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Jeep Wrangler YJ
YJ General Discussion
Need big brakes
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<blockquote data-quote="machoheadgames" data-source="post: 426410" data-attributes="member: 18789"><p>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. </p><p></p><p>Options:</p><p></p><p>1. 1995 4.0 Booster Swap - I did this one. I spent about $400 on a 95 4.0 master cylinder, booster, and some brake lines and fittings. Overall it made my pedal softer, not really more powerful though. I would say it was not worth the money or time at all. Not to mention that application (95, 4.0 only) is the only application that used those two parts. So they are pretty rare, and have been for a while and likely won't be around much longer. So if you do the swap and then have booster trouble later, you may have trouble finding the parts.</p><p></p><p>2. Vanco kit - Very good kit, makes the brakes basically perfect, the downside is that you're stuck on stock steering. If you have a relatively low lift and a drop pitman arm, no big deal. If you're lifted a bunch and hate the way it handles, the Vanco will make it harder to fix that. I did run the Vanco 15" kit for 4 years. Ran it with the 95 booster. In an effort to fix my steering for my 3.5" BDS lift, I ditched it for option 3.</p><p></p><p>3. WJ knuckles - this swap is NOT for the faint of heart. It is very expensive, has significant downfalls, and for me honestly has not been worth it at all. This setup you grab knuckles out of a Grand Cherokee WJ (1999-2004), weld spacers onto them to space the unit bearings out appropriately. The passenger knuckle has an arm to mount the drag link to. This fixes the steering to have no dead spot like the factory YJ steering linkage does. This setup also includes same size calipers as the Vanco kit and mounts those calipers in the 16" kit location. It also uses 12.01" rotors like the Vanco 16" kit does. So, it upgrades the brakes significantly. The problems I've had with it are that my lift is too low for the drag link angle to be proper, the WJ linkage blocks me from being able to run a sway bar, the brake setup requires 16" rims which really limits tire selection and C load range tires. I could go to 17's but I only want 33's long term, which is a ridiculous tire size to put on a 17" rim, especially because there are barely any load range c tires for 33/17's also. Lastly I no matter what I do, I can't get it to handle very well either. It has no dead spot which is lovely, but that does no good if it's still all over the road because I can't get it to steer smoothly and not be darty. I'm sort of thinking it's related to the factory Ackermann angle they built into the knuckles for the longer GC WJ wheelbase, but I'm not sure. </p><p></p><p>4. A cheaper alternative is black magic brake pads and new rotors from BMB. This is typically good enough to have enough stopping power to handle 33's and below. It's just a simple brake replacement, nothing too crazy.</p><p></p><p>Don't waste your time on drilled/slotted rotors or anything from the brand Power Stop. I played around with the cross drilled and slotted game and it was not worth it at all. There was no difference. I don't know your tire size but I bet the plain BMB pads and rotors are enough to set you up well. Call BMB and have a chat with Blaine. He will help you as much as he can and believe it or not will tell you not to buy his stuff if he doesn't think it suits your application. He is a genuine, good guy who likes to help others build their rigs and he knows an astounding amount of info about brakes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="machoheadgames, post: 426410, member: 18789"] 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. Options: 1. 1995 4.0 Booster Swap - I did this one. I spent about $400 on a 95 4.0 master cylinder, booster, and some brake lines and fittings. Overall it made my pedal softer, not really more powerful though. I would say it was not worth the money or time at all. Not to mention that application (95, 4.0 only) is the only application that used those two parts. So they are pretty rare, and have been for a while and likely won't be around much longer. So if you do the swap and then have booster trouble later, you may have trouble finding the parts. 2. Vanco kit - Very good kit, makes the brakes basically perfect, the downside is that you're stuck on stock steering. If you have a relatively low lift and a drop pitman arm, no big deal. If you're lifted a bunch and hate the way it handles, the Vanco will make it harder to fix that. I did run the Vanco 15" kit for 4 years. Ran it with the 95 booster. In an effort to fix my steering for my 3.5" BDS lift, I ditched it for option 3. 3. WJ knuckles - this swap is NOT for the faint of heart. It is very expensive, has significant downfalls, and for me honestly has not been worth it at all. This setup you grab knuckles out of a Grand Cherokee WJ (1999-2004), weld spacers onto them to space the unit bearings out appropriately. The passenger knuckle has an arm to mount the drag link to. This fixes the steering to have no dead spot like the factory YJ steering linkage does. This setup also includes same size calipers as the Vanco kit and mounts those calipers in the 16" kit location. It also uses 12.01" rotors like the Vanco 16" kit does. So, it upgrades the brakes significantly. The problems I've had with it are that my lift is too low for the drag link angle to be proper, the WJ linkage blocks me from being able to run a sway bar, the brake setup requires 16" rims which really limits tire selection and C load range tires. I could go to 17's but I only want 33's long term, which is a ridiculous tire size to put on a 17" rim, especially because there are barely any load range c tires for 33/17's also. Lastly I no matter what I do, I can't get it to handle very well either. It has no dead spot which is lovely, but that does no good if it's still all over the road because I can't get it to steer smoothly and not be darty. I'm sort of thinking it's related to the factory Ackermann angle they built into the knuckles for the longer GC WJ wheelbase, but I'm not sure. 4. A cheaper alternative is black magic brake pads and new rotors from BMB. This is typically good enough to have enough stopping power to handle 33's and below. It's just a simple brake replacement, nothing too crazy. Don't waste your time on drilled/slotted rotors or anything from the brand Power Stop. I played around with the cross drilled and slotted game and it was not worth it at all. There was no difference. I don't know your tire size but I bet the plain BMB pads and rotors are enough to set you up well. Call BMB and have a chat with Blaine. He will help you as much as he can and believe it or not will tell you not to buy his stuff if he doesn't think it suits your application. He is a genuine, good guy who likes to help others build their rigs and he knows an astounding amount of info about brakes. [/QUOTE]
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Jeep Wrangler YJ
YJ General Discussion
Need big brakes
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