I recently had a brake job done at 48K miles
and was told that they could not get the left
rotor off to turn and pack the bearing. They
said they tried heat and even called a dealer
to see if there was any tricks unknown to
them. They didn't want to destroy the rotor
by excessively beating on it, so they just
left it on. Has anyone else experienced this
and if so how did you fix it. This is on a
early 97 F150 4X4 Super Cab.

 

I have a 98 expedition and I can't get either one of the front rotors off. One is badly scored, so I have been beating it hard with a brass hammer. I tried heat, plenty of liquid wrench, no luck. No auto parts stores are able to help. I did read in chiltons that a three prong puller needs to be used but no one has heard of one big enough to pull a rotor, that i've talked to. Anybody know where to get one?

 

Hello rcrawford & PSDJONNY.

I have a '97 F-150 that had a similar problem. At 40,000 miles both rotors had serious grooves in them. Since the front brakes had been regularly serviced by the Dealer, and I had the Ford ESP warranty plan, I demanded that they repair the rotors. I believe that the techs were planning on resurfacing the rotors, but one of the rotors would just not come off the spindle. The Ford techs had to heat up one of the rotors and then use a hammer to get it off. Unfortunately, the rotor was junk after that. The Dealer was kind enough to provide me with two new rotors.

By the way, have either or both of you used the "no touch" wheel cleaners on your vehicles? I had used these cleaners on mine and I believe that it was these cleaners that somehow corroded the rotor, bonding it to the spindle.

Since the aforementioned incident, I have always taken the wheels off the truck when cleaning them with these chemicals and have not had any recurrence of this problem.

Sorry that I don't have a fix for the dilemma you are in right now, but maybe we will find the cause of the problem. Good luck.

Wilk

[This message has been edited by wilywilky (edited 04-20-2000).]

 

At out mazda dealership, we have service as few ford trucks, expys, and one navigator. The rotors were stuck on all of them, the techs used a rubber mallet, a shot-filled hammer, and a 3 lb. sledge hammer. the latter was the only thing that worked. They just kept turning the rotor and worked it loose. After they were done resurfacing the rotors the applied antisieze to the hubs, as it appeared they had "rusted" together.

They moral of this story: If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer.

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stock 98 XL, Reg. cab,4.6, Auto, HD cooling package, 255/70R16 on styled steel wheels,3.55LS, Black with chrome grille and bumpers! MODS: custom stereo by me, building speaker box was a !@#$%. K&N air filter w/ airbox mod, a complete keyless entry system.

 

I have to agree with 98 sleeper, get a bigger hammer. I just came back from a garage where my buddy works and was going to post a message about this since it was such a pain in the a**.

We started by using a rust breaker around the lugs, the front and the back. We proceeded to hit the rotors with a light plastic shot filled hammer with no luck. We graduated to a 10 pounder (plastic shot filled) and actually broke the hammer on the drivers side. Something else we used was an air impact with a hammer attachment. We used this between the studs to vibrate things loose. We worked for over two hours removing both rotors, and my truck only has 28k miles.

Rust builds up on the back, inside of the rotor prenting it from sliding out. Rust also bonds the rotor to the hub between the studs. I was to a point I didn't care about the roters, I was more worried about pounding on the bearings so hard. I would suggest STRONGLY to all, remove the rotors while you still can and apply anti-sieze behind them!!


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97 F150 Lariat, Dark Torridor Red/silver, grey leather, extended. Leer running board, deflector, tonneau, bed liner, Superchiped



[This message has been edited by Freds4by (edited 04-21-2000).]

 

Well they're both off and the 2 NEW ones are on. I heated them and pounded on them with a 3 lb. hammer and it still didn't work -until I got mad. One of them was ok and I considered just leaving it on, but I figured that i had better get it off while I still can. They were both ruined, but from now on I will not dread doing my brakes. I put anti seize on the areas that were rusted (mainly the inside corners where the hub sits and the penetrating oil will not reach) I just hope that my hubs didn't get damaged from all that beating, but what other choice is there?

 

***** Wilky no wheel cleaners have been used
and the truck has never been off road or in
deep water. Considering the replies sounds
like a design defect!

