RangerRick82

Hope everyone made it through the winter OK, my first post in a while...

So I've had my 2000 Cherokee for a year and a half now and love it, Its been better to me than it deserves to be. I've done a ton of work to it to but I've had an extremely irritating brake problem that no matter what I do, just won't go away.

When I bought it, I had the rear drums re-done, all new copper brake lines and fittings and replaced the front brake pads and rotors. Even after this work, after 15-20 miles, the front left wheel well would smoke and stink badly, and whenever I would try to brake, you would feel a pull to one side. Fair enough, ok, I got to get those calipers fixed because they were seizing I figured. Got those replaced. All throughout the winter (presumably due to the cold weather and a short 10 miles work commute) I never detected a problem. Sure enough, I take it out for a good stretch yesterday and there again, I have that awful stink out of the brake wells. With the windows down you can smell it inside the car while driving. Now, its not as bad as before and the truck doesn't pull, but the odor is bad and I know something isn't right. I've replaced everything I knew of with the brakes (And took it back to double check it after a few months to make sure everything was wearing correctly) but this is really confounding me. Could this possibly involve the master cylinder not getting fluid to the brakes or maybe a worn suspension component? I'm beyond frustrated with this issue and am worried to take it on any ride longer than 20 miles. Any advice would help

Thanks- Rick

Dave51

Did you replace the rubber brake hoses? When they collapse, a one way valve forms, fluid can't return and you got what you got.

They can either collapse cause they're old, or can disintegrate on the inside. And you only need a tiny piece of rubber in there to really mess things up.

gat

Also, did you replace the pins for the caliper or well lubricate them. Feel free to attach photographs of the rotors, pads, and caliper's pins. Was the same work done to each side or were the two sides treated independently.

I'm pretty sure that there wasn't a proportioning valve on your particular model to worry about this issue.

RangerRick82

yep the rubber brake hoses too- both sides!

RangerRick82

this is the one thing that may have been overlooked- I cannot confirm the pins were replaced either-

lawsoncl

Make sure there are no grooves in the slides where the brake pads ride. If there are, they can be welded and reground smooth.

RangerRick82

OK, don't know when ill have the time to tear down the brakes but we can all agree that the master cylinder pretty much isn't to blame correct?

Dave51

The average life of brake hoses is about 6 years. When were they last changed?

GreaseMonkey17

x2

Idunno

Flush the entire system with new fluid. Changing everything out is a start, flushing the system is the finishing touch. I would drain the fluid from the system and blow it out with nitrogen (if available) or filtered compressed air. Once sure that each line from the master to the individual brake calipers and cylinders are blown out I'd flush them with new fluid before bleeding them.

gat

To answer your question, yes. There would have to be a stuck piston for the front in the master cylinder and an air bubble near the caliper in the front right for it to semi-lock only on the front left side and be caused by the master cylinder.

awg

take 5 mins to see if the knuckle is gouged out...u can see how it jams the brake pad and stops it sliding, most XJ have this wear

I always (lightly) copperslip brake pins