Wear on brake pad support(photo)

Thanks to this forum, I have been able to learn all sorts of useful information about Jeeps. I haven't seen this discussed yet though.

I am in the process of replacing the front brake rotors, pads and calipers on my 96 JGC Larado. I’ve found wear on the steering knuckle way bars that support the pads mainly where the piston side pads sit.

My conclusion as to the cause is that the tension of the spring that locates the pad to the caliper piston is placing down pressure on the surface. I plan on reducing the spring tension by bending the spring slightly when I install the new pads and calipers

I have no intension of replacing the steering knuckles as they are $350 each.

Has anyone seen this and do you have any ideas about how it might contribute to rotor or pad wear problems on the next set of brakes



http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v254/jdpascal/left_upper_pad_support2.jpg

It`s not the spring tension it`s normal wear. When you step on the brakes all the brake force is on those tabs.This is common and no cause for concern. Make sure you use premium brake pads not the $20 replacements as these will fail very Quickly. I use NAPA ceramix they are costly but are worth it. They are OEM replacements and lets face it OEM pads last the longest without going to an aftermarket like Wilwood.

Thanks for your reply Wheels4

I have the NAPA ceramix pads to install. I used them last time and got 40K out of them before the rotors warped and started the shakes on me.

The rotors were not scored and the pads were less than half worn. I would like to get full wear out of a set of pads. I am AR about rotating the tires and torquing the wheel nuts on my vehicles so I'm thinking that wheel torque is only a remote possibility for the rotor warp.

I am scratching my head over other possible factors that contributed to the warped rotor.

The reasons I concluded that the spring was the cause of the wear at that point are:

1. the wear is only on the inboard side of the rotor where the pad is next to caliper piston.

2. the wear is the same on the bottom pad support where there is much less braking activity.

3. both the left and the right side steering knuckles have the same wear pattern.

4. Wear on the pad support from brake applications would be tangent to the circumference of the rotor on the surface 90 degrees to the location of the wear shown. (there is a small amount of wear on the that surface too but is barely noticable when I run my finger over it)


What do y'all think?

JD

JD when you replaced the pads the last time did you have to cut or replace the rotors? Cheap rotors are like cheap pads they dont last very long. If you cut your rotors they might have been thin. The most common cause of rotors warping is heat thin rotors heat quicker. As for the wear marks I have the same wear marks on my Jeep and I`ve seen them countless number of times. You will be fine. Good Luck.

I've got the same wear on my Jeep and it causes a rattling sound as if something loose. Last time I replaced the brake pads they came with some shims. Those helped reduce the rattle for awhile and then the rattle came back.

I have also heard that the Jeep rotors are thin compared to other vehicles, and rotor warp is fairly common.

Back from a good weekend.

Ya, all rotors are thin anymore in my opinion. I haven't cut any rotors on the last 5 brake jobs I've done on my vehicles. only replaced. I always use the best quality I can get short of drilled & slotted.

I used the NAPA rotors last time on the Jeep and have them again this time.

I guess I'll run the pad supports the way they are too.


JD

NAPA also sells two different rotors for your truck.(at least they do here) One made in Canada and one made in china.You know which ones I use. Good Luck!

I suspect over a year after the initial discussion, no one will see this but...

The wear on the steering knuckles is normal, but it isn't something to neglect. The brake pads are operating within a smaller and smaller groove that they make on the knuckles. This causes the pads to operate improperly; hence, they wear out faster and likely also have warped your rotors.

Here in CA, steering knuckles are $306 from the dealer. I just got a pair for $145 each at Scotty's 4x4, but they didn't have a part number stamp so I don't know if they are factory.

The replacing the knuckles is something you can do in your driveway. The toughest part is separating the knuckle from the ball joints, but w/the right tools, one side can be done in less than 2 hours, start to cleaning hands.

The wear on the steering knuckles is normal and it does not matter which kind of brake pad you chose to install . I have repaired the caliper slides (usually on high mileage vehicles ) , by building up the worn area with a mig welder and grinding in flat to fit the new brake pads.