You should contact TRW and let them know that you have determined that their product in unsafe.