[jgorm]

One thing to think about is tire grip. I had WAY more grip on 31s with ATs compared to 33 MTs. The 33s lock up much easier. I left some huge skid marks testing them out at 50mph.

[never monday]

Congratulations Luke.

We can only agree that we have different standards of what is acceptable

[Wheelin98TJ]

Originally Posted by badtux

Oops, you're right, the people I wheel with who have 35's and 37's with stock brakes don't exist, so I won't bother going out with them next weekend. Thanks for saving me gas money!

If 35's with upgraded pads and rotors work, you've saved $800 that you can use for gas money for driving your ride to someplace interesting. If it doesn't work, sell the upgraded rotors and pads to someone else in your club for pretty much what you paid for them and spend the bucks to get bigger brakes. I'm not interested in getting into an organ swinging contest here... . How high school. I have a Jeep to go interesting places, not to engage in high school "mine is bigger than yours!" locker room contests.

The people you wheel with have 35s and 37s on stock brakes, therefore it must be okay? Is that your reasoning?

Who in their right mind would run 37" tires on a stock TJ front axle?

You can sell used brake parts to your wheeling buddies for nearly what you paid for them new?

Staying home and saving gas money sounds like a good plan.

This is not an organ swinging contest in a high school locker room. Its about building a Jeep and sometimes you run in to Jeeps that are built better than yours.

[Imped]

If I was careless and stupid, I would run stock brakes on 35's. Just because they meet someone's obviously low standards doesn't make it right.

[jmasin]

I openly admit I don't know **** about 35's and stock brakes.

But I would like to say that the ability to lock up brakes is not really representative of stopping power. There is a difference in providing enough impulse to the pad to initiate static friction and keep a tire locked and being able to apply enough pressure to maximize dynamic friction to slow a vehicle.

Go out, get up to speed and
1) stab the brakes hard/fast
2) repeat, this time steadily increase pedal pressure and try to induce lockup

#1 is likely to lock alot of (non-abs) setups
#2 may not result in lock at all

[lostsheep]

I am not careless, and I am not stupid. I will allow my driving record to speak for itself. I'll assume for the sake of tranquility, your ad hominem argument was directed at the op.

[HELMET]

You may never need upgraded brakes, but if that little kid runs out in front of you and you have changed everything other than your brakes, thier atty. will kill you in the court room.

[mcg311TJ]

I have stock brakes and 35"s.... Will they bring me to a stop, yes. Do they work just as good as when I had 31"s, No. Personally I've not had any problems with the stock set-up ( not saying I won't ) If I had the money, would I get larger/better brakes? Sure who wouldn't? The thing that people have remember is that every Jeep is set-up different. Some have more weight on them ( bumpers, winches. etc...) also tires, even being the same size, weigh out different ( some are 56lbs some are 67lbs ) I wouldn't tell anyone esle stock brakes and 35"s are the thing to do. It work well enough for me right now.

[Xlr8n]

You can build and put just about any piece of crap on the road in the US regardless how safe it is. Doen't mean you should, and it definately doesn't mean because you've done it or seen it done by others with no side effect yet that you should promote the idea to others.
There is enough data on the subject here and other Jeep sites to comfortably state that running 35" tires on stock brakes is dancing the 'fine line'. It may work out, it may not. As the old saying goes: "Are you feeling lucky?"

[lukethedork]

I think one of the biggest problems here is peoples 'opinions' on what is 'safe'... While alot of you are using your own personal opinion to determine if it is safe or not.
I myself am using the certified UK and Australian 'SAFETY' tests to define whether my brakes are 'safe' or not.

Luke.
Nevermonday, can you tell us your standards of what is acceptable for braking? Is it when your bum feels like it is going to slide forward off your seat from an emergency stop?

[lostsheep]

There is enough data here? Link? I would really like to see some quantified results of braking distances with and without brake upgrades. I would also like to compare these data to a scale with reference points; ie motorcycle to big rig stopping distance. I wonder if the percentage change in stopping distance varies linearly with percentage change in diameter? Can anybody show this theoretically? Please do not chime in if you cannot draw a FBD or use the appropriate language (math).

[mcg311TJ]

This is getting good.

[badtux]

Originally Posted by Wheelin98TJ

The people you wheel with have 35s and 37s on stock brakes, therefore it must be okay? Is that your reasoning?

It's okay for them. Whether it's okay for you, only you can know that, and only by trying it and seeing. Accepting what someone else says or does blindly as "The Way" is just drinking koolaid.

Who in their right mind would run 37" tires on a stock TJ front axle?

Rubicons with Super 44's do quite adequately with 37's. I realize there are some folks who say if you don't have a Dana 60 up front and a Dana 60 or Ford 8.8 in back don't run 37's, but these guys aren't running Dana 60's and are doing just fine.

You can sell used brake parts to your wheeling buddies for nearly what you paid for them new?

If they know you, and they know you only used'em for a few miles before deciding to take'em back off again, yeah, you can get 80% of retail for them pretty easy. You must wheel with some people who are even bigger skinflints than the ones I wheel with.

Its about building a Jeep and sometimes you run in to Jeeps that are built better than yours.

Maybe you're interested in building a Jeep. I'm interested in going places with a Jeep. I've done the minimum build needed to get me to the places I want to go, which is a whole lot more places than you'd think for a sum total of $1500 sunk into my Jeep (of which $1000 is tires and wheels). But hey, I guess everybody needs a hobby. You sit in your garage and build your Jeep. I'll wave at ya as I drive out of town to explore some "roads" leading to old ghost towns, mines, and other such things I like to visit.

[Varnish]

I've got 35s, 3speed auto, stock brakes, bumpers & armor, and I can say that the brakes are not what they used to be. They'll function for normal driving conditions but panic stops are bit less controlled and I definitely leave more room in front of me at high speeds. I'm gonna wait & see how they do in 4low pointed steeply downward on the trails before making a call on upgrading em.

[Jonny Jeep]

Been doing some more reading and the 50% efficiency rating simply means that the vehicle will experience a force of 0.5g during braking. This is during the low speeds used during the MOT brake test. We have an accelerometer at work so I might try it in the Jeep sometime to see what sort of level my brakes are at. Might do another vehicle too for comparison. If I do I'll scan the results and post them on here.