Hey guys,
99 Cherokee Classic with 123k miles. Upon moderate-heavy braking, I get this metal-like grinding sound that I think is coming from the front end. Anybody ever have this issue? Rear drums are two months old, fronts have plenty of life still. When I brake lightly, the sound is not there. Braking power is not affected.

 

Your wheel wells might be rubbing depending on the body roll.

 

cheap aftermarket brake pads!

 

x2

i had a cheap set in an old rover sd1, threw them away as noise was awfull.

 

Was this while driving straight or turning? Have you changed any of the parts recently such as tie-rod?

How old are the brakes/rotors? I assume this is a stock D30?

See if we can help you some more.

 

I'm telling you it's your front pads. I see it all the time. Customers bring there cars in complaining about brake noise and have aftermarket pads, cheap ones at that! Go get dealer pads. Noise will go away

 

I agree it's the pads

 

It's while driving straight, like for example, if I'm coming to a stop at a stoplight, initially I press the brakes down a bit and get no noise, then as I press down more to come to a complete stop it makes the noise...or if I am moving and slam on the brakes it does it too, which I tried earlier. Front brakes were changed out by previous owner just before I bought the XJ (August 2011.) I believe that he changed them, as they look to have life on them, but as far as the quality of the pads, I'm unsure. I'll look into changing them out and hopefully the problem goes away. Tie-rods havent been changed by me, it's a stock D30.

 

Ya I'm going to look into changing them out with some good ones, hopefully that fixes the problem

 

I would go with pads as well based on your description. Good luck!

 

My guess is that your rotors are possibly pitted, and the sharp edge of each of the pits is making noise as it comes into contact with the brake pad.

I had this god awful grinding noise with my old car when I'd get on the brakes hard, but I never felt any vibration or anything out of the ordinary, and braking ability wasn't hindered.

Took the rotors off, sure enough, pitted all to hell. Replaced them and the pads, never had another problem.

Take a close look at both sides of each of your rotors.