Big Brake Kit

[Kuhn]

I have an '02 Wrangler X with 33'' tires. There is a lot of added strain on the brakes obviously, and the disks need to be replaced. They only lasted about 20k miles. I'd like to replace them with some extremely large rotors mainly because this is my daily driver, and safety is a concern. I know that slotted and cross-drilled rotors, especially with pads that work best when slightly warm, are not ideal for off road situations... So what do you all suggest? What pads are best? And where could I purchase some huge rotors and everything needed to install them? Thanks

[Ray H]

Originally Posted by Kuhn

I have an '02 Wrangler X with 33'' tires. There is a lot of added strain on the brakes obviously, and the disks need to be replaced. They only lasted about 20k miles. I'd like to replace them with some extremely large rotors mainly because this is my daily driver, and safety is a concern. I know that slotted and cross-drilled rotors, especially with pads that work best when slightly warm, are not ideal for off road situations... So what do you all suggest? What pads are best? And where could I purchase some huge rotors and everything needed to install them? Thanks

Ive never seen a kit that includes bigger discs (that doesnt mean they dont exist though). The problem you run into with bigger discs is that they wont fit behind a 15 or 16 inch wheel.
Find a good quality pad and slotted rotors and do a disc brake swap on the rear and your brakes should be fine.
Slotted rotors arent too bad off road, what you want to avoid is drilled rotors because they get rocks and dirt caught in the holes.

EDIT I did a little bit of a search and came up with a kit from COBRA brakes. People are also putting WJ front brakes on. I dont know the specifics of these conversions though.

[Kuhn]

First of all... this is my 200th post.

With that being said... you are right about the small rim diameters for off road wheels. It wouldn't be practical for anybody to make a larger disk. I'm just concerned because the front brakes do something like 80-90% of the work... and they are the ones squealing right now. I'll find some slotted rotors, so I guess I just need to know where to get the best pads. And if anybody knows of a good place to purchase a rear disk conversion, please let me know. Thanks!

[Ray H]

Originally Posted by Kuhn

First of all... this is my 200th post.

With that being said... you are right about the small rim diameters for off road wheels. It wouldn't be practical for anybody to make a larger disk. I'm just concerned because the front brakes do something like 80-90% of the work... and they are the ones squealing right now. I'll find some slotted rotors, so I guess I just need to know where to get the best pads. And if anybody knows of a good place to purchase a rear disk conversion, please let me know. Thanks!

Most people are installing ZJ rear brakes. Its almost a bolt on. I think Teraflex has a kit for TJs also.

[Ray H]

Im building up a rear D44 axle for my XJ right now and am debating whether to go with rear discs or not. Youre right, most of the braking is done by the front so even if the rears were working at their full capacity, the braking improvement would still be small. If I do rear discs, the main reason will be for ease of mainentance over braking power.