No Brake Pad Pressure After Lift Installation

tonytony9

tonytony9

New member
I am currently off at school right now so unfortunately I am relaying information from my mom and my memory into this thread. I recently installed a rough country 2.5inch lift onto my 2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X (around 124,000 miles on it) and I myself and my mom noticed an issue with the brake pedal pressure.

My mom took my jeep to get the Christmas tree yesterday and on the way back she noticed at a certain point she had to push the brake pedal all the way to the floor to get the car to stop. She even said she had to push it all the way to get it to stop at very slow speeds. Thinking back I remember noticing something similar to this during my thanksgiving break two weeks ago (when I installed the lift). I remember coming in to a turn and when I put a slight amount of pressure of the pedal it went in very easily instead of steadily. Luckily I was at my destination and after letting the jeep sit for a few hours it seemed fine on the way back. I am almost positive this was the day before I installed the lift. I believe I remember noticing somewhat similar issues after install the lift as well periodically while driving it during that break.

Here are some of the things which I have recently done to the jeep which I think may have something to do with it. Around six months ago I dissembled the brake pedal in order to take the driver side speaker out. I believe I remember something similar with the brake pedal pressure after I did this though not occurring often at all.

About 3,000 miles ago the back brakes were done professionally by a very trust worthy shop.

Is there any feedback anyone can give me before I am forced to have the jeep towed to my local shop and have the problem looked at. I am really trying to avoid having to pay for a tow and other pointless expenses.

I do not know when the last time the brakes were bled (I am the second owner of this jeep and do not have those records from the previous owner, bought the car at about 105 and have put close to 20k miles on it). Would that have been done when my back brakes were done?
 
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tonytony9 said:
Original post. Long technical story.
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First check that fluid level is full. Then I would re-look at the brake pedal. Make sure when pressing the pedal that all linkage is connected and moving properly. Then I would check all the brake hoses by the wheels and look for tears and signs of rubbing. That's where I would start.
 
tonytony9 said:
I do not know when the last time the brakes were bled (I am the second owner of this jeep and do not have those records from the previous owner, bought the car at about 105 and have put close to 20k miles on it). Would that have been done when my back brakes were done?
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You shouldn't ever have to bleed the brakes unless the fluid gets low enough to get air into the master cylinder, the system is opened up allowing air in, or you have a brake fluid leak. The only time I've bled brakes after a brake job is if I am concerned that air got into the system, the shop shouldn't have had to do this. If air did get it, you would have noticed it right away after getting the Jeep back.
 
sound like you may have a slow leak, as mentioned, check the fluid level, then check the hoses and bleed screws for signs of leaking fluid, depending on your type of hose the tubing will look shiny or darker, area around the bleed screws may have excess gunk build up or the surface around will look wet
 
Ended up bringing my jeep to the shop and my mechanic got back to me today. Apparently the front left brake line bursted. Not sure why this happened, he mentioned something about maybe my tire hitting the brake line or the fact that the brake line was rubbing directly against the frame.

Has anyone else had this problem when they installed a lift? Pretty upset about this because I will now be spending more than $500 for him to install brand new longer brake lines and I could have just used that money to get a really high quality lift.
 
tonytony9 said:
Ended up bringing my jeep to the shop and my mechanic got back to me today. Apparently the front left brake line bursted. Not sure why this happened, he mentioned something about maybe my tire hitting the brake line or the fact that the brake line was rubbing directly against the frame.

Has anyone else had this problem when they installed a lift? Pretty upset about this because I will now be spending more than $500 for him to install brand new longer brake lines and I could have just used that money to get a really high quality lift.
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It's very possible to do that when lifting a vehicle. Any time when doing a lift kit, you have to make sure brake lines are routed correctly and that they won't be torn when the wheel drops. When a vehicle is lifted, you have increased the distance between the frame and the axle so if brake lines aren't extended or re-routed, they can tear/burst/rub etc.
 
it's not uncommon for tires to rub the brake lines after a lift and bigger tires, that's why it's recommended to go to a stainless steel braided line. if you had the stock brake lines the rubbing would very easily thin the outer brakeline wall enough for it to burst.
most the rubbing occurs when turning while backing up so when you get your Jeep back you need someone to slowly reverse while turning the wheel full locked into one direction at a time and slowly back up so you can see if it's rubbing the brake lines.
if you have rubbing, using a zip tie to move them out of the tire's path
 
WJCO said:
It's very possible to do that when lifting a vehicle. Any time when doing a lift kit, you have to make sure brake lines are routed correctly and that they won't be torn when the wheel drops. When a vehicle is lifted, you have increased the distance between the frame and the axle so if brake lines aren't extended or re-routed, they can tear/burst/rub etc.
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Yeah unfortunate that it happened but guess we learn from our mistakes.
 
jeeeep said:
it's not uncommon for tires to rub the brake lines after a lift and bigger tires, that's why it's recommended to go to a stainless steel braided line. if you had the stock brake lines the rubbing would very easily thin the outer brakeline wall enough for it to burst.
most the rubbing occurs when turning while backing up so when you get your Jeep back you need someone to slowly reverse while turning the wheel full locked into one direction at a time and slowly back up so you can see if it's rubbing the brake lines.
if you have rubbing, using a zip tie to move them out of the tire's path
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I will definitely check this when I am back from school and make sure the new brake lines my mechanic installs today or tomorrow are not rubbed by the tire when I reverse/turn the tire. I know my tire was rubbing for a long time before I put the lift on so it may have been thinned out and then the lift just pushed it over the top.

I know my mechanic said he would have to think up a solution, anything I can recommend to him? Do you recommend I switch to stainless steel braided lines since I believe he has to replace all of them anyways (or the one forget what he said).
 
tonytony9 said:
Yeah unfortunate that it happened but guess we learn from our mistakes.
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Agreed. I've done it myself. One of the first lift kits I installed required loosening the brake line from the frame on a Chevy. I was a young kid out of college working at a suspension shop. I ignored that step as I was able to install the components without removing the brake line. Little did I know it was suppose to be left loose on purpose and not re-fastened to the frame. It was supposed to be lengthened a few inches to avoid stretching and breaking. Luckily it broke on me during the test drive and not when released to the customer. It happens to us all. And hopefully we do learn from the mistakes.
 
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