Episode 639 – Upgrade Your Jeep’s Brakes
This Week In Jeep
The Grand Cherokee – Trailhawk – Now Different Forever
Well, here we go with Jeep’s virtue signaling, now in full effect. And it’s only a matter of time before this goes even further. Jeep is making the off-road-focused Grand Cherokee Trailhawk trim exclusive to the 4xe plug-in hybrid driveline for the 2023 model year.
Trailhawk is Jeep code for a Jeep (in this case the Grand Cherokee) with the most off-road capability. That’s why it’s a big deal, that for the 2023 model year, the package will be exclusively available, as in ONLY equipped on the 4xe versions of the Grand Cherokee. It will not be available with the 3.6L V6 or 5.7L Hemi V8 engines no matter how much you pay. Trailhawk includes Quadra-Drive II 4×4. It has the same low-range transfer case and 47.4:1 crawl ratio as other versions of the 4xe. But it gets a special electronic limited-slip differential at the rear. The diff gives you more traction when the trail gets slippery, helping to make sure you have traction even if a tire or two is in the air. Speaking of tires, Trailhawk 4xe has Goodyear Wrangler Territory all-terrain rubber in place of the more pavement-friendly tires of less off-road capable 4xe models. Despite that, Jeep says it still offers 25 miles of all-electric range. And that it conquered the Rubicon Trail, a long-time Jeep staple, using only electric power. Electronic sway bar disconnects are standard on Trailhawk 4xe. Unhooking the sway bar allows better suspension articulation and more comfort, off-road. Quadra-Lift air suspension with 10.9 inches of ground clearance is also standard, though the figure is about half an inch less than gas-powered Trailhawks offered in 2022. Other features of the Trailhawk Grand Cherokee 4xe include Selec-Terrain traction management, blue-accent (a 4xe signature) tow hooks, an off-road view camera, and a matte-black hood decal to keep the glare out of your eyes. Expect more electrified off-roaders from Jeep in the next few years, and more moves like this to make popular trims electrified only. Jeep says it plans to offer an electrified variant of all of its SUVs by 2025. And if this trend continues out of control, expect to see Jeep limiting ANY 4WD option to the 4xe trim, as it appears as if Jeep after 75 years, thinks you’re a bad person if you drive a gas-powered Jeep offroad.
Super-Human Strength – Man Lifts Jeep To Save Boy
A baby boy is safe after a Florida driver was in the right place at the right time and saved him from an overturned Jeep. Photos from the scene show the Jeep Wrangler JKU Rubicon that the toddler was riding in overturned on State Road 100 and John Anderson Blvd in Flagler Beach, Florida. The hero in this story, (and I know I’m going to butcher his name) a one mister Wisguere Dormevil… who saw the accident, called 911, then jumped into action.
Somebody yelled out “There’s a baby in there, there’s a baby!” Wisguere got to one side of the Jeep and began to lift so the toddler could be rescued. He held the Jeep up just far enough, to where the car seat and the baby were just sticking out. With bystanders jumping in to give another boost by pushing the Jeep up, the young toddler was able to be pulled out. Multiple units from Flagler Beach and Flagler County Rescue arrived on the scene minutes later. The first arriving unit upgraded the scene to a level 1 mass casualty incident. A trauma alert was called and 3 adults and 1 pediatric were transported to Halifax Medical Center. At last check, the boy is still recovering.
