Help with Brakes on 99 WJ

[Myrtle Beach]

Alright, It's time to replace my front rotors for my Jeep. They are warped and are pulsating and shimmying when I apply the brakes. I have a couple of options and I need help deciding which one will work the best. Since my Jeep was built, they have redesigned the calipers to help prevent the rotors from warping. Here are my options

1. go with auto parts store rotors ($32 each) and ceramic pads $64 = $128

2. Go with slotted/drilled rotors for 169.99 + 40 S/H and ceramic pads = $274

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...me=STRK:MEWA:IT

This price is for a set of 4 rotors .

I am just unsure of the quality of the rotors???

3. TSB issued by Jeep to replace calipers and rotors with newly designed and improved calipers and rotors . Brake kit from Jeep $275-300.

I would like to spend as little as possible but if I will continue to have problems with 1 & 2 I would rather go ahead with option #3. I don't need pads but feel the ceramic pads will help prevent warping as they dissapate heat better. Any thoughts or comments??

[xj31]

I don't know what the best option is ,but I would really recomend not wasting your money on the brake kit from the dealer.It doesn't fix anything.The calipers are completely different but the rotors are exactly the same and they will pulsate after a while.Chrysler tried for 5 years to fix the problem and they couldn't do it.Where I work we see WJs come in every day with pulsating brakes and most of them have the new calipers.I have personally only put slotted rotors on 1 Jeep so I couldn't say for sure if that's a definite fix, but I'm thinking it has to be better than the factory parts.I usually don't like to slam Jeep( I have owned 6 and worked on them for a long time)but the factory brakes on WJs are complete garbage.

[dksob81]

well I deffiantely think getting the Slotted rotor will help, cuz the slottes help disepate Brake dust and heat, therefore less chances of warping. but the Ceramic pads would helps for braking but I dunno too much about them helping the warping issue. If I had the extra money I would deffiantely get both Slotted and drilled rotors, and Ceramic Pads.

I do not think u have to change the Calipers I don't c how they have enything to do with the warping. but I could be wrong.

[Myrtle Beach]

The calipers were redesigned from a 2 piston to a 4 piston for better pad coverage. The dealer claims this fixes the problem but I have talked to other Jeep owner who say warped rotors are still a problem.

[dksob81]

ahh ic, why don't they just go back to the Original 1 Cylinder Rotors, like on the ZJ's I've never heard of a warpign problem with mine,.... maybe there was and I never knew.

[dksob81]

sorry 1 piston calipers, I am sure that last comment I made, made no sense at all...lol

[xj31]

The calipers were 2 piston and so are the new ones.They are just made by someone else.Your dealer is just trying to sell you parts.Trust me ,the new calipers wont fix it.

[msrjeep]

guess what, the jeep is an SUV just like a lot of the other SUVs out there they have problems warping rotors. Just buy $20-30 vented rotors every 20-30k. problem solved. or buy $150 cross-drilled slotted vented chamfered and all that other BS that does NOTHING for your carbon-metallic or ceramic based pads. they don't vent like old asbestos, etc pads. all they do is crack and waste your money. they don't help you stop faster because you lose that much more surface area contact between the rotor and pad. they actually make it worse. drilled rotors are a joke and there's nothing you can do to stop them from cracking. just buy vented rotors, that's the only extra thing done to a rotor that dissipates heat. If you think your brakes don't work well enough there's only a few things that will make a difference. racing pads don't work as well until they heat up, that's their only advantage: they can take the heat of aggressive braking because they don't fade at as low of a temperature. don't waste your money. the only things that will help you stop quicker are #1 more piston surface area. i.e. bigger calipers, etc. #2 more hydraulic pressure to the calipers. #3 some pad material is better than others... try some different kinds and see how you like them.

[Cam7]

The slotted rotors look good but for the average driver they dont help all that much even with the carbon and ceramic pads.I put Bendix Rotors on 40,000 mi ago with no warping yet and that is with my Wife Driving and you know how they ride the brakes.

[drummerb86]

ok i bought my jeep about 3 months ago. The rotors were warped. I just took them all off and had them turned. Problem solved for now anyway, will prolly come back again soon. Cheap temp fix. And i left the old pads on there, they were almost new. Make sure not to tightin the nuts to much. Torque wrench would be best.

[Myrtle Beach]

drummer- that is a temporary fix (which it sounds like you already know) The problem with turning the rototrs is it actually makes them thinner. The thinner rotors will actually heat up quicker and warp faster than new ones.

[drummerb86]

I know, i just didnt feel like spend $150 for new rotors at the moment. When i can still get serveral more thousand miles out of these.

[drummerb86]

ill get back to yall to let you know how long they will last. So far ONLY like 300 miles and still great.

[msrjeep]

$150? you should be able to get a pair of rotors for your jeep for $40-60.

[drummerb86]

they are 36 bucks each times 4. = $144.00 (lifetime warrenty) if they warp i get free ones.

they do have some for like 19 each but if i do it i want the lifetime warrenty.