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Better brakes recommendations?

4K views 45 replies 17 participants last post by  mrblaine 
#1 ·
I'm looking for upgraded front brake recommendations for my TJ, which could benefit from better brakes. I'm not sure when I'm going to do this, but probably before winter comes along.

The OEM brakes were never stellar performers, even back in the day when new, and with the added unsprung weight from big heavy tires, plus the added sprung weight of all my mods, I feel that the original brakes on my TJ are truly inadequate.

Are aftermarket big brake kits any better (slow Jeep down faster) than the OEM brakes?

I've heard of VANCO big brakes kits for the fronts. Are they any good? What others might I consider?

I don't have ABS, if that makes a difference.
 
#3 ·
I will second what was said above. The BM pads and centric rotors are an improvement over stock. For even better brakes, if you have the funds, one of the Vanco kits would be even more of an improvement yet. All of these options are available on the Black Magic Brakes website.
 
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#5 ·
My Black Magic pads with Centric premium rotors allowed me to be able to lock them up with 35's when needed. Great improvement over stock and completely noise free.
 
#6 ·
Vanco kits are expensive but well worth it. I don't see how its possible to have brakes that are too good. I've run 15" kit on HP30 on 33s on a TJ, 15" kit on HP30 on 35s on a TJ, 16" kit on HP30 on 32s on an XJ and 17" kit on F9 on 35s with a TJ. Don't see myself owning a jeep in the future that doesn't have the kit installed.

If you can't spring for the Vanco kit the Black Magic pads are a great option for the OEM brakes (and of course in the Vanco kit if you go that route). I was one of the original product testers for those pads. At the time EBC Yellow Stuff was probably the most popular upgraded pad and that was what I switched from to try the BM pads. BM pads were better cold, better hot, better in pretty much every situation I've found. One thing is they do like to be used. If you baby your brakes you're not going to get as much of the benefit out of them. I don't think I really babied my brakes ever, but since going to BM pads I am definitely comfortable being a lot more aggressive.
 
#8 ·
Wow, thank you all for the great responses. Even if there are other BBK's out there that work well for the TJ, it sounds like I could not go wrong with the VANCO 15" BBK.

Just to make sure, this is the one I think we're talking about:

http://www.shop.blackmagicbrakes.com/VANCO-15-Big-Brake-Kit-with-BMB-Pads-for-15-Rims-BBK-NDM15.htm

or the version of the above with the pre-machined unit bearings.

Has anyone tried the VANCO rear disc brake conversion kit? Is there much to gain by replacing the rear drum brakes with the disc conversion?
 
#10 ·
Other big brake kits I am aware of are poor imitations.

Personally, grinding down the unit bearings is pretty easy thing to do and I wouldn't pay much for somebody else to do it.

IMO conversion to rear discs is nice from a maintenance perspective as discs and rotors a bit easier to work on than drums, but as long as drums are properly maintained and adjusted you aren't going to gain much in performance. Remember that the front brakes are doing the large majority of the braking.
 
#12 ·
If you want to save some money and make a small upgrade you can follow in Jeeps footsteps. When they added a few hundred pounds to the TJ and upped the tow rating they upgraded the brakes by changing to ceramic pads. You can find the ceramic pads for the LJ on Rockauto. I use Bendix D477 ceramics for just under $30 and Bendix rotors, they are about $20 each and seem to hold up fine.

People often talk about locking up their brakes and not stopping distances, this is because real improvements aren't easy. Those high dollar kits don't advertise before and after tests for a reason. Nobody would spend all that money if they knew that their expensive brakes didn't really do much.

You have to read the fine print in the article below but you can see that this upgrade leaves the LJ still braking at about 200ft from 60 which is nowhere near the factory 140 range. Not something the vendor wants you to see. I'm sure the LJ in this article felt allot better braking in 200 feet instead of 220 but I wonder if they could have gotten the same improvement just putting on new factory parts, you can see the factory rotors aren't exactly new in the photos.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/s...-better-improve-your-jeeps-brake-performance/

People love their brake upgrades and that's fine, it's your money. I'll treat brake upgrades like throttle body spacers and cold air intakes until I see some data, and no, locking up your brakes isn't what I'd call data.
 