Jeep Wranglers Don’t Make Good Getaway Vehicles
Four illegal migrants were killed in a crash fleeing from authorities in south Texas last week. According to reports from agents with the Customs and Border Protection, a U.S. citizen was driving a Jeep Wrangler filled with illegal migrants when it crashed during a high-speed chase. On June 30, at approximately 8:28 a.m. a Jeep Wrangler circumvented the United States Border Patrol checkpoint, located at mile marker 29 of Interstate Highway 35, using the west access road of IH-35. A Border Patrol agent who was parked on the west access road between mile markers 30 and 31 heard a report of the Jeep Wrangler via radio and within a few minutes, the vehicle passed the Border Patrol agent’s location. The agent observed a male driver, who appeared to be the vehicle’s sole occupant. The agent, operating a marked U.S. Border Patrol vehicle, followed the Jeep Wrangler northbound on the west access road. The Jeep Wrangler turned onto a dirt road, referred to by agents as the Cerrito Alleyway, and the agent observed the driver stop at a gate and briefly converse with an individual. The driver of the Jeep Wrangler continued towards the west access road, where the agent was stopped. The Jeep Wrangler stopped at the agent’s location and the agent lowered his window, asking the driver if he needed any assistance. The driver of the Jeep Wrangler indicated he was looking for a wildlife safari. The agent got out of the US Border Patrol vehicle and approached the man to assist. As the agent approached, the man drove forward and nervously repeated that he had missed his exit and needed to go.
The man drove away and the agent observed that the vehicle appeared to be riding low, as though it contained heavy cargo. The agent followed the vehicle onto the west access road and the Jeep Wrangler began to speed away from the agent.
At approximately 8:34 a.m., the agent activated his vehicle’s overhead lights and siren to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver of the Jeep Wrangler failed to yield, and a pursuit ensued northbound on the IH35 west access road. The agent notified a supervisor of the pursuit and reported speeds of approximately 90 mph as the pursuit continued northbound on the west access road. At approximately 8:36 a.m., roughly 6 minutes after the initial report, the Jeep Wrangler crossed IH-35 at the mile marker 32 underpass and merged onto northbound IH35 via the east access road. Border Patrol agents asked dispatch to request assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Encinal Police Department. The agent pursued the Jeep Wrangler northbound on IH35, reporting that the vehicle was traveling over 100 mph in light traffic. As the agent traveled between mile markers 36 and 37, he reportedly lost sight of the Jeep Wrangler and slowed down. As the agent traveled over the mile marker 39 overpass, he observed a dust cloud in the parking lot of the Love’s Travel Stop, located on the east access road and Highway 44 in Encinal, Texas. The agent immediately reported that the Jeep Wrangler was involved in a collision and requested Emergency Medical Services.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility special agents reviewed video footage of the collision which revealed that at approximately 8:39 a.m., the Jeep Wrangler exited IH35 at mile marker 39 while traveling at a high rate of speed. The driver of the Jeep Wrangler failed to negotiate the exit ramp, lost control, and struck the rear of a tractor-trailer parked at the Love’s Travel Stop. Approximately 14 seconds later, the first Encinal Police Department vehicle arrived on the scene. At the time of the police department’s arrival, the pursuing Border Patrol agent’s vehicle can be seen traveling past the collision scene on the northbound lanes of IH35. Approximately 62 seconds later, the first U.S. Border Patrol vehicle arrived at the scene. The Jeep Wrangler was found to contain a total of seven occupants. Four of the vehicle’s occupants were fatally injured, including two adult male citizens of Mexico, one adult citizen of Guatemala, and one other individual whose injuries were so extensive he could not be immediately identified. The driver of the Jeep Wrangler, a United States citizen, suffered head trauma and was airlifted to the University Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Additionally, one adult male Guatemalan citizen was airlifted to University Medical Center, and another adult male Guatemalan citizen was transported to the Laredo Medical Center. The Texas Department of Public Safety assumed the lead in the accident investigation and Homeland Security Investigations has initiated a criminal investigation against the driver of the Jeep Wrangler.
Must-Have Stuff Pick-of-the-Week for your Jeep!
Spare Tire Brake Light Ring for 2007-2017 JK JKU
In the spirit of our recent Tech Talks about brakes, I thought it would be fitting to showcase one of my favorite brake-related Jeep mods.
For any Jeeper with a spare tire on the back, this is definitely a must-have.
It’s the Spare Tire Brake Light ring, and this one is plug-and-play!
