My '97 has always had loud brakes. The fronts grind badly when I have to get on them hard. I chalked it up to needing new pads & rotors. No metal on metal sound, just grinding. There's no evidence of any gouging on the rotors.

Well, I just replaced the hubs, rotors, calipers, and pads, and they still make the same noise! And they don't stop any better.

(I did the rears a year ago.)

I have never heard this on another Cherokee.

Any ideas?

 

When you replaced did you check the pad slide areas on the knuckle? Sometimes grooves get worn into the slides where the pads ride. Usually this results in sticking pads/calipers, but may account for your grinding/chatter on hard braking...easy to fix, just fill in the divots with weld and grind smooth. Only thing I got, seeing as you already replaced the usual suspects.

Pics for reference

 

Whos pads did you buy ?

 

Hmmm. Didn't touch the pad slides. I'll have to pull the wheel off and take a look.

As to the pads... I don't remember! I bought them a year ago. I'll have to go back and look. They were performance pads of some kind, recommended by a few here.