Went after work to get some gas and started to notice she was pulling right under braking. I stopped and all the tyres were up, but there was a little bit of a burning smell. I thought I might have left the hand brake on. Forgot to check the wheels for heat.

Got to the pump, there was smoke from the front left. I threw water on it and got a good cloud of steam. So I filled up, drove back very steadily back to work and got a lift home. Total distance ~9 miles.

I'm sure I'll need a new caliper rotor and pads. Will I have done any damage to the hub/bearings? I guess I may as well do the pads/rotor on the other side to keep them even.

What do the learned ones think?

 

Sounds like a caliper sticking. Myself I might just do Calipers and pads and see from there. The bearing is likely fine, and maybe even the rotor. You can feel a warped rotor pulsing. Sometimes not until it gets a little heated up. No point in canning good rotors, you will need new someday. My 02 is to get what I can out of what I have....

 

Hmm, there wasn't any of that warped rotor feel so you are very probably right.
Guess I'll go ahead and order, there doesn't seem to be much point waiting for it to fix itself!

 

Definitely symptoms of a stuck/frozen caliper. Throw a new/reman'd one on there with new pads. If the rotor looks blue-ish just replace it, they can only handle so much heat before warping.

 

If there is any surface scratches, pitting, excessive rust or other damage, just replace the rotors. They aren't expensive and you're already in there changing the pads.

 

Are the Crown calipers any good? I can't seem to find much else in England that isn't on back order

 

I think Crown is a decent brand, I know people use their replacement leaf springs. Any working caliper is worth it as this point so you can at least drive it. Even a used one would work temporarily as long as the slide pins move easily.

 

Thanks everyone, I'll get on with it

 

Another possibility is the flexible brake line is degrading inside and not allowing the pressure to fully release after the brake is released. GM pickups were bad about this, I had one with the exact symptoms you described and it was the line causing the issue.

 

I had to add, about 9000 posts ago is when I joined the forum over sticky calipers.

My rings had swollen after 20 something years. Often you can just clean one up to go. Here with my rings swollen I would have needed to wait time I didn't have to have the rubber rings shipped. Booger, that.

So I needed to turn over my OEM cores and spend real $ to buy after market remans with the rings I needed in them. Annoying that. If I had the time I could have just put new rings in mine.

 

Morat,all good advice.
I had the same thing happen with horrible results.
One of the most common reasons for sticking caliper after a bad caliper is corroded or divits in the knuckles or Cs.
Look at my photos for an example of what you need to clean. Do a search for detailed info.
When these calipers go the other may be soon to follow.
If it was my jeep I would do the following.
Replace both calipers,pads,rotors,flex lines & flush the fluid.
You will not have to worry about the front,& you can do the back in the future.

 

Sticking/dragging brakes create a distinct smell, now that you know that smell it will be easy to recognize in the future.
Here is a reference picture regarding the indentations that get worn into the ears/tabs of steering knuckle.

 

If I'm honest with myself, I'd noticed some hot smells coming off the Jeep over the last few weeks but I didn't pay them enough attention. I have a short commute to work so outside the shooting season the Jeep doesn't tend to do long trips.
Thanks for all the info everyone, much appreciated.