Two Chronic Issues With My TJ

JM_TJ

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 8, 2021
Messages
254
Location
London, England
I've got two issues with my TJ and it's driving me crazy. I've tried everything.

- Issue 1, It keeps veering to left and worsens when I brake. I'm on 16in steel wheels with KO2s and stock suspension. I've realigned it, bled the brakes, changed the rear brake shoes. The front brakes seem fine. Not sure what else it can be.

- Issue 2, when I park the car and pull up my e-brake, my brake lights sometimes stay on after I turn off the engine. If I pull up the brake pedal with my foot or lower the e-brake then pull it back up it will turn off the brake light. I've changed the light switch but that's not helped.

Any tips would be great!
 
Another bump...

But as for A, try removing your steering stabilizer. Some of them actually try to constantly expand, pushing on the steering in 1 direction. Another possibility is the axle is crooked to the Jeep. Tho this shouldn't pull. Another option is wheel bearings or ball joints on the way out, but again not really likely to pull that much. Triple check air pressure. And be sure the steering wheel is centered 100% when driving or that can screw with you too. Also check toe in. Confirm you have 1/8 to 1/16 inch. Mine wanted 1/16. Even at 1/8" it acted loose.
 
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- Issue 2, when I park the car and pull up my e-brake, my brake lights sometimes stay on after I turn off the engine. If I pull up the brake pedal with my foot or lower the e-brake then pull it back up it will turn off the brake light. I've changed the light switch but that's not helped.

Any tips would be great!
Push brake pedal down, use some small tip pliers to grab the plunger on the brake light switch and pull it out towards the brake pedal. It will ratchet out. Slowly release the brake pedal and it will push the plunger on the switch in to the correct depth to reliably turn the brake lights on and off.
 
I've got two issues with my TJ and it's driving me crazy. I've tried everything.

- Issue 1, It keeps veering to left and worsens when I brake. I'm on 16in steel wheels with KO2s and stock suspension. I've realigned it, bled the brakes, changed the rear brake shoes. The front brakes seem fine. Not sure what else it can be.

- Issue 2, when I park the car and pull up my e-brake, my brake lights sometimes stay on after I turn off the engine. If I pull up the brake pedal with my foot or lower the e-brake then pull it back up it will turn off the brake light. I've changed the light switch but that's not helped.

Any tips would be great!
Check your calipers in the front. I had the same issue, one of mine was frozen. Replaced both calipers and fixed issue
Take it out for a drive and feel if one is warmer than the issue. That would be a good indication
 
Also check the front side that it pulls to and make sure both brake pads are located correctly. It’s super easy for one to miss the upper locator and be rotated into the rotor and it will still allow the wheel to spin, just with drag. If that isn’t the issue I would check your unit bearing on that side and see if it’s dragging and in need of replacement. Last one I’m sure you have checked already which is making sure your brake fluid is topped off.
 
X2 on it might be the caliper. They used phenolic pistons in the calipers. Phenolic swells with moisture. Brake fluid likes moisture.

i went thru a similar thing with mine - when we got it it pulled to the right. I bled the brakes (fluid was brown), changed all the hoses (right/left front and at the rear differential) put new pads on the front. New rebuilt rear wheel cylinders, brand new master cylinder - In other words, an almost fully renewed brake system. Over all the years I’ve had disc brakes, I‘d never had a caliper hanging issue.
Still occasionally pulled right.
Went driving one day, started smelling brakes. Stopped at a light, smoke coming up from the right front, taking foot off the brake pedal, Jeep wouldn’t roll.
Punched the brake pedal a few times, it loosened up.
Got it home, researched and found rebuilt calipers with metal pistons. Put them on, no issues since In over 2 years.
 
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I've got two issues with my TJ and it's driving me crazy. I've tried everything.

- Issue 1, It keeps veering to left and worsens when I brake. I'm on 16in steel wheels with KO2s and stock suspension. I've realigned it, bled the brakes, changed the rear brake shoes. The front brakes seem fine. Not sure what else it can be.

- Issue 2, when I park the car and pull up my e-brake, my brake lights sometimes stay on after I turn off the engine. If I pull up the brake pedal with my foot or lower the e-brake then pull it back up it will turn off the brake light. I've changed the light switch but that's not helped.

Any tips would be great!
Issue 1: I see in your other post (other post) that your springs are sagging. Perhaps the left spring is worse off than the right spring causing the vehicle to "lean" to the left. When braking, the "lean" worsens. Perhaps someone with more suspension knowledge than I have can chime in on this possibly being the reason.

Hope the link worked, I have never tried this.
 
Issue 1: I see in your other post (other post) that your springs are sagging. Perhaps the left spring is worse off than the right spring causing the vehicle to "lean" to the left. When braking, the "lean" worsens. Perhaps someone with more suspension knowledge than I have can chime in on this possibly being the reason.