No drilling or cutting is required. Simply connect the brake light LED ring to the factory 3rd brake light and factory harness.
What I like about this light over others is that it has multiple rows of LEDs, not just one single ring. It also has a sequential clock-like pattern to the second set of LEDs’s making it that much more eye-catching, and cooler too!
Lifespan Up to 30,000 Hours Life. IP67 waterproof.
Now the link we’ll have for this is for the 2007 – 2018 Jeep Wrangler JK with all 15 to 20-inch rim diameter wheels.
Word of warning though… This will NOT WORK on a Teraflex aftermarket tire carrier.
Tech Talk with Jeep Talk
TOPIC/QUESTION: Jeep Braking Systems – Multi-part Series – Final
In Episode 631 we started a multi-part series on Jeep brakes. We’ve covered things like the various components that make up the brake systems on different Jeeps, and how they work. We’ve talked about how the mods we make to our Jeeps affect the brakes, how to troubleshoot problems, and what to do about them when they do pop up.
In this (last?) part, we’re going to talk about upgrades. If something in your Jeep’s braking system wears out, or fails and needs to be replaced… Why not make an upgrade? …ya know, “while you’re in there!” One of the most common problems that are seen in a Jeep’s braking system appears most in older Jeeps. A lot of this is due to age, but also to poor performing drum brakes typically found on the rear of older Jeeps.
And if you back far enough, you’ll find them on the front of some Jeeps too. If you have a Jeep that has drum brakes in the rear, which would include any CJ, YJ, XJ, TJ, and of course the older Jeeps as well… the best thing you can do to improve your braking performance would be to convert the drum brakes to disk brakes. We talked about the differences between the two, and the performance of disk brakes is beyond comparison to the drums. The upgrade of a rear drum brake system to a disc brake system will provide a far more efficient, stronger rear brake. Disc brakes utilize calipers positioned along the outer edge of the rotor, just like modern-day brakes. This allows for the maximum amount of leverage which results in a stronger level of resistance.
Imagine trying to remove a nut with a wrench. If you grab the wrench close to the center it will require more force and energy to move the nut. Grabbing the wrench farther out creates more leverage and requires less energy to move the nut. The same theory applies with the rotors and calipers found on disc brakes…but in reverse, more or less.
The process is relatively simple. The brake line is removed, the drum is pulled off, and the backing plate is removed from the axle. A new baking plate is put back on the axle that has caliper brackets on it. The discs are installed, then the caliper and pad assembly. New soft lines and e-Brake cables usually come in these kits too, as all that will be replaced with the new system. That’s pretty much it. If you can do a brake job, then you can do a brake swap. Ask any Jeeper who has done this mod and they will undoubtedly agree that the Jeep is safer and brakes better, stops sooner, and has more holding control while on the trail. Yes, this is likely the most expensive option, with kits starting in the mid $500’s and can reach in excess of a thousand bucks. Ok, so maybe that’s a little much for you right now, and you need a cheaper option that doesn’t involve serious modifications. Well the next step down from a rear disc brake conversion would be to increase the diameter of your front disc brake rotors. 
Remember the wrench and nut analogy? A “Big Rotor Kit” allows the factory brake caliper and brake pads to be retained, while increasing the rotor diameter from the stock of 11 or 12 inches to a rotor that’s over 13 inches in diameter. The increased clamping distance from the rotor center results in greater braking leverage to allow stopping distance to be decreased substantially (larger rotor diameter = greater stopping power). The simple bolt-on installation upgrade requires absolutely no brake line modifications and can be installed with basic hand tools. These kits usually come with larger rotors and a pair of bolt-on brackets that relocates the calipers. It actually takes less work to install this kit than to do a full brake job and is the most popular option for JK owners looking to get the most bang for the buck.
