I have a 2000 with a 4.0. I know that cherokees are not known to have good brakes, but I've always thought mine didn't feel right. They've always been stiff and take a lot of pressure to actually stop the vehicle. I hauled my 2 ATVs a month or so ago and it hardly stopped them. Their not light ones (550lb and 710 the other). I have ruled out the booster. Remanufactured calipers up front and new shoes/hardware in rear. I don't believe any of the lines or bad or clogged or anything. Now, recently I've noticed a very weird thing. My jeep does NOT have ABS, yet when I put a decent amount of pressure on the brake, i get a pulsing like it has ABS, but not as fast of a pulse. The pulse also slows as the vehicle slows I believe. Any ideas?

 

The pulsating to me sounds like warped rotors. I dont know how much that would kill your performance though. maybe some one else can chime in on that.

 

Warped rotors can kill braking performance. You can put larger drums, backing plates, and shoes on the rear if yours has the 9" drums, or swap in a rear disc set up from a Grand Cherokee. Quadratec has performance pads and rotors available, but they are pricey, like 197.99 for 2 front rotors and 67.99 for the HPS pads.

 

make sure you have enough vacum going to the brake booster from the manifold if you do might want to look atthe check valve that goes into the front of the booster

 

Doesn't it take time for rotors to warp? It just started doing it one day. before then it was smooth, just no stopping power.

 

They can warp almost as soon as you first use them if they get overheated. They can also develop hard spots which won't wear like the rest of the rotor causing the pulse. This can be from the casting process or too rapidy cooling a very hot rotor. Think driving into a big puddle after standing on the brakes during a panic stop.

And yes that will greatly diminish your braking power.

When you replaced the calipers did you put new pads on? Did you turn the rotors on a lathe?
Are they new rotors or still the one's that came from the factory?

A lot of guys think that just slapping in a new set of pads will get them back to from the factory braking.
Not so. That rotor has been polished SMOOTH from the previous set of pads. As soon as you put the new pads on that rotor will also polish the pad surface.
You need to have 2 new fresh slightly rough surfaces on pads and rotors for them to work their best.

 

The days of turning rotors are almost gone. When you machine them true, you can really remove a lot of meat from the rotors dependinh on how warped they are, if the rotors are on the thin side of the factory specs, they will warp in no time. I just replace them

 

I agree on replacing if on the thin side. BUT if you still have a lot of meat left a couple of thou shouldn't hurt.

Here's the worst part. almost NO ONE checks to see what the thickness is of the rotor. They just look at appearance and throw it back on and then wonder why the brakes never seem to work as well as when they were new.
I once saw a product that had a grit paper that you put between the pad and the rotor. It was supposed to "Resurface" the rotor face and gradually disappear. I'd buy that if I could find it again.

 

no. I replaced the calipers because it pulls to the right when braking (forgot to mention this I think), and no, just the calipers. Not sure if they are the factory rotors. Had it for three years, since 75,000 on the od. and not even 80,000 on it now.