Brakes are not working

jamtay317

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Joined
Jul 28, 2020
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9
Location
Noblesville, IN
Hello! I am new here so if I am not doing something correct please let me know and I will do it differently next time.

We have a 2006 Tj Rubicon that has a 6" long arm lift and a 2" body lift. It also has 37" mud grapplers on it and some other modifications. We are having a problem that we cannot stop when we're on a hill in the trail nor can we lock the brakes on the road.

I have changed the brakes to the Power Stop Big Brake Kit, and I also read on a forum somewhere that I should change the master cylinder to a Dodge Ram 2500 master cylinder and I have done that. I will say that the peddle is probably the tightest peddle that I've ever felt and I fell that adding the new master cylinder did help some, however, we still cannot stop on a steep hill nor lock the brakes up, on the road.

So on to my question, I am thinking about changing front brake lines to 1/4 brake lines from 3/16, however, that is a lot of work and I was wondering if anyone thinks this will help?

Thanks in advance for the advice!
 
It takes a lot to brake 37" tires. You may need to go to rotors with more pistons to help increase braking force. Hopefully MrBlaine will post here. He probably knows more about the TJ brake system than any other person alive today so do whatever he says and you will be happy.
 
You did the big brake conversion on both the front and rear discs... ?
Did you break in the pads and rotors properly ?
MR.BLAINE is definitely the person to talk to ...
 
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Hello! I am new here so if I am not doing something correct please let me know and I will do it differently next time.

We have a 2006 Tj Rubicon that has a 6" long arm lift and a 2" body lift. It also has 37" mud grapplers on it and some other modifications. We are having a problem that we cannot stop when we're on a hill in the trail nor can we lock the brakes on the road.

I have changed the brakes to the Power Stop Big Brake Kit, and I also read on a forum somewhere that I should change the master cylinder to a Dodge Ram 2500 master cylinder and I have done that. I will say that the peddle is probably the tightest peddle that I've ever felt and I fell that adding the new master cylinder did help some, however, we still cannot stop on a steep hill nor lock the brakes up, on the road.

So on to my question, I am thinking about changing front brake lines to 1/4 brake lines from 3/16, however, that is a lot of work and I was wondering if anyone thinks this will help?

Thanks in advance for the advice!
Power Stop does not offer a big brake kit that I'm aware of. They do sell some pretty red calipers, marginal brake pads, and non smooth face rotors. The best thing they have going for them is looks and marketing. Power Stop, who doesn't want that? Unfortunately it takes more than a cool name and some powder coating to make your tires behave.

The gent who posted up that Dodge master bullshit 15 years ago needs to be kicked squarely in the nuts every time someone gets suckered into doing it. Basic hydraulic rules dictate without exception that if you increase the bore size of the master, for the same pedal input force, you will reduce the pressure into the caliper by the exact percentage of the change. Most of the Dodge masters used for this crap are a 1.25" bore which is just about 50% larger surface area due to the nature of circles than the stock 1" bore. That means you have a high hard pedal and a 50% reduction of pressure into the caliper when you push with the amount of force. If you used both feet on the pedal and pushed as hard as you could before, now you get to do the same and the calipers have 50% less clamping force. Hell of an upgrade, eh?

Also due to the nature of hydraulics and piston movement, changing the line diameter will do exactly nothing. Pressure is the exact same in the system and the fluid movement is so small that there will be zero change in caliper function if the lines are 3/16" in diameter or 3" in diameter.

Your tires are too big for your brakes. You need smaller tires or bigger brakes that actually work.
 
There is not any amount of breaking in that will fix his current problem.

Knowing what you recommend in your kits; I thought the bedding in might help his problem...
Reading your response about the components used in the PowerStop kit; I see that my recommendation would not help his problem.
Thanks for clarifying what the problems are...
 
Knowing what you recommend in your kits; I thought the bedding in might help his problem...
Reading your response about the components used in the PowerStop kit; I see that my recommendation would not help his problem.
Thanks for clarifying what the problems are...
The problem with blanket bedding in procedures is that can ruin a high dollar set of pads. If you use my procedure with any of the top end EBC pads, you can take them off and throw them in the trash when you are done because you won't get them back.
 
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The problem with blanket bedding in procedures is that can ruin a high dollar set of pads. If you use my procedure with any of the top end EBC pads, you can take them off and throw them in the trash when you are done because you won't get them back.

That's why your pads are magic... (y)
 
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@mrblane so it's to my understanding from what you said here, that I should put the old MC on and buy bigger brakes? That said, what brake set do you recommend?
 
@mrblane so it's to my understanding from what you said here, that I should put the old MC on and buy bigger brakes? That said, what brake set do you recommend?
I didn't say to put the old master back on. Whether or not you need to do that will depend on what size caliper is in the larger brake kit if you go that route. If the piston surface area is similar to stock, then yes, the 1" bore is appropriate. If the piston bore area is larger than stock by an appreciable amount then you will need a master with the appropriate sized bore to get pedal feel back without losing too much pressure into the caliper.
 
The kits are sold by the smallest rim they most often fit. So a 17" kit will fit most 17" rims and almost anything larger, especially 20" rims (unless maybe they have ridiculous backspacing).

Personally, I would stick with 17" rims, as the additional sidewall height can offer some benefits.

I can attest to the quality of his kits. I have the Super 16 BBK, which is a 17" kit with a smaller diameter rotor and matching knuckle. It is probably overkill for my 35s, but it performs very well.
 
The gent who posted up that Dodge master bullshit 15 years ago needs to be kicked squarely in the nuts every time someone gets suckered into doing it.

Jesus fucking Christ milk shot out of my nose when I read that as I'm eating my cereal

Fortunately it's homemade cashew milk, but still

Thanks
 
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