------------------
rcrawford

 

I am in the same situation. Right rotor came off just fine but the left will not budge. I tried penetrating fluid, puller and hammer. I guess I will order new rotor and when it is in hand try again with a BIGGER hammer. Sounds like a little anti-sieze from the factory would have gone a long way.
Any other suggestions...

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RED-ONE
'97 F150 Red/Silver Lariat, SC, 157" wheelbase.

Factory Equipment includes: Lariat option,4x4, 5.4L, Automatic, 3.55 LS, Graphite leather, Power bucket seats, HD Tow package, Y2K style Rear sliding window, Ford bed liner, electric shift-on-the-fly.

Aftermarket additions/modifications: Superchipped, K&N Air filter, Air box Mods, 2-1/2" True Dual exhaust with chrome tips out the back, 36" glass packs, LT265/75R16 Michelin LTX A/T's, custom rear spring pack, cranked torsion bars, Bug deflector, Window drip edge guards, Sony 10 Disk CD changer, Chrome Westin step bars, Extang Tonneau cover.

Future additions: Hellwig bar, tinted front side windows, super white lights, IAS Shocks and the list goes on and on and on and...

This site is soooo addictive!!!!!

 

I'm tempted to pull my rotors off and put anti-seize on now, just to prevent a serious problem later. What a nightmare. Are the '99s and newer prone to the same problems, or is this a '97 and '98 issue only?

 

I tried to get that stuck rotor off again, with no luck. I tried for two hours with a couple of different size hammers. I looked on the web for new rotors and "www.carparts.com" has them made by Rabestos for $52.52. Are there any better ones available for about the same price? Any comments on vented or High Performance ones fo the money?
Does anybody know if I can unbolt the spline from the rotor/lug nut portion of the axle and put it in a press to separate the two?

 

Well the brake saga is finally over.
I took the stuck rotor and hub off the truck and it a independant garage. He put it on a 30 ton press and using about 22 tons of pressure the rotor popped off. With all the beat marks from the hammers and sledge I had to now have the rotors turned at the local NAPA store. They looked at the rotors and said that they couldn't be turned because they measured below the safety limit. I had never had them off the truck before. He measured them again and looked in the book and said that they were 1996 model rotors. 1996 rotors have smaller dimensions than the 1997 rotors. I now wonder if they are the reason that some of us are having problems with them sticking on the hub?

------------------
RED-ONE
'97 F150 Red/Silver Lariat, SC, 157" wheelbase.

Factory Equipment includes: Lariat option,4x4, 5.4L, Automatic, 3.55 LS, Graphite leather, Power bucket seats, HD Tow package, Y2K style Rear sliding window, Ford bed liner, electric shift-on-the-fly.

Aftermarket additions/modifications: Superchipped, Mobile 1 oil 5W30, K&N Air filter, Air box Mods, 2-1/2" True Dual exhaust with chrome tips out the back, 36" glass packs, LT265/75R16 Michelin LTX A/T's, custom rear spring pack, cranked torsion bars, back painted color matched Bug deflector, Window drip edge guards, Sony 10 Disk CD changer, Chrome Westin step bars, Extang Tonneau cover.

Future additions: Electric fan(s), Hellwig bar, tinted front side windows, super white lights, IAS Shocks and the list goes on and on and on and...

This site is soooo addictive!!!!!

 

The minimum rotor thickness number is usually cast into the rotors. It is in millimeters. 96 and older 4WD has a hollow spindle setup, with a big hub area, since the axle stub shaft needs to go all the way through. I would think the 97 and later would be quite a bit different, since the shaft just needs to spline directly to the hub.

 

Is there a warranty if it rusts like that? Or do you have to pay for new rotors?

[This message has been edited by F150grl (edited 06-07-2000).]

 

Just changed brake rotors today, and had to use a three jawed puller to take it off. First off had to pound on the rotor, in between the studs, this sort of broke it loose, then i used the puller. For about a week before I started this job, i would spray the rotor with some penatrating oil, mabye this helped me out.

 

I simply used a 20# sledge hammer and hit the rotor face wher the pads contact and hit towards the truck itself. When the rotor cracked it fell right off. Moral of the story is to keep at it and use a very BFH. It is a design issue and as far as i know it continues right on up through the years. Make sure you use HIGH temp never sieze or the problem will be there again when you attempt front brakes.