Hope the link worked, I have never tried this.
Thanks Roadrash, weirdly, it's sagging more on the right than on the left. Beats me.
 
A complete fluid change in the brake system can also improve brakes wanting to pull. It seems that the TJ is more susceptible than most to have calipers locking from dirty fluid. I don't know why this is, just that it seems a lot of brake problems get resolved with a complete flushing of the brakes.
When I bought mine they had installed new pads in all 4 wheels. Within 50ish miles I had 3 calipers locked up and the 4th dragging. Luckily this happened right in front of a well known shop. Had to drag it in and replace everything. Everything. I had gone through the brakes when I bought it so I know that it was all good, except for the cruddy fluid in the master. After the complete flush I saw what came out, and it was the nastiest fluid I have seen. Much worse than what the master cylinder fluid looked like.
 
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So here's an update. Spoiler alert, nothing has worked. I've done all the bits below and no luck. Taken it to my mechanic and neither of us can figure it out.

Alignment issue:
@Goatman Changed the steering damper
Checked the axel/frame to see if it's bent - all good
Checked the steering wheel position - all good
Checked ball joints - all good
@mynamesrickgrimes Checked front and rear brakes. Front were fine, rear were sticking. Replaced the shoes but problem still persists.
@MX952 Checked brake placement - all good.
@Goatman @MrMark52 Changed brake fluid - no luck
@Roadrash74 I'm hoping you're right. It's the next thing for us to try when my new suspension arrived. Fingers crossed.

Parking brake issue:
@mrblaine Tried that, no luck.


Thanks for the help so fair. Pulling my hair out with this! The Jeep is a dream to drive other than this pulling issue and the brake light is just straight up annoying!
 
mine was pulling to the left , changed the caliper and I thought that fixed it went on a road trip and was about 15 miles away and the pulling started again pulled over manually pushed the pads away from the rotor and drove home just using the ebrake ,found out that it was the soft brake line going to the caliper after swapping out both front brake lines problem hasn't returned, I didn't have to swap both lines but did so due to them being installed at the same time and I figured if one was bad the other was soon to follow . just my particular situation but I hope this helps
 
All four brakes began to drag on the highway after I stopped for a light. Had to add a bunch of throttle to get it moving when the light changed. The brakes backed off mostly but still dragged after driving a short distance. No pull either driving or braking. Pedal was very hard with little travel. Repeated at every stop till I got home. All four wheels very hot and brakes stunk. Don't know if tapping the master cylinder with a mallet helped but brakes backed off after sitting for a couple hours. Drove around for more than 10 miles and brakes worked fine. Pedal seemed to have more travel and a little spongy but car stopped without drama and dragging didn't return. The brakes had dragged before when the jeep sat for a couple months, happened twice. Forcefully pumping the pedal stopped the dragging and it didn't return till the Jeep sat again. Car has just been shipped to CA from HI , but brakes worked fine when it rolled off boat.

Do I have a bad master cylinder or is there some electronics that could cause the problem?? Doubt that it is bad flex lines as it affects all wheels evenly. Any ideas where I should start to find the problem.
 
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Collapsing lines as mentioned in post 13 can be an issue.

If a TJ pulls left when braking it gives you the sense you should inspect the left caliper, but rethink it - what it can mean is the right caliper is sticking as it applies pressure to the rotor and the left side is thus applying greater pressure as it is working as designed.

I have experienced that twice.
 
All four brakes began to drag on the highway after I stopped for a light. Had to add a bunch of throttle to get it moving when the light changed. The brakes backed off mostly but still dragged after driving a short distance. No pull either driving or braking. Pedal was very hard with little travel. Repeated at every stop till I got home. All four wheels very hot and brakes stunk. Don't know if tapping the master cylinder with a mallet helped but brakes backed off after sitting for a couple hours. Drove around for more than 10 miles and brakes worked fine. Pedal seemed to have more travel and a little spongy but car stopped without drama and dragging didn't return. The brakes had dragged before when the jeep sat for a couple months, happened twice. Forcefully pumping the pedal stopped the dragging and it didn't return till the Jeep sat again. Car has just been shipped to CA from HI , but brakes worked fine when it rolled off boat.

Do I have a bad master cylinder or is there some electronics that could cause the problem?? Doubt that it is bad flex lines as it affects all wheels evenly. Any ideas where I should start to find the problem.

One thing to check is the brake linkage under the dash. If it hasn't been greased it will dry out and bind a bit. I had this happen to my GC, the brakes would drag (pedal wouldn't fully return causing the brake booster to engage putting enough pressure on the brakes to cause a noticeable drag) and I had to pull the pedal back with my foot. Once lubed, all worked fine.