The cost however can run you up to $400 or more. Hey, at least it’s not over a grand!… unless you do all four corners at once and those kits, with hoses and all the goodies, can get expensive. And these “big rotor” kits should not be confused with a “Big Brake Kit” which is the same thing, but comes with upgraded calipers and new pads, the hoses, all that, and will generally add a significant amount to the 
price. A big rotor kit may not even BE an option for you anyways, as it all comes down to whether or not you have the room inside the wheel for that larger rotor and relocated caliper. Ok, so maybe even that is out of reach, so let’s look at some other upgrades we can do to our Jeep’s brakes. There are many places that offer all-in-one brake upgrade kits. For instance, you can get the very reliable and well-reviewed Power Stop brand kit, and front and rear upgrade kit for the Jeep TJ for right around $340 on RockAuto. The front-only kit for the Jeep will run you less than $200. Definitely an affordable option. Many Jeepers have undoubtedly heard of EBC and their yellow stuff brake pads. These high friction pads from EBC will give you up to 35% better stopping from just a simple pad change. These pads are also great for towing and heavy loads or oversize tire and 
wheel setups. And for an average price of $125, they may be the most expensive brake pads you can buy, but going this route is a sure-fire way to improve your Jeeps brakes. The same can be said for the rotors themselves. Sure an OEM rotor is going to last long and perform well enough, but why settle there?
Over decades of proven race technology, the engineering world has given the automotive industry rotor enhancements like better manufacturing materials or zinc plating for heat dissipation. And even drilled and slotted rotors. Now m these may look cool as hell, and yes they do, but they typically aren’t the best option for rock crawlers.
Drilled rotors have a pattern of holes drilled through them, this provides mass reduction, better heat dissipation, prevents gas build-up, reduces brake fade, and creates better braking power by giving the pads more surface area to bite into. Slotted rotors have a series of slots machined into the rotor face. This provides all the same benefits as drilled rotors but at a more extreme level. This is why you will typically only see slotted or drilled AND slotted rotors on race machines. There’s just too much mass removal for them to be reliable for large tire, high torque applications. That said, there are all kinds of enhanced performance OE style rotors out there for your Jeep, you’ll just have to dig around. Lastly, another simple upgrade, and a necessary modification for lifted Jeeps, is extended brake lines. Typically these come in the braided stainless steel variety and provide minimal enhancements. Soft rubber factory brake lines can swell and flex like a balloon almost. Although their flexibility is necessary for suspension and steering movement, their ability to swell degrades the hydraulic conditions of the Jeep’s brake system by reducing the amount of pressure applied to the caliper.
Now one of the things I covered at the beginning of all this in Episode 631, was about brake fluid. One of the cheapest most effective ways to get better braking performance from a higher mileage Jeep is going to be from a brake fluid flush. Over time, brake fluid will absorb moisture from the air, get a build-up of contaminants, and won’t be able to perform like new. Flushing this fluid out and replacing it with new, will breathe new life into an older brake system. Brake fluid flushes are recommended every 30,000 miles or 2 years, depending on your driving and braking patterns. For example, if your daily commute is mostly long stretches of highway, you may be racking up miles quickly without using your brakes heavily. However, if you wheel frequently, or find yourself in lots of stop-and-go traffic every day, well then you may need to do it more often. I’ll go over some tips and tricks for fluid flushes in another episode, so for now, I think we’ll bring all this to a stop.
Links Mentioned in this Episode
NEXEN Tires USA https://www.nexentireusa.com/
Trails 411- POWERING Your Adventure https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrydriver
The 4×4 Radio Network http://4x4radionetwork.com/
Interact With The Show! https://jeeptalkshow.com/contact
Jeep Talk Show on Facebook https://facebook.com/jeeptalkshow
Rat Bastards Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/ratbastard
Rat Bastards Webpage https://ratbastard.lol
Looking for Amazon products we’ve talked about on the show? https://jeeptalkshow.com/amazon
You are invited to our Discord Server! https://discord.gg/txeYMs45sm
Show notes powered by sevenslats.com