JKU brake advice needed

[WVJeep304]

So I swapped out pads & rotors on the fiancé's 2016 JKU last week after it was shuddering and pulling to the right. We were also smelling hot brakes coming from the driver side front. (Passenger front pads were badly worn and uneven, driver front were less worn but needed replaced) With the new pads and rotors on, the shuddering stopped, but it still pulled right and had the hot brake smell from driver side front.

So, yesterday I put new mopar brake hoses on the front. Upon a short (2mile) test drive, everything seemed perfect. My ol' lady drove it to work and said it was great. Then, as she pulled in this morning, she said it pulled hard right again and she smelled "that burning smell" again.

I'm guessing I need to replace the front calipers, and I'll also go ahead and flush the brake fluid really well. Problem is, I'm not sure what calipers to go for. There seem to be NUMEROUS new & remanned options. I initially looked into just rebuilding them, but between not knowing which rebuild kit to go for and the kit costing almost as much as a new caliper, I figured a new caliper is the smarter move.

Any brand in particular to stay away from? I don't want junk, but have to be budget conscious as well... We've absolutely hemorrhaged money the last 6 weeks or so and money is tight at the moment. I'm looking at Rock Auto's options in an effort to save some money, but if there's a smarter move, I'm all ears.

 

[Chris]

I'd just go with one of the premium brands on Rockauto, personally. Sounds like it needs new calipers to me though.

If you can find something from Centric or Bosch I usually go with either of those.

 

[WVJeep304]

I'd just go with one of the premium brands on Rockauto, personally. Sounds like it needs new calipers to me though.

If you can find something from Centric or Bosch I usually go with either of those.

Centric is what I was actually eyeballing, but Rock Auto shows they only have one left (maybe of each side.. I don't recall) and I'm hesitant to order and find out they're out of stock and have to deal with a situation like I just went through with Quadratec. I may look around and see if I can find the Centrics anywhere else for a comparable price.

 

[Chris]

Centric is what I was actually eyeballing, but Rock Auto shows they only have one left (maybe of each side.. I don't recall) and I'm hesitant to order and find out they're out of stock and have to deal with a situation like I just went through with Quadratec. I may look around and see if I can find the Centrics anywhere else for a comparable price.

Centric seems to be a pretty trustworthy brand. That's what I've gone with for all the brakes on all my other vehicles and I've yet to have an issue.

I've also used a lot of Bosch parts but those were just rotors and pads.

 

[macleanflood]

I put whatever O'Reilly's handed me for calipers, rotors and pads for my wife's 13 JKU. Zero issues.

-Mac

 

[WVJeep304]

I got the Centric calipers ordered from RA. One will be here Wednesday, one Friday. So looks like it is a project for next weekend. So now, I have the pleasure of swapping calipers on this JKU, and then doing plugs and a oil cooler swap on a different JK immediately after. Shall be a fun weekend.

 

[macleanflood]

Have you done the oil cooler yet?

You don't know fun until you've done that five times.

-Mac

 

[WVJeep304]

Oh yeah, a few times. I'm somewhat of a pro at this point. Most recently was on the fiancé's JKU in March. Which I did twice in 12hrs because I thought something was leaking (it was... But it was the filter cap o-ring ) The one I'm doing next week is on my dad's girlfriend's JK. It's highway robbery what shops around here charge for the job, so I told them to just drive an hour to my place and drop it off. I'm starting to think I need to open a Jeep customizing and repair shop in my garage at this point, as that's just about a weekly thing out there now.