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Jeep Wrangler YJ
YJ Build Threads & Member's Rides
My '94 Hunter Green “No Compromises" Build
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<blockquote data-quote="machoheadgames" data-source="post: 427669" data-attributes="member: 18789"><p>At Christmas time 2015, After 2.5 years of driving the YJ, I realized one thing. The brakes really sucked! I had replaced them in 2014 using some gimmicky drilled & slotted rotors with some Hawk pads (mentioned above). It didn’t stop any bit better than stock, and was still pretty scary overall. I wasn’t unaware of how poor the design was for our brakes from the factory. I did lots of research including reading lots of posts by mrblaine on the TJ forums. He is a brake expert for Jeeps and all his posts and some personal phone calls helped me learn just how it all worked. Eventually I realized my best option would be to install a Vanco Big Brake Kit. Since I had 31’s and only planned for 33’s at the time, I opted for the 15” kit.</p><p></p><p>At the same time, I also swapped my brake booster and master cylinder from those of a 95 4.0L YJ, which came with a dual diaphragm booster and a plastic reservoir master cylinder. I installed these first, and while they did make my pedal a bit softer, they didn’t really make the overall brake feel all that much better. I got the booster, master and some generic brake lines all from NAPA. I had to buy some Edelmann custom fittings to adapt the lines. If I were to do it over again, I would make my own lines and buy the proper brake tube nuts in order to look more like factory.</p><p></p><p>After my relative disappointment from the booster/master swap, Vanco install was next. This kit includes similar size calipers as stock, but they are a dual piston version and are mounted to a saddle. The kit included custom steering knuckles that are stronger than stock yet retain all the proper steering arm dimensions to retain stock steering aspects, and the kit also comes with Black Magic Brake pads and slightly larger than stock 11.25” rotors. The results of this upgrade are outstanding. The Jeep was always easy to stop from this point forward. The only issues is the strong brakes led me to figure out that Duratracs aren’t all that great in the rain. I found myself sliding a lot from the tires locking up very easily. It also didn’t help that I had 31” tires. 33’s or 35’s are probably better suited for the larger brakes. Overall though, the brakes were a huge upgrade and well worth the cost for the results. Some people respond to the price of the kit with the classic “I’ll just leave more following distance”, but that doesn’t always work. There is always the potential for someone to cut you off, kid run out in the street, etc and if you don’t have good brakes for those situations, you could end up in a really bad spot. If that happens, don’t let lawyers find out you have larger tires than stock.</p><p></p><p>Here is a pic of the kit on my Jeep, and some pics taken from the internet. </p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]116682[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]116683[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]116685[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="machoheadgames, post: 427669, member: 18789"] At Christmas time 2015, After 2.5 years of driving the YJ, I realized one thing. The brakes really sucked! I had replaced them in 2014 using some gimmicky drilled & slotted rotors with some Hawk pads (mentioned above). It didn’t stop any bit better than stock, and was still pretty scary overall. I wasn’t unaware of how poor the design was for our brakes from the factory. I did lots of research including reading lots of posts by mrblaine on the TJ forums. He is a brake expert for Jeeps and all his posts and some personal phone calls helped me learn just how it all worked. Eventually I realized my best option would be to install a Vanco Big Brake Kit. Since I had 31’s and only planned for 33’s at the time, I opted for the 15” kit. At the same time, I also swapped my brake booster and master cylinder from those of a 95 4.0L YJ, which came with a dual diaphragm booster and a plastic reservoir master cylinder. I installed these first, and while they did make my pedal a bit softer, they didn’t really make the overall brake feel all that much better. I got the booster, master and some generic brake lines all from NAPA. I had to buy some Edelmann custom fittings to adapt the lines. If I were to do it over again, I would make my own lines and buy the proper brake tube nuts in order to look more like factory. After my relative disappointment from the booster/master swap, Vanco install was next. This kit includes similar size calipers as stock, but they are a dual piston version and are mounted to a saddle. The kit included custom steering knuckles that are stronger than stock yet retain all the proper steering arm dimensions to retain stock steering aspects, and the kit also comes with Black Magic Brake pads and slightly larger than stock 11.25” rotors. The results of this upgrade are outstanding. The Jeep was always easy to stop from this point forward. The only issues is the strong brakes led me to figure out that Duratracs aren’t all that great in the rain. I found myself sliding a lot from the tires locking up very easily. It also didn’t help that I had 31” tires. 33’s or 35’s are probably better suited for the larger brakes. Overall though, the brakes were a huge upgrade and well worth the cost for the results. Some people respond to the price of the kit with the classic “I’ll just leave more following distance”, but that doesn’t always work. There is always the potential for someone to cut you off, kid run out in the street, etc and if you don’t have good brakes for those situations, you could end up in a really bad spot. If that happens, don’t let lawyers find out you have larger tires than stock. Here is a pic of the kit on my Jeep, and some pics taken from the internet. [ATTACH]116682[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]116683[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]116685[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]
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Jeep Wrangler YJ
YJ Build Threads & Member's Rides
My '94 Hunter Green “No Compromises" Build
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