Odd Way to Discover a Caliper issue

Coasting in neutral is usually a moving violation on most public roads but within my small development I can safely shift into neutral and coast downwards at a slow speed for a few streets (2 L & 1 R) to reach my home before needing to engage the clutch and pull into the driveway. Lately I’ve noticed that my ability to coast down the same streets had changed. I could only coast down about halfway to my destination as the jeep slowed to a crawl. Initially I thought of low air pressure or flat spots in the tires. Turns out the front right brake caliper was quietly frozen in position causing a drag on the rotor without any other symptoms or noise. My local auto parts store had one in stock and that was the fix. A test drive was successful as I was able to coast down the same streets and reach my driveway. Disregard the rusty shock as a full suspension rebuild is part of the plan in the next few weeks.

 

I noticed the change in down hill rolling ability on the streets in my development after making short errand runs the past few days. Didn’t notice any change in braking power, noise or smoke which are more typical signs. Glad I took the tire off this weekend to inspect probable causes. Fortunately the OEM rotor and pads were still in great shape which I attribute to good driving habits and the manual transmission. Sometimes remanufactured calipers can be hit or miss from the auto parts stores but so far it looks like I got a good one.

I’ll be posting my suspension rebuild, lift kit, lockers and 4.88 gearing. Stay tuned