byekryam

Boy am I tired of working on this thing, it's been waaaaaayyy to long!

Anyway, tomorrow after I get the cooling system repaired, I'm going to do the front breaks. Please give me some quick input so this doesn't turn into a nightmare like everything else has......

From what I remember, changing the front breaks is a matter of draining off some fluid from the reservior, 2 bolts to take the calipers off, change out the discs, switch out the pads, put on the c-clamps to push out far enough, reinstall on discs, and refill the reservior after some pumping. Is that correct?

Are there any tricks to these breaks vs other breaks I might have done in the past on other vehicles?

Any quick insight would be appreciated.

Thanks

1991Jeep_Man

Just replaced the front brakes on my XJ a month or two ago. Stupid simple to do. You seem right on track.

Loosen wheel lugs, don't take off

Jack up front end, support with jack stands

Take wheels off

Pop hood and open brake resevoir. IF IT ISNT LOW then take some out (just a bit)

Turn wheel to the wheel opposite side working on (makes it a tad easier)

Use wrench to loose caliper bolts

Remove caliper bolts and support the caliper with bungee/string. Dont let It dangle only.

Pull out pad that sits with prongs in the caliper (that's how my 91 is at least) and slide the outer pad off by prying on the tabs.

Use c-clamp to drive piston back in. This can be tricky because the rear caliper isn't perfectly flat in the center. Just be patient and work it until you get it going. I used a socket so the clamp isnt pressing on the center hole of the piston.

Slide off old rotor. May require use of BFH.

Put new rotor on AFTER spraying with brake cleaner to remove grease from factory. Helps to apply antiseize to hub face behind rotor hat.

Check fluid.

Take new pads and (what I did) apply a light light amount of pad lubricant to the backs and seating 'arms' where the pads slide along the knuckle. Also lubricate the caliper bushings (they pop out easy, lube, slide back in and make sure the boot face sits in the bushing groove on each side)

Once new pads are in and all is lubed, apply a light amount to the slides on the knuckle where the pads seat (clean them first)

Put light lube on the caliper bolt shafts not threads. I put a tiny dab of antiseize on the threads.

To align the caliper, I used to phillips heads long enough to go through the bolt holes on the caliper and knuckle. It holds in place. Take one out, and gently insert caliper bolt. Jimmy it around while turn the bolt counter clockwise until you hear the threads click. Then tighten with finger.
Repeat for other bolt.

Tighten them with wrench. Idk the exact torque specs. I just snug them up really good. Dont gorilla it.

Check fluid. Its ok to be a tiny tiny amount over.

Repeat for other side.

Put wheels on. Hand thread lugs to get em started. I put jeep in 4x4 and tighten lugs snug with wrench in star pattern, then torque to 100lb.ft with torque wrench in star patter. 4x4 keeps it from spinning. Also add some antiseize to the lugs.

Drop it down, double check torque, double check fluid, and start it up. Pump the brakes a few times so they seat good.

Drive around somewhere slowly and apply the brakes a good few times. Make sure they are operating well and smoothly with no grabbing. A LITTLE bit of noise at first is normal. Once the pads and rotors make sweet love and settle in, it should be nice and quiet.

Viola! Beer!

byekryam

Jeep Man,

Thanks, I appreciate the time to respond. Great to get the little tiny "been there, done that" insight so I don't have to learn by mistake and take several extra hours. I did grab a tube of lubricant for all the moving parts.

Woody

freegdr

Why are we removing fluid from master just push calipers in un bolt replace pads reinstall pump pedal back up....DONE

1991Jeep_Man

I've had shops 'top off' the fluid as it naturally went down as the brake pads wore down. It would cause driving the piston back in to overflow the resevoir.