maybe the problems that the front brakes are not working correctly

 

Hi Freegdr, Your suggestion set me to inspecting the front brakes assemblies. All appeared as good as new - they should since I replaced w/ceramic pads and new rotors less than 6 mos and ~5000 miles ago. I found something noteworthy when I got into detailed inspection of the slides on the passenger side. There's a notch in the slide where the inboard pad's upper hook rests on the slide, as though it was peened into it with a blunt-tipped coal chisel!

What in the wide-wide-world of Jeep-sport could've caused that (brake dancing maybe)? I think the pad's upper hook must get a little "hung" up in that notch during braking because upon lifting off the brakes (particularly in stop & go traffic) the Jeep feels like the brakes are still slightly engaged/dragging. Sometimes it takes a mild nudge of the throttle to overcome this. That notch was not there when I did the replacement. I know this because I cleaned, wire brushed and lovingly-lubed those slides during re-assembly. I wonder what the root cause of such a defect could be? Do you think I should be able to smooth that notch away using a dremel (or something like that) or would that kind of rework adversely affect the brakes operating - creating a smooth but low point in the slide? What would you do? ...I suppose that's an academic question and I may as well try because at this point I've nothing to lose. I guess I'll just add a knuckle(?) to my JY shopping list...