Brake Problems

Melosh (tennis pro)

Melosh (tennis pro)

New member
I have the dynatrac pro grip kit and stainless brake lines (that come with the stage 1 EVO 3” lift kit). A couple months after installing the brake kit, my calipers started not retracting. Intermittently at first but always seemed to happen with the rears.

Local shop replaced my rear pads and that seemed to help for awhile. Last week, I started smelling my brakes again after a short drive. I pulled over and the passenger rear was smoking. I ordered new rear calipers and installed them last weekend. Just got home from work and now my FRONT passenger is smoking hot.

My drive from work is a lot of stop and go but no way they should be that hot.

Any idea what I’m dealing with? Think I should change the front calipers as well?

Any advice?

Sorry so long, wanted to provide as much info as possibly to help with diagnosis?

Thx in advance!


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At any point, did you mess with your master cylinder or brake booster? It almost sounds like the pushrod between your MC and booster is too long.
 
Was your fluids really dirty? When the calipers won't retract, do they stay engaged where the wheel is seized up completely?
 
no, fluid looked pretty clean...sometimes they seize worse than others. When it’s really bad, I actually have to use the gas pedal to move the jeep vs just putting it in drive and letting it coast in gear if that makes sense


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When you say the fluid is clear do you mean the fluid in the reservoir or the fluid that came out when you bled them? Dragging rear brakes /sticky rear calipers are pretty common, replacing the brake pads when the pistons weren't retracting did absolutely nothing except pay for a brake job you probably didn't need and once the pistons worked their way back to the same spot they got stuck again. If you're sure that the fronts are dragging they likely need attention, starting with greasing the sh*t out of the slide pins. Then if it still does it its likely a dirty/stuck piston you can either take them apart and clean and rebuild or swap new ones on.
 
Snboarder, the fluid that came out when installing the calipers and, what I can see in the reservoir.

Ok so maybe replace the front calipers? I’ll probably end up doing that, it’s just weird that replacing the rear calipers “seemed” to just move the issue to the front.


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have you checked that the slider pins are not gunked up?

have you looked at the caliper pistons to make sure they don't have any buildup on them that would cause to them hang up?

living in a salt air area I imagine would cause faster corrosion or gunk buildup on calipers.

When I live in snow states the salt buildup on the calipers was an issue I dealt with after each winter.
 
thx bmk, just removed the fronts. Nothing looks to be in bad shape, everything smells burnt though.

I’m going to try to clean everything off as much as possible. I’m changing out the front pads.

I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile, the ones that come in the pro grip kit work great but produce way too much brake dust, for me.

Doubt it will help my issue (if it is the caliper) but I’ve been meaning to change these pads for awhile anyway. I’ll keep you posted.


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When you compress your caliper piston in, if it seems like it takes a lot of force using a good c clamp you probably need a new caliper.
 
I have the compressor tool, I just don’t really know how much it should take. I used it on both sides of the fronts...I didn’t notice much difference in the amount of force to compress either side


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If you still have your old rear calipers, can you pull the piston dust seal to see if the piston bore is corroded or has crap in there?
4E531DCA-FE26-43C4-AFDF-2CE0F3476573-1272-000001654D4A72B3.jpeg

I’d be curious if the fronts looks the same. If so, I’d replace both front calipers, but take a close look at the piston & bore first.


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just pulled the dust seals...not sure if this is significant but one came right out in one piece. The other (pretty sure it was the one that was not retracting) wouldn’t come out in one piece. I tried pulling it out with pliers and it broke apart instead of coming out in one piece like the other.


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