I have a stock 95 Jeep XJ and I’m having some issues with the front brakes. The driver side brake line and caliper has been replaced. Both front and passenger side have new brake pads. When I come to stop lights and stop signs I smell some burning rubber from the front. I also am experiencing some shaking when I go about 45-50mph down the road.

it brakes fine right now after bleeding brakes front and back as well as the replacements.

what could it be?

 

remove the wheel and closely examine the areas of the upright that acts as a slider for the brake pad,
the entire braking force is taken by the pads being driven into the metal and it wears a big groove, which can wedge the pad, trapping it against the disc.

The grooves need to be carefully welded up and ground flat, pre-heat the metal preferably

that worked for me anyway...an IR gun pointed at the disc will help to show whether a disc is getting to hot

check with a dial gauge to make sure disc is true

 

Okay. We did some work on this last weekend.
- New brake line
- Calipher
- Bleeding brakes
etc

Jeep drives a lot better now. Question though is I still smell rubber burning smell but it's not as strong as before. I smell directly on the tire. Is that rubber smell NORMAL or is there something I should be looking at? I don't smell it from the rear since front does most of the braking.
I'm monitoring the tread on my tires as I drive it daily 60 miles a day.

 

I can't think of what in the brakes would cause a burning rubber smell.

I would look around the exhaust pipe - it passes from the driver's side to the passenger side right at the back of the engine. I CAN think of plenty of possibilities involving wires and plastic stuff coming in contact with that hot exhaust pipe and giving off a burning rubber smell. It's worth a few minutes of your time to check and make sure that nothing is hitting the exhaust and causing the odor.
I can tell you that I installed my economy aftermarket muffler at the wrong angle and had an issue with my e-brake cables coming in contact with the muffler and giving off that "burning rubber" smell. I ended up rigging up a hanger to pull it away and wrapped the cable in an exhaust wrap cloth tape around the contact spot - just in case. That seemed to solve the issue.

If you have wiring that's coming in contact, it can cause some real problems by grounding out on the pipe once the sheathing is melted away. As I understand it, the CPS wiring is prone to this sort of thing on older XJs.

 

so did you inspect the uprights for indentation ?

you can replace every part in the world and it wont make a snot of difference until that issue is fixed (if you have it)

 

I haven’t yet.

Idk if this is helpful but

Yesterday when my Jeep was pointed downward on a hill braking in traffic I smelled rubber. Possibility I have power steering fluid leak dropping on my coolant hose. Maybe that causes the smell?

i also kinda smelled it today when I got out of the Jeep to see after I drove an hour downtown to the parking deck. When I leave here I go home to check when I do I don’t smell it at all.

 

Another possibility that I want to point out from what I read online is could the burning rubber smell be from me needing an front end alignment? My Jeep pulls towards the right and it really shakes when I’m going 60mph.

I could’ve sworn I had more tread on my driver side than my passenger side. Now it looks like my passenger side has more tread than my driver side.

could driving like this be just enough heat to tires?

 

You could have more than one thing wrong, including fluid spilling on exhaust, worn front suspension parts etc

you can smell hot brakes by sniffing them..and lightly touching the caliper..NOT the disc

until such time as you have ruled out grooved steering knuckes, that would be the No1 suspect imo...takes but a few minutes to take a wheel off and look

 

1. Yes, tires can give off a burnt smell if they are getting hot enough (mis-aligned).
2. Yes, a stuck caliper and scorching hot rotor can give off a burning rubber smell - which varies depending on the material used in your particular brake pad choice (most likely)
3. You can also get a burning rubber smell if one of the inner axle seals is starting to degrade and melt down, though before long you would have axle gear oil puddling by one of the front tires to give you a clue this is happening (they are very small seals - so they cant melt long before failing)
4. You can also get a burning rubber smell if something is resisting your serpentine belt and it is slipping (normally makes noises screeches/squeaks, but doesn't necessarily have to)