Had exactly this issue in December
The mystery "failure"
- Thread starter OVERKILL
- Start date
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Good luck. Maybe you did pick up a piece or debris that has since been tossed out. Dealer found nothing so you may luck out.If its a failing / sticky caliper piston it will surface again.
I had very similar symptoms with 08 Liberty late at night. I was close to home, drove home it home and test drove it the following morning. I had no problem with it, I pulled the two front wheels and looked at the brakes and rotors and everything looked fine. A few weeks later it happened again, I jacked it up and found the right front caliper was hanging up. I replaced both front calipers, brake pads, rotors and hoses. That fixed my issue. I probably could have gotten away with doing calipers, pads and hoses, but the rotors had about 70K miles on them and I didn't want to chance it considering how inexpensive they were at the time.
Ok, so since it was a front, did you notice any pulling?
I'm not doubting, challenging or being passive aggressive -- just genuinely curious. Plenty of replies here involving REAR wheel problems that were similar, but I still question if a front caliper hanging up wouldn't cause a noticeable pull??
It's far more extreme but I once had to drive my Bronco off the trail with one front hose clamped off with vise grips after a craptastic Earl's stainless hose blew a hole. Touching the brakes was a serious hold-on-and-get-ready-to-counteract-the-pull event.
Growing up in CO I was taught to not use parking brakes in the winter months for this reason.
No worries you're asking a good question. I'd call it more of a low speed thump, thump, thump. I was a few blocks from home, drove it slowly and then the following morning took a test drive and didn't notice anything abnormal. I wasn't going fast enough to feel a pull to be honest. A few weeks later I was leaving the house, and had the thump as I was rolling out of the driveway. I parked in the street, took another vehicle and dealt with it the following morning. I would venture a guess that if I was driving fast it might have pulled, but I've had front calipers fail and not really pull, others did.
The Liberty uses a composite piston, it is not metal, they can swell with age and cause headaches. IIRC @Trav brought that to my attention.
JHZR2
Staff member
If they’re quoting a $3000 brake job, it sure seems like this!
I think at the very least two front calipers will have to be checked, I would get all four gone over as another one may not be far behind. And it’s not like you can grab some Chinese remans and be done with it. Or could you?
These are mighty impressive and huge brakes. I hope your dealer, or whoever works on these knows what they’re doing. Just dealing with something different, not necessarily more difficult, can lead to skipped steps.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
What ever happened ? No more issue ? Found evidence of anything that may have scrapped or cut into rotors?
No caliper or piston leaks evident?
No caliper or piston leaks evident?
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Absolutely nothing has happened since
Isn't that what people mean by the statement, "It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand."?
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
According to at least one post in this thread, it might be a Brembo thing, lol.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Brembo...
Hope it was something / road debris softer than your pads and rotors that got picked up and later tossed clean. If it was , it is possible when you used your brakes you would have experienced steering wheel vibrations or a slight pull to one side. IIRC you did not experiece any of that. It can be very annoying chasing autos "gremlins". Especially on the autos we like to use more than just around the town.
If you dont mind sharing a bit of info...... How many miles since new? _____________________ Brake jobs since new?_______________________
OMG! at least you did not experience this one reported by a JEEP owner. YIKES. Of course they made no mention of possible drinks prior to this "gremlin"-NOT! This one should at least be called a "godzilla!" Quote from Jeep driver:
"While I was parking near the beach, the car started accelerating and the breaks became unresponsive. As a result, the car crushed into the water and got submerged. I was able to leave through the window before it got flooded."
Just had a Jeep towed in just today for clunking noises and a flat rear tire.....another shop had did brakes a month ago (they just moved here from Michigan) and apparently one caliper bolt was loose and when it finally worked itself out the caliper swung around and punched a big hole in the rim!
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
I could definitely feel the vibration in the steering wheel, but it didn't pull.Brembo...
Hope it was something / road debris softer than your pads and rotors that got picked up and later tossed clean. If it was , it is possible when you used your brakes you would have experienced steering wheel vibrations or a slight pull to one side. IIRC you did not experiece any of that.
I mean, the vehicle is quite new (2020), it has around 24,000km on it, and the brakes are OE.
Well if it’s a Jeep thing let’s see we have this much accumulated mileage on 3 Jeeps:
98 Grand 180,000
07 Grand 120,000
17 Wrangler 82,000
That’s like 382,000 miles all together & none of them has done that, so might be a Brembo issue. What they HAVE done that are Jeep things:
98 warped rotors till I tossed away the OE junk composite rotors & replaced with aftermarket….
07 had sticking parking brake shoes but that was due to the coating on the shoes flaking off & jammed up the parking brake actuator, but it was 14 years old with over 100,000 miles on it then…
17 Wrangler had a rear caliper seize up (replaced it in 25* weather for my son), a front brake hose delaminate & caused that brake to drag, and also a front brake ABS sensor went bad. That was a pain to change but got it done. I hear the caliper & brake hose problems are common as are the ABS sensors but I think that was my son driving thru puddles on the beach
,
BTW
The calipers & ABS sensors on the 98 are original as are the ones on the 07
and; the original rotors on the 07 lasted over 100,000 miles & only had to be replaced due to rust
Since Brembos are used on very few Jeeps but on a lot of Challengers maybe ask on a challenger board, they might have seen this….
98 Grand 180,000
07 Grand 120,000
17 Wrangler 82,000
That’s like 382,000 miles all together & none of them has done that, so might be a Brembo issue. What they HAVE done that are Jeep things:
98 warped rotors till I tossed away the OE junk composite rotors & replaced with aftermarket….
07 had sticking parking brake shoes but that was due to the coating on the shoes flaking off & jammed up the parking brake actuator, but it was 14 years old with over 100,000 miles on it then…
17 Wrangler had a rear caliper seize up (replaced it in 25* weather for my son), a front brake hose delaminate & caused that brake to drag, and also a front brake ABS sensor went bad. That was a pain to change but got it done. I hear the caliper & brake hose problems are common as are the ABS sensors but I think that was my son driving thru puddles on the beach
,BTW
The calipers & ABS sensors on the 98 are original as are the ones on the 07
and; the original rotors on the 07 lasted over 100,000 miles & only had to be replaced due to rust
Since Brembos are used on very few Jeeps but on a lot of Challengers maybe ask on a challenger board, they might have seen this….
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Got it. I had eliminated the brakes thinking that you felt nothing in the steering wheel. Not so much anymore. What makes it a real puzzle is no pull in any direction. I am thinking you feel pretty sure it was coming from the front of your vehicle too. Suspension parts / even tires and rims IMO are eliminated since it is not repeatable. Please let us know if you solve it. Interested for sure to hear the outcome.
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