OK, figured to do a complete brake pad/rotor replacement last week. Bought new rotors and pads and went about the job.

I've replaced pads several times before (15 mins/wheel...piece of cake!), but never replaced the rotors.

Since my '97 is a 4WD, I know that the rotors just slip on over the hub once you remove caliper and the cradle it bolts to. OK, again, piece of cake getting caliper components off. But then, tried to get rotor off...tied everything I could think of and no go! Tried banging with a BFH against a block of wood; penetrating oil and even heating with propane torch. Assume the damn things are rusted on.

Also noticed that if/when I do get them off (gonna try an acetylene torch and just cut them off), the wheel studs appear to be pressed into the rotor. Since my new rotors didn't come with studs, I assume I will have to get new ones and press them into the rotor. Is this correct or ??????

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Well, there's a couple tips...

Get a bigger hammer. A LITTLE BIT of heat-hammer could help. Lots of penetrating oil (the good stuff like PB B'Laster, NOT liquid wrench or WD-40) and some light heat on the face of the rotor may help break the rotor free. The face of the hub will rust to the back of the rotor, and the hub that centers the rotor will corrode and swell, locking the rotor on tight. You should not attempt to cut the rotor off with the torch unless you want to replace the hubs as weel, since the heat will be transferred directly into the bearings and cook the grease to a crisp. There lies another option: Remove the three bolts holding the hub into the upright as well as the castle nut and cotter pin/retainer and take the hub (with the frozen-on rotor) to the local machine shop and have it pressed out. I believe they are 3-15mm bolts holding it in.

The studs are a part of the HUB, not the rotor, so you will not need new ones unless you damage the ones on there taking the rotor off.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it works for ya'.

-Joe C.

 

OK, thanks for the info on not having to replace the studs.

Even though I'm a surgeon with a torch (or is that a sturgeon?), your point about the wheel bearings is well taken.

Looks like another "We had to destroy this village to save it," project as far as the rotors go.

 

FYI, less than 5000 miles after banging on the ones in my Explorer, I had to replace both wheel bearings. They are a hub on the 4x4, so it might not pay to hammer on them. The races showed signs of brinnelling, a classic case of "used a bigger hammer." Be gentle with the heat, only heat the face of the rotor, and don't let the heat penetrate too much.

Good Luck, and let us know how it turns out!

-Joe

 

Having any luck yet with the rotors? Heat is the last resort that you'd want to use..the things that you would need to make the job a little easier and less expensive is 1. a gear puller, some pb pentrating oil and some dead blow hammers..after installing the puller and getting it to a tight tourqe, use the hammer and hit the outside of the rotor with it..this will loosen it up and again you will go to the puller and tighten it up some more..if you keep doing this back and forth method it will take some time but you'll end up with nothing damaged, maybe a knuckle or two though..

 

I ended up taking it to a shop. They told me an hour's worth of work...total would be about $80. Yeah, right.

Even THEY couldn't get them off in any normal fashion. They had to resort to a trick from a Mitsubishi service bulletin: They took a Saws-all and made a cut from the outer edge of the rotor as far down and close to the hub "hat" as they could (used 5 blades to get that far). Then where the "hat" goes perpiducular to the rotor face, at the saw kerf, and using a punch, the made a series of punch marks (about 5-6) on the side of the "hat," and then they took a 3/16" drill and drilled each punch mark down about 1/4". Then they took a BMF punch and hammer and whacked all the holes several times. Next, the took a chisel, inserted it at the edge of the rotor, into the saw kerf and pounded the chisel into the kerf to widen it. Then popped right off.

They showed me the old rotors; took them 2.5 hrs, but they got them off and didn't damage the bearings or hubs (I hope).

Althought I would rather have done it myself, there are times when you have to defer to superior knowledge, technique or tools, and this was one of those times. They also changed the brake fluid as per my instructions and used DOT 4 fluid.

Total cost: $270. But, I think it was worth it. The truck drives great...no more wobbling pedal. Oh yeah, I asked them if they had used anti-sieze on the new rotors and they said they did.

 

Something was major wrong with those rotors they should not have been that hard to remove in fact they should have just slipped right off once the claiper and caliper hold down bracket were removed. Did the shop give you any reason as to why they were so hard to remove? Dude that really sucks maybe they warped so bad that they binded themsleves to the hub.

Richard D.

While your here check out my gallery:
https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=2479

 

Road salt.... Rust

 

...I'a also sure there was nothing wrong with the rotors. they wobbled a bit (left one, I think), but they're the original units from the factory, I'm sure. Up here in Minnesota, you come to expect this sort of thing from all the road salt and other chemicals they put on the roads during the winter.

The mechanic said that the clearance between the rotor hat and the hub is very small, so it doesn't take much to establish a real tight rusted-on fit.

There have been several other threads here cussing out the difficulty of removing rusted-on rotors. If I buy a new F150, it gets anti-seized pretty damn quick!

 

Maybe that's why in Ca/Nevada the use sand on the roads and not salt. Man that really bites. I think if I lived in that kind of enviroment I would be taking my rotors off prior to every winter and coat the inside of the hub with a thin coat of anti sieze or some type of high temp lubricant. Might be worth it in the long run.

Richard D.

While your here check out my gallery:
https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=2479