Hi all,

Minor question from a noob - got my 2006 CRD Limited couple of months ago with 120K miles and overhauling rear brakes - they are making sounds. On one of the brakes the backing plate is touching the rotor almost along the entire circumference and even shows wear from the contact. Primitive attempt to increase the gap between the plate and the rotor by prying with flat screwdriver doesn't seem to work. Backing plate is not exactly flat and not easy to bend. Currently my rotors are off to overhaul the parking brake parts which are all covered with rust and crud. It should be a good time to fix the backing plate which is now fully open, but are there any gentler methods than using a sledgehammer?

Thanks in advance and Happy Friday!
Alex

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2006 Liberty CRD Limited, GDE ECO tune, Provent 200, 2-stage Weeks kit, ARP studs,
Aussie fan shroud, Trans drain plug

You pretty much have the technique already - pry with screwdriver or whack it with a mallet.

If brute force isn't working, you aren't using enough. Just be aware of the ABS tone wheel and don't pry on that, but protection of that tone wheel is pretty much the only point of those dust shields. Sometimes they get bent when people are taking the wheels off, and that tweaks them right into the discs. Some creative application of a sledge is probably your best bet.

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Over 225 CRDs currently driving with my valves, timing belt, rockers, or ARP Studs.
Bad noises = REALLY bad things.

You in the rust belt? The aluminum? rivets holding the plate in place rust out leaving the plate flapping in the breeze. If this is the case you're pulling the axles to get access to drill and tap the cast bracket behind for new screws, ick! Ask me how I know I'd sandblast and paint the plates while you're at it.

OK, after some investigation in the bright daylight during the weekend it appears that 2 out of 3 cheapo rivets holding the dust shield are gone. Apparently the dust shield was no longer being held in place and touched the rotor. Got the axle out following these videos:

viewtopic.php?t=14757&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=adjust+emergency+brake&start=15

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f196/rear-p ... fix-49314/

Not as scary as it looked. The plan now is to get the dust shield off, sandblast, paint and reattach with screws. Wish I could get a new one, but they seem to only come in $$$ rear brake assemblies - not going to happen.

Thinking about replacing the rear outer axle seals while axles are off, is there a good write-up anywhere? Haven't replaced seals for ages.

Cheers,
Alex

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2006 Liberty CRD Limited, GDE ECO tune, Provent 200, 2-stage Weeks kit, ARP studs,
Aussie fan shroud, Trans drain plug

I believe the rivets were aluminum and mixing iron and aluminum with moisture always turns out bad for the aluminum. Add a bit f salt for those of us in the salt belt and you've got double trouble. The genius "engineers" at Chrysler obviously missed the high school chemistry class where they covered metal nobility.

The cost of the kit isn't so bad when you look at what you're getting but most of that stuff you probably don't need at the moment. Cleaning them up should work just fine.

I wouldn't consider putting the axles back in without new seals.

Finally found a short rear axle seal replacement write-up:

http://forbiddenjeeps.com/forum/jeep-te ... eplacement

I guess it was hard to find because the operation was rather trivial, shame on me Now I am wondering if I should replace the bearing or at least if there is a good way to tell if this is indeed necessary? Old seals weren't leaking, but are covered with crud from outside. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Alex

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2006 Liberty CRD Limited, GDE ECO tune, Provent 200, 2-stage Weeks kit, ARP studs,
Aussie fan shroud, Trans drain plug