blueseasons

Back from my trip and back to reality. In reading the write-ups on this they say to remove the Teves calipers first before removing the bracket. Is there any reason I can't just remove the bracket, leaving the caliper on it. Will it come off as one piece or do I have to remove each separately?

dave1123

This may be a clue; I once bought loaded Teves calipers and they came assembled with the brackets.

4.3L XJ

I have removed both types as one piece. Separating them comes into play if you want to replace the pads

blueseasons

I thought I'd save some time and remove just the 2 bolts that hold the bracket on and remove the caliper and bracket at the same time. I have only done one side, but it took seconds to remove the caliper from the bracket. So not much time would be saved either way. Thanks though. The bummer for me is ,I removed the caliper and didn't disconnect the brake line. Now I have to struggle to hold the caliper steady, whilst I remove the brake hose. Tomorrows another day....

dave1123

I just remembered something I wanted to share. My mechanic has some spring clothespin type clamps that have rubber discs on their jaws. He clips them on a brake hose to stop the loss of fluid and prevent air from entering the system. It's like, why didn't I think of that?

blueseasons

I had seen that in one off the videos. Not knowing what caused the 17 year old Teves caliper to jam I plan on replacing the 17 year old brake hose as well. I read that the brake hose can collapse causing the caliper to clamp down. Its been several weeks since the caliper froze and it has been working fine. We were about 70 miles from home, at sunset, on a Friday when it happened on our way to see some music. My wife was losing it at the thought of being stranded So just to be thorough I m replacing everything again. If everything on this planet was built as good as my Chevrolet , the world would be a better place

Cherokee_Mike

The Teves calipers just seem to jam...common problem.
Good idea to replace the brake hoses at the same time given the age - I did that when I changed my calipers to Akebono.

dave1123

In any hydraulic system, if 2 cylinders have a common connection, the one with the least resistance will move first. If one is sticky, it may not always return completely. I don't remember because when I changed mine I wasn't paying attention, but I think the Akebono calipers have smaller diameter pistons, which will make them less likely to stick in their bores. When brake fluid pressure is released, the pistons move back only enough to relax the square-cut 0-rings to their normal shape. If rust and debris ***** the piston, it won't move back. Also, the Akebono calipers have less mass so they cool quicker.

Teves even changed to phenolic pistons to isolate the heat from the caliper body, which didn't work either.

blueseasons

Surprise, surprise, surprise When I took apart the driver's side I found that one bolt holding the Teves caliper to the bracket had corse threads the other had fine threads. The passenger side had 2 fine thread bolts.. It appears that at one time somebody retapped the threads on one hole on the bracket and put in the wrong bolt. Is it just coincidence that the side with the mismatched bolts is the one that froze up? The Akebono calipers use the fine thread bolts. My problem is the bolt I need is a Dealer or wrecking yards only part..It was produced for just the WJ series.
I can't determine if this was the way it was when I bought the Jeep 3 years ago or if the local mechanic that did my brake job last year did it, or saw it and didn't say anything to me and just put it back together the way they found it.
I did notice that the bolts on the drivers' side broke free fairly easy compared to the passenger's side. I needed a cheat pipe for those and it was still a struggle.
So I am stuck and very discouraged. What do you all think?

blueseasons

Surprise, surprise, surprise When I took apart the driver's side I found that one bolt holding the Teves caliper to the bracket had corse threads the other had fine threads. The passenger side had 2 fine thread bolts.. It appears that at one time somebody retapped the threads on one hole on the bracket and put in the wrong bolt. Is it just coincidence that the side with the mismatched bolts is the one that froze up? The Akebono calipers use the fine thread bolts. My problem is the bolt I need is a Dealer or wrecking yards only part..It was produced for just the WJ series.
I can't determine if this was the way it was when I bought the Jeep 3 years ago or if the local mechanic that did my brake job last year did it, or saw it and didn't say anything to me and just put it back together the way they found it.
I did notice that the bolts on the drivers' side broke free fairly easy compared to the passenger's side. I needed a cheat pipe for those and it was still a struggle.
So I am stuck and very discouraged. What do you all think?
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blueseasons

Surprise, surprise, surprise When I took apart the driver's side I found that one bolt holding the Teves caliper to the bracket had corse threads the other had fine threads. The passenger side had 2 fine thread bolts.. It appears that at one time somebody retapped the threads on one hole on the bracket and put in the wrong bolt. Is it just coincidence that the side with the mismatched bolts is the one that froze up? The Akebono calipers use the fine thread bolts. My problem is the bolt I need is a Dealer or wrecking yards only part..It was produced for just the WJ series.
I can't determine if this was the way it was when I bought the Jeep 3 years ago or if the local mechanic that did my brake job last year did it, or saw it and didn't say anything to me and just put it back together the way they found it.
I did notice that the bolts on the drivers' side broke free fairly easy compared to the passenger's side. I needed a cheat pipe for those and it was still a struggle.
So I am stuck and very discouraged. What do you all think?

dave1123

Are you talking about the caliper slide pins? If that one wasn't tapped straight, that could be a problem. It also must have been Heli-coiled. I believe the bracket bolts are threaded into the knuckle and are just grade 8 bolts. Just for info, those special 12-point hub bolts can be replaced with grade 8 truss-head hex bolts from an industrial supply house.

blueseasons

Not the slide pins. The 2 bolts that hold the bracket to the knuckle. Sorry about the multiple posts. Not sure how that happened.

dave1123

Well if one of those wasn't tapped straight, it wouldn't cause a misalignment of the caliper because they hold the bracket tight against the knuckle. I'm pretty sure the knuckles are forged steel, not cast.

Fine thread will hold better against loosening from vibration, but course thread is stronger against stripping.

However, if either threaded bolt is stripped out, you can't just run a tap thru it and get any usable thread. They are the same overall size so they must be heli-coiled to return them to the same size or tapped to the next larger size.

blueseasons

The good news is the dealer still carries them. I asked and paid for 2 and they gave me 4... I ordered them late yesterday afternoon and they were here this morning. I finished up the job today and the brakes work great. My question is really a chicken and egg situation. Was this done by a previous owner and the place that did the brakes last year just didn't bring it to my attention? Or did they miss place the stock bolt and rather than wait for one to come from the dealer recut the threads for a bolt they had on hand to save time thinking I would never know the difference?