#13 ·
I'll treat brake upgrades like throttle body spacers and cold air intakes until I see some data, and no, locking up your brakes isn't what I'd call data.
:rofl::rofl::rofl: Although I do agree that being able to lock up brakes is not necessarily something to focus on.

You are in Southern Cal. Go visit Blaine. At any particular time he's probably got between 5 to 10 TJs around with various setups. Experiencing the difference for yourself may change your thoughts.
 
#17 ·
The advantages of a rear disc swap are ease of maintenance, no worries about auto self adjusters not working and now worrying about your drums filling up with trail muck and making your rear brakes inoperative.
Under normal conditions with properly adjusted, clean drum brakes you won't see any significant performance advantage from disc brakes.
But, in my opinion, the things I listed make the rear disc brake conversion worth doing.
 
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#18 ·
The Vanco kit is pricy, but once you use them for the first time, especially once the pads are broken in, you'll forget what it costs. I love the minimal brake input for the power it gives. I dont like having to hammer on the brake pedal hard, I'm like a surgeon with my feet. :)
 
#23 ·
How about maintenance items that would be easy to tackle while swapping in the new brakes? Ball joints, maybe. Replace brake lines with SS braided.

RCV axles would be great, but I'll wait on that due to cost.

What else comes to mind?
Ball joints is not a bad idea if you are up for it since knuckles will be off. But if no signs of wear I wouldn't feel like I had to.

Don't waste your money on those brake lines. If you need to replace your hoses, just replace with OEM YJ hoses.
 
#29 ·
I'm sold. The stock brakes are just plain scary sometimes, and have long been a source of concern for me, not so much for highway driving, and definitely not for offroad, but for crazy city traffic driving.

Now I just gotta check my ball joints to see if they're ok. I think they are. And then also the unit bearing. How do I test that to see if it needs to be replaced?
 
#30 ·
the big brake kits are sweet, but it was not in the budget at the time.
so i cheaped out, and tried the black magic pads, and centric premium rotors, front and rear.
i did the break in on them properly, that aint easy!
it is night and day difference, from fairly new stock brakes.
it takes alot less pedal pressure to stop now.
stops much quicker than it used to!
the first time it rained, i had to be careful, they lock pretty easy now.
im on 35s, in a middle weight lj rubicon, i dont feel i need much more brake than this.
 
#40 ·
N
I'm looking for upgraded front brake recommendations for my TJ, which could benefit from better brakes. I'm not sure when I'm going to do this, but probably before winter comes along.

The OEM brakes were never stellar performers, even back in the day when new, and with the added unsprung weight from big heavy tires, plus the added sprung weight of all my mods, I feel that the original brakes on my TJ are truly inadequate.

Are aftermarket big brake kits any better (slow Jeep down faster) than the OEM brakes?

I've heard of VANCO big brakes kits for the fronts. Are they any good? What others might I consider?

I don't have ABS, if that makes a difference.
I use powerstop ceramic pads with slotted rotors on my TJ and they work well with my 37s.

I haven't gone to stealbraided lines yet but I know from personal experience on a Dana 30 SAS Nissan I had and with dirt bikes that they perform better because the OEM rubber lines swell a bit under hard braking pressure.

However without ABS you may want the OEM rubber lines, they'll be a little more forgiving.
 
#42 ·
I haven't gone to stealbraided lines yet but I know from personal experience on a Dana 30 SAS Nissan I had and with dirt bikes that they perform better because the OEM rubber lines swell a bit under hard braking pressure.
No they don't, that's a myth. That steel braiding on auto parts stores brake lines is just there for bling. Brake lines are not simple one-layer rubber hoses, they are reinforced multi-layer hoses that are more than up to the pressure in a brake system. Look at the high pressure hydraulic hoses on heavy equipment like from Caterpillar, you'll notice none of them have braided sheathes on them either.
 
#41 ·
Two heavy boxes full of brake parts arrived a couple of days ago, in perfect condition, no shipping damage at all. I'm impressed with how securely the boxes were packed and sealed. It is necessary for heavy items like these, but few do such a good job of it.
 
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