Brake Rotor

[Century7667]

Ok, this sounds a little stupid...but...

I went metal to metal on one of my brake pads and ate my rotor. The new rotor is on order from RockAuto, but I can't seem to pull the old rotor loose from the hub. There are no apparent retainers. Do I need a puller?

Thanks,
Ken T.

[Prospeeder]

no hit it with a big hammer, its just rusty. make sure you thread a lug nut on a few turns so the rotor doesnt come flying at you when it breaks loose!

funny im doing from pads and rotors on the Ciera right now too, i just had the drivers side stick real bad

[Century7667]

Thanks! Will do!

Ken T.

[6000 SSEi]

Clean the rust off and apply anti sieze where the rotor rests on the hub to prevent that in the future.

[Century7667]

Clean the rust off and apply anti sieze where the rotor rests on the hub to prevent that in the future.

Will do once I get the thing off. I whacked it with a 5 lb. hammer, but it wouldn't budge. The new rotor is in. I'll just have to apply some liquid wrench and wait...

Ken T.

[Prospeeder]

if your completly replacing the rotor, hit that thing HARD, just go nuts on it. if your reusing the rotor or turning it i dont reccomend that lol.

[mechanizeddeath]

I had the same problem on my Ciera when I got it. It felt like it was welded in place. I beat the crap out of it with the largest hammer I could find and eventually it came loose in an explosion of rust flakes.

[6000 SSEi]

Pretty hard on wheel bearings. :(

[lackneramanda]

I am trying to replace my brake rotor (http://www.carparts.com/Brake-Rotors/600022174.car) and those two pesky philips skrews on the rotor i cannot get out for the life of me and i am stripping them out. What is the best way to get those impossible skrews out?

[6000 SSEi]

Not sure about Phillips screws on the rotor? Never seen that on an Abody. But you say they are there so.. Have you tried an impact driver? You know, those tools that have the phillips (or whatever) bit on the end and you smack it with a hammer and it hopefully takes it out the first time?
Soak it with some penetrating oil first.

[turbokinetic]

Thre's another trick that works sometimes, without hammering and possibly destroying the wheel bearings. Jack up the car, both front wheels off the ground. Loosen the lugnuts on the affected wheel until they are 1 turn out away from touching the rim. Start engine, hold brake pedal very hard. Shift to Reverse and apply half-throttle for about 2 seconds. Return to idle and repeat in Drive.

Now the rotor should be able to come off with light tapping.

Of course that only works on a fully functional car, and is useless at the JY for pulling rotors off!

Sincerely,
David

[Century7667]

Thre's another trick that works sometimes, without hammering and possibly destroying the wheel bearings. Jack up the car, both front wheels off the ground. Loosen the lugnuts on the affected wheel until they are 1 turn out away from touching the rim. Start engine, hold brake pedal very hard. Shift to Reverse and apply half-throttle for about 2 seconds. Return to idle and repeat in Drive.

Now the rotor should be able to come off with light tapping.

Of course that only works on a fully functional car, and is useless at the JY for pulling rotors off!

Sincerely,
David

I like that idea! What I eventually did was get an 8" puller. I cranked and cranked on that thing, but it finally popped off. But, if I had known, your idea would have worked!

Ken T.

[DarkFox]

I drive the hell out of my cars, so I get to replace brakes quite often. :(
Premium grade rotors and ceramic pads, too, stuffs not cheap.

If they all have one thing in common, it's that those rotors and drums LOVE to weld themselves onto hubs.

Since I don't like beating on rotating assemblies with hammers, I went out to the local truck stop and invested in a large gear puller.

http://i.imgur.com/mSzz3.png


If there's a dust cap in front of the screw, remove it, and put a socket over top of the inner bolt to spread the load a bit.
Hook up
MAKE SURE that there is a lug on there! I've had a rotor go flying off the hub before.
Get to crankin' and be ready for one helluva bang when it lets loose!

[Century7667]

That's exactly the rig I used. No dust cap on the a-body front hub. I tapped it while cranking down on it.

Ken T.

[Sigurd Jarlson]

Another way to deal with this is to thread a similar sized/threaded bolt through each of the caliper bolt holes until it presses against the rotor. Then loosen, turn the rotor a quarter turn and tighten against it again. Lather, rinse, repeat, until it breaks free. You have to do it slow and gingerly, as you DO NOT want to strip out your caliper bolt holes......