Do Jeep problems come in three's?

Cause I had 3 problems pop up on the same day with the Jeep...

It has been cranking a little slow lately, so I took it to Sears to make sure that my battery was still good (DieHard Platinum), it was... but the alternator is only at 12.5 volts, which isn't good. That's one.

On my way back home, I stopped at Napa to buy some stuff for the truck, and when I pulled into their parking lot, smoke was billowing out of my passenger side wheel well. Passenger side caliper was stuck, rotor glowing red hot. That's two.

I was only 3 miles from home, and my wife is out of town, so I decided to try to limp it home, stopping every half mile to let the brakes cool back down. About halfway home, smoke is billowing out of the driver side wheel well. Now both calipers are stuck. That's three.



I've been wanting to do the Vanco 15" brake upgrade kit for a while now, so I guess now is the time for that. Sent an email to Savvy Offroad for info on that kit this morning.

I posted this story up on ROF, and the recommendation over there is to replace the alternator with one from a Durango. Puts out 160 amps versus the stock 117 amps, so that will help a lot with winching.

To do the brake kit, the knuckles have to be replaced, so I'm also thinking this might be a real good time to replace the ball joints. I'm not really noticing any looseness, but after 70K miles they've got to be about done. The last 10K of that was with 36" or 37" tires, the 30K before that with 33" tires, and a fair amount of hard wheeling...

Sorry to hear about the Trifecta of problems! If you need help...especially with bleeding the brakes and/or the ball joints let me know!

BTW....I can give you a tow most days!!!!

Funny....I was also working on my Jeep (pulling out the tie rod end for repairs) and believe I have a back caliper is sticking too. No biggie.....got a Dana 60 waiting to go in with new brake set-up!!!! Waiting to pull t-case and rebuild it then put it all back together.

Keep me posted with your project.

Thanks Jon! I just texted you, and then saw this... I might need help with figuring out how the old knuckles come off. It will likely be a couple of weeks before I have all the parts though.

I have the same 44 front axle tube and knuckles as you! I just replaced the ball joints on my Jeep....should be no problem. May want to "loan" ball joint press with the 4wd accessories kit from O'rielly's. If you want the HF press you have to remain straight????? LOL Willing to help and let me know when you get the parts!

The knuckles come off pretty easy with the rented press. took me about 1/2 hr per side. and if you want to just get it running fast new calipers are pretty cheap, like around $20

Just blew a big wad of cash (well plastic actually), and ordered the Vanco 16" brake kit with rotors for 15" rims (got the better calipers but with the mounting bracket and rotors from the 15" kit). Gonna be nice to have brakes that actually work with 37" tires...

Also, I talked with Mr. Blaine at Savvy Offroad (he designed the Vanco kit). He said that when both calipers go at the same time, it usually is caused by a failed power booster. He recommended sticking with stock on the booster, so now I need to order one of those...

Plastic money has built and fixed alot of Jeeps!!! LOL Order up, Bill!

Ah, plastic money!

Found out today that OEM YJ brake lines are a direct bolt on replacement for TJ lines, only 3" longer. A great alternative for lifted TJ's. Just ordered a pair for the front of my Jeep from Amazon today, right at $30 for the pair.

After all that heat, I don't trust my old lines any more...

Boxes of parts started arriving yesterday, some for the Jeep, some for the truck and some for the trailer.

The Jeep is getting the Vanco 16" Big Brake kit (but with the 15" sized rotors to fit inside my rims), a new brake booster, and new Moog ball joints.

The truck is getting new rotors, pads and a new fuel filter.

The trailer is getting all 8 shackles replaced (noticed one broken after hauling a load of lumber, and since they are cheap - $0.70 each - decided to just replace all of them), all lights replaced with LEDs, rear drop-leg stabilizers, and new brackets for my weight distributing hitch (the old ones were welded onto the old trailer). Also got all new tie-downs and axle straps, made by Erickson, look like copies of Macs, right down to the twisted hooks and blue color.

I'm going to be busy for the next couple of weekends!