89whiteXJ

Ok I have an 89 cherokee and like every stokc one the brakes suck. I was wondering without having to go all crazy and change alot of stuff how can I make them better? I have add a 6.5 lift and 33" tires. I have changed the pads and turned the rotors. When driving I have a real hard time stopping. Before my lift I had the same problem I have to pay attention and be ready way in advance. We have bleed the brakes too and still suck. Some Ideas would be great.
Thanks

93gc40

With 33" tire the only thing you can do is to "go all crazy and change alot of stuff", or go with smaller tires. I'd start looking at doing a rear disc swap.

89whiteXJ

I was hoping not to hear that. what is all involed in a rear swap.

lifted1994xj

You could pull the rear disc brakes off of a grand cherokee

89whiteXJ

Yeah but will it just unbolt and rebolt back on?

THIS MY 100th POST.

Abovetimberline

No they will not just bolt up,I am installing mine this weekend,the hardest part is drilling the backing plates of the grands to fit my bolt pattern.

4.3L XJ

I have 31" tiers and it stops on a dime. There is a great difference in pads and brake shoes these days. Some are soft and heat up and then fade, probably what you have. Others are hard and have to be warmed up first. The best to get are ceramic pads if you can find them. They don't fade when hot and don't grab. Right now, I am running NAPAs best. Not cheap, but good pads. If you have a lot of reddish residue on the wheels, you probably have the cheap soft pads and shoes.

89whiteXJ

I just bought new pads that are a carbon or something I can not remember. I could not find ceramic so I went with them they were the best Auto Zone offered. Could I have a problem somewhere else?

Abovetimberline

is your pedal hard or soft?

93gc40

You might search on using a WJ booster. Saw you LSD thread, you realy don't want to swap in a Grand Cherokee rear, especially D35. You can swap the brakes. you will need to get them from 93-95 to keep same bolt pattern.

Mr.JayDeeM

Or swap in a Liberty rear disc?

caged

my pedal was soft and spongy. same as you, i had to start slowing down way in advance.
what i did was went to a wrecker and grabbed a booster/master from a 99 cherokee for 25 bux.

the only problem i ran into, was the brake differential block was divorced on my 90 and the 99 was bolted to the booster, so i just unbolted it and bent the lines so i can hook up the front line, then had to get another line made up as it had a bubble flare on one end and a double flare on the other end. cost me 4 bux.

once hooked up, i bled the system to fill with new brake fluid and now i can stop on a dime with 36 inch tires and stock d44 rear drum brakes.

oh, i forgot. i had to drill out the booster rod and grind the end flat to hook up my brake light switch. very easy.

oh, and this is my 1000th post, hope it's not a waste, i was looking forward to this post. haha. (is this what changed my status to veteran? woot!)
cheers.

89whiteXJ

the pedal is hard like normal. If you were sitting still you would think they are normal they just dont have the power to stop me.

Will this booster add more pressure or something?

mike albo

Also dont forget bigger tires requir more pedal wich means more pressure.More pressure means that your stock rubber lines will expand.Look into some better lines that might help to.

nw-xj-scott

want better brakes? swap in a 96 Brake booster and Master cyl. the dual diaphram booster will be a huge upgrade!

want the best mix? do a 8.25 rear axle, with a disc brake swap. up grade the booster/master and then do drilled rotors with Hawk pads.