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Brakes?

rickinAZ

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Up until now, the only Wranglers I've owned have been the lighter 2-doors. This time I think that I'm as heavy as possible: 4-doors, diesel, steel bumpers, heavy ACE rock rails, oversize tires. The braking really feels like it's struggling against the heft. Has anyone else noticed? Does Jeep differentiate in its brakes in a product line that varies in weight by at least 1,000 pounds: between a 2-door Sport and a 4-door diesel? Do they all have the same brakes?
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AZ-Chris

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I'm no expert on this, but I believe that the Rubicon models have larger/better brakes than non-Rubicons.
 

limeade

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I'm no expert on this, but I believe that the Rubicon models have larger/better brakes than non-Rubicons.
Yes, all Rubicon's have the "big" brakes, as well as the Sahara's. Not sure, but I think the Willy's might have the big brakes too.

I bled the brakes in my 2018 JLUR after 15k miles due to a spongy pedal feel and there was a lot of air in the lines. The pedal pressure seemed to improve, but I'm not overly impressed with the initial bite of the Rubicon brakes. The pads seem to last quite a long time though. I am planning on swapping my brake pads and rotors out for either the Powerstop Z36 kit or the Hawk kit sometime in the near future.
 

AZ-Chris

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I'd be interested to know the specific differences between the Rubicon/Sahara brakes and the standard Sport.

As far a brake performance is concerned, I've owned several Ford/Lincoln products over the years, and aside from my 2014 Ford Focus Electric, all have had spongy brakes . . . the Wrangler Rubicon has fantastic brake feel in comparison.
 

Jeff

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Rubicon has the HD big brakes - Front 330x28mm vented rotors with 51mm 2 piston calipers and on the Rear 342x14mm solid rotors with 48mm single piston. Heavy Duty pads on both. Having just returned from a trip to the North Carolina Highlands, I think the brakes worked well.
 

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rickinAZ

rickinAZ

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Rubicon has the HD big brakes - Front 330x28mm vented rotors with 51mm 2 piston calipers and on the Rear 342x14mm solid rotors with 48mm single piston. Heavy Duty pads on both. Having just returned from a trip to the North Carolina Highlands, I think the brakes worked well.
They are WAY short of being heavy-duty enough. They feel like my minibike when I was 14. The kind where the metal plate rubs against the rear tire. On a positive note, they are slightly better than Fred Flintstone's brakes. :)

In all fairness, they are trying to slow down 5,000+ pounds, but Jeep is aware of my vehicles weight. Ironically, I bought both safety packages, and the most basic safety feature of all is lacking.

p.s. Perhaps the HD pads are the problem. All things being equal, braking performance tends to be inversely related to pad wear.
 

Harrybeerbelly

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Rubicon has the HD big brakes - Front 330x28mm vented rotors with 51mm 2 piston calipers and on the Rear 342x14mm solid rotors with 48mm single piston. Heavy Duty pads on both. Having just returned from a trip to the North Carolina Highlands, I think the brakes worked well.

Just looked at mime. I have vented rotors on both front and rear.

Also recently did a 2k mile road trip. Brakes seem to work great.
 

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I’ve been happy with the brake performance on mine, running 315/70-17 K02.
 

Compression-Ignition

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What the crap is going on here?

I got a 2020 Unlimited Rubicon Diesel all the safety stuff and dang near every option. I just looked and I have solid rotors front and rear. Which is what I remembered seeing, but these reports in here had me questioning my recall.

I think the brakes were fine on stock 285's. But I admit on 37/13.5r17 Toyo MT's they are no longer a good match. Meaning if driven hard, they are just barely adequate. Kinda like the whole, "Doc, it hurts when I do xxxxx." And Doc replies, "stop doing that then....."

So kind of a non issue. Sorta.
 

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Are you sure they’re solid? The vents are between the inner and outer surfaces. You maybe thinking of vents ground as grooves a ross the surface.
 

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Compression-Ignition

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Oh ok, I thought we were talking about the brakes being slotted or dimpled.
 

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I plan to get the Terra Flex big break kit when my rotors eventually need replacing. At 2k it’s a good deal as far as true big brake kits go.
 

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I don't have a diesel, but I am running 37" beadlocks. I went with the PowerStop rotors and pads, there is a noticeable improvement in braking. I've got 3k miles on them and the rotors still have machining marks on them.
 

limeade

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I don't have a diesel, but I am running 37" beadlocks. I went with the PowerStop rotors and pads, there is a noticeable improvement in braking. I've got 3k miles on them and the rotors still have machining marks on them.
Thanks for the feedback on the Powerstop rotors and pads. Can you elaborate some on the improvement?

What I'm looking for specifically is:
Initial bite - is it stronger than stock?
Is there more pedal pressure than stock?
Does there seem to be more clamping pressure with the new pads and rotors?
I'm not too concerned with how much brake dust they emit, but are they quiet?

Thank you
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