As always, you guys are awesome, and are the reason I'm doing this work.
Minor update: rear setup -
I have been in contact with Dana in an effort to simplify details for the rear calipers. One of the hurdles has been matching a rotor that keeps the same inner parking brake drum diameter and offset relative to the wheel flange. BIG challenge. But, I think I've figured it out. Instead of looking for an upgraded caliper and rotor that matches the existing brake backing plate (the piece with the parking brake mechanism, dust shield, springs, and caliper mounting holes), what if we replaced the entire backing plate?? What I found out is that the 4 bolt flange that is welded to the end of the Dana 44 (rear) axle tube is used for alot of different vehicles. The bolt pattern is unchanged. (for the 4-bolt hold-down plate that holds your axle in and bolts thru the flange) What this means is that I can locate a completely different brake backing plate and still have it bolt up to our axles. Then, you simply use the rotor and caliper that
that particular brake backing plate originally was mated to. Then I don't have to go thru the hassle of locating a rear rotor with a compatible parking brake drum diameter to keep our JK parking brakes.
Does that make sense? It's 1:30am here so I'm a little tired...my explanation may suffer a bit
On a separate note: brake pads. I have selected the recently released
EBC Extra Duty pads. Why?? It gets technical, but as I mentioned a way back in this thread, I was looking for the highest COLD MU (coefficient of friction). This particular pad has a mu of around 0.54 when COLD, and it actually RISES as it warms! This is a quality usually found in race pads...not street / truck / suv pads. Our factory pads are around 0.37 cold, so this is a 50% increase in brake torque, at least by numbers. This is phenomenal. This is like going from our OEM 12" rotor to an (impossible) 18" rotor as far as the brake torque calculations.
There has to be a down side, right?? Well, they are a little dusty, but
it's a Jeep, so please, please don't pass this brake increase by because you are worried about your wheels being spotless! Second is price. The technology in this pad is impressive, but you have to pay for it. Looks like a
ballpark of $150 for the fronts and $120 for the rears.
I would like to post the EBC part numbers for this pad for
STOCK JEEP JK BRAKE CALIPERS:
Front: ED91798
Rear: ED91799
So, for those of you who do not wish to ever do a caliper and rotor upgrade, you can still benefit greatly from a pad like this. As far as the numbers show, it should be a huge upgrade.
Now please keep in mind that even I do not yet have my hands on a set of these. I've been in contact with EBC just as an interested consumer and they have been very, very helpful with sharing details of this pad. I reiterate that I have no personal experience yet with this pad, however, based on the research I've done, at this time it appears to be by far the best choice for what my goals of this project are. Right now, this pad is shipping, but just barely, so it will be a few weeks before you see it hit shelves.
Hope this helps a bit. Thanks again to all that are offering their assistance...I'm sure I'll be hitting you up soon! Thanks for reading and listening. I hope this research does some good. Caliper updates soon.