TJ brakes ARE YJ brakes at the wheels. Starting with the 90 YJ they started the same design that carried onto the TJ. The differences on YJs are that a single diaphragm brake booster and cast iron MC were used 90-94 on 4.0s and 90-95 on 2.5s. The 95 4.0 received a dual diaphragm booster similar to a TJ but it was a different part.Are TJ front brakes interchangeable onto the YJ?
Don’t have a ton of options but some do exist. Depends on year though so you may wanna post that up before anybody lists solutions.Got 33's and need more stopping power. Can't find anything online for YJ's. Do I have to modify a later year model to get bigger rotors and calipers? Thank ye
What exactly does vanco make? Brake boosters? Would like bigger rotors and calipers but can't find any for the yj but if a brake booster would then I'm interestedTJ brakes ARE YJ brakes at the wheels. Starting with the 90 YJ they started the same design that carried onto the TJ. The differences on YJs are that a single diaphragm brake booster and cast iron MC were used 90-94 on 4.0s and 90-95 on 2.5s. The 95 4.0 received a dual diaphragm booster similar to a TJ but it was a different part.
Brakes at the wheels are all the same though from 90 and later. So Vanco is definitely an option, but that limits you to crappy stock YJ steering which gets worse and worse the higher you lift the suspension. Not an issue for a 2.5” lift with a drop pitman arm, but go much higher than that and it starts to handle really poorly real quick. Unfortunately we didn’t get the much better TJ steering.
It's a 94. Someone told me slotted and drilled rotors with ceramic pads would help. What you thinkDon’t have a ton of options but some do exist. Depends on year though so you may wanna post that up before anybody lists solutions.
Got it, this is good info as I wasn't aware.TJ brakes ARE YJ brakes at the wheels. Starting with the 90 YJ they started the same design that carried onto the TJ. The differences on YJs are that a single diaphragm brake booster and cast iron MC were used 90-94 on 4.0s and 90-95 on 2.5s. The 95 4.0 received a dual diaphragm booster similar to a TJ but it was a different part.
Brakes at the wheels are all the same though from 90 and later. So Vanco is definitely an option, but that limits you to crappy stock YJ steering which gets worse and worse the higher you lift the suspension. Not an issue for a 2.5” lift with a drop pitman arm, but go much higher than that and it starts to handle really poorly real quick. Unfortunately we didn’t get the much better TJ steering.
The Vanco kit sold mostly by Black Magic Brakes upgrades the brakes at the wheels to dual piston calipers and larger rotors, as well as very grippy pads that aren't too quick to grab. It basically gives you full control of your brakes. Kit comes with two steering knuckles, two rotors, two calipers, pads, and some hardware.What exactly does vanco make? Brake boosters? Would like bigger rotors and calipers but can't find any for the yj but if a brake booster would then I'm interested
Reason I asked about year is to determine what options you actually have. A 94 has a single diaphragm booster and a cast iron 1" bore master cylinder.It's a 94. Someone told me slotted and drilled rotors with ceramic pads would help. What you think
Got it, this is good info as I wasn't aware.
I had the 16" Vanco brake kit on my first TJ, and the 17" Vanco brake kit on my last TJ, and both provided outstanding braking performance.
The steering thing though, that's not good. I'm sure there are options for dealing with the steering, just not cheap I suspect?
That's the thing, there aren't really any good options. You can go to beefier stuff like 1-ton tie rod ends or whatever from RuffStuff/Barnes/etc., but they still all base off of the flawed inverted-t design that inherently has dead spot when the tie rod rolls to the limit. The only solution to fix the dead spot is to get the drag link as flat as possible (so mounting tie rod ends over the knuckle on higher lifted YJs), or keeping lift mild (2.5" or less) and using drop pitman arm. Or, on a tall lift doing OTK tie rod ends as well as using a pitman arm to keep that higher drag link flat still. Or like I mentioned above, the WJ swap.
For me, I decided I didn't want to go with 35's anymore nor the lift required to run them. I've decided 33's and a nice riding 2.5" OME suspension are the max this jeep will ever see. So, I am yanking the WJ setup, going back to stock steering + a drop pitman arm, and likely Vanco brakes again. because I hate the stock brake setup. at least in that setup though, it will ride nice, steer decently enough (still some dead spot but minor), and will brake well and overall be about as good as a YJ can possibly be in stock-ish form.
Crossover doesn’t have any dead spot, it’s just been really difficult for me to make the WJ crossover setup work properly on my YJ. It screeches the tires bad on tight turns and feels very darty on road.I don't blame you there one bit. Even running 35s properly on a TJ is a big deal in terms of the parts needed to make it work and work well.
I've seen a lot of issues with TJs and steering too, mostly because people assume that a crossover steering setup is better, then convert to one, only to have all sorts of issues like the dead-spot you mentioned. Of course with the TJ you can get the Currie Currectlync which is the factory Haltenberger steering design and works perfect on a stock width axle.
The Vanco brakes are a great option, and as far as Jeeps go, the best option.
I guess this just goes to show that the bigger you go, the more of a rabbit hole you go down, which I can attest to from personal experience. I think I had close to 40k into my last TJ build which didn't even include the cost of the vehicle itself.
Crossover doesn’t have any dead spot, it’s just been really difficult for me to make the WJ crossover setup work properly on my YJ. It screeches the tires bad on tight turns and feels very darty on road.
Inverted-T is the one with dead spot and factory is inverted-t. Factory had some dead spot even when brand new. Adding a track bar helped to mask it a bit which is one of the reasons Jeep added track bars to YJs contrary to the leaf sprung CJs that didn’t have them. Adding a lift and removing the track bar, there will be dead spot and the taller the lift, the worse it gets. . So it pretty much comes down to making stock work and accepting the dead spot it has (hopefully which you can minimize as much as possible but will still be there some)....or you can swap out for a whole different setup like I did with the WJ knuckles, which I couldn’t get to work right.
Me personally, a mild lift with a drop pitman arm will get the dead spot minimal enough that I think I’ll be able to live with it long term.
I drove on a 2.5” lift with stock pitman and no track bar for several years. It had noticeable dead spot and was still manageable although undesirable. I think a drop pitman arm will get it to good enough. Contrary to TJs, drop pitman arms are not bad guys on YJs.
I drove on a 2.5” lift with stock pitman and no track bar for several years. It had noticeable dead spot and was still manageable although undesirable. I think a drop pitman arm will get it to good enough. Contrary to TJs, drop pitman arms are not bad guys on YJs.
Virtually all the drop pitmans are the same length which I haven't measured but I believe is about 1.5-2" of drop. I have never understood why they label them the way they do, but I can promise you on a 3.5" lift, the drop pitman arm didn't get my steering even close to being back to stock. So I'd say it should be safe. I bought the Rubicon Express pitman arm. RE2500. Got it from Amazon. Lots of pitman arms aren't made of good enough material and then you torque the nut down, over time the splined hole stretches and moves upward on the steering gear box shaft. Then you end up with a loose nut which is very unsafe. Omix Ada and Crown Pitman arms are very big offenders of this issue. This is why i chose the more expensive RE option.Sorry to derail the convo from the brakes (i have the BMB rotors/pads and they work very well), but I have I'm curious what dropped pitman arm you plan on using? I have the 2.5" OME lift and most pitman arms I see are for 3"+ of lift. There is one that says 2.5"-6" but that's a huge range and makes me think the drop is very drastic for a 2.5" lift.