Hey all,

So just bought first Jeep (1996 Cherokee 4WD) and I'm gonna take the plunge and do my first DIY brake job. Watching lots of videos.

Can anyone suggest good brake pads and rotors? They don't have to be super duper off-road high performance or anything like that... just good quality.

Thanks!

Mike

My last few rotor/pad/drum purchases for my 96 XJ have been Wearever brand from Advance auto (ceramic pads). I can't compare them to a variety of other brands, but they have not caused any problems and have performed as expected.

I tend to buy brake items from my local physical store, because I don't want to hassle with return shipments when things are wrong. I want to be able to go right back and exchange them if need be. This isn't the cheapest option (I could save a little by buying online). The one time I ordered brake parts online - they sent the wrong parts and the order was missing one of the 2 rotors. It was quite a pain, and I ended up at the local store in the end anyway.

Most parts places will ask you what size rear brakes you have. Unless your 96 was a police/government fleet vehicle it most likely has the 9 1/2" drum brakes in the rear.

Take pictures of your drum brakes prior to taking them apart so that you have a reference when you start questioning how they go back on.

Well I was only thinking about doing the front brakes first but funny you mentioned the police/govt vehicle... I just bought it at govt auction so it was owned by city fire department - guess I'll have to double check the rear brakes and see what size they are

I use higher end AutoZone pads because they have a lifetime warranty so when they wear out you bring them back and they replace them for free.

On my Frontier, where I'm a little more serious, I use Powerforce Evolution pads and rotors.

Like Jordan said, I also tend to just pick up what ever ceramic pads are available locally and no problems.

But I do suggest using the break cleaner and break lube on themro avoid an annoying squeal.

I use Hawk LTS front pads and really like them. Good bite and stopping power.

I use the Napa pads, SS Line (middle of the road) ceramic and the regular NB Line rotors.
But I get a discount so......
They are doing a 20% off till the 5/29 on 3 items. Guessing 2 rotors and set of pads make 3.
Have to reserve online and can pick up though. Still thinking might be more then you want to spend
Know a few guys who do the Auto Zone thing like Dave51 said. Kind of hard to go wrong there.

When I did the rear disc conversion back in 2016 I ordered Centric Premium rotors and ceramic pads from RockAuto for both front and rear.. No complaints at all.

If you end up having the police package drums, I have a set of brake shoes for you. Just pay for shipping on them. Rockauto sent me the wrong ones and let me keep them.

For the front, I always use Centric rotors and pads. Cheap and good quality.

Hey EZ, what is the benefit of the conversion? Is it difficult to do?

Hey do you know how I can tell if police package drums?

Benefit for me was that my complete drum brake assemblies needed replaced. So I went with the conversion for ease of maintenance and less parts to fail. To me it was well worth doing and one of the top favorite mods I've done.

Ease of installation can be as simple as a direct bolt on to just a bit of Dremel tooling to make the disc backing plates fit over the axle hub. IMHO there are much harder mods to take on than the conversion. The kits are available here but in ever decreasing availability. If you decide to do it check you local pick and pull yards.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f71/di...on-kit-159484/

You can get name brands on Rock Auto for not much money. Bendix and raybestos come to mind. Drum brake stuff is dirt cheap.

They will have a 10.5" inside diameter. They often have small cooling fins cast into their outer surface as well, where as the 9.5" drums will typically just be smooth on the outer surface. Though I don't think the cooling fins are a definite, if they have been replaced at some point in the past with aftermarket drums. This is one of those situations where dealing with a local store works out nicely, because you can measure/inspect/compare them in person.