Mad-Machine

could have saved yourself hours or work, blisters, and a hammer if you had threaded a bolt into the holes that the hold on screws use.

I do not remember what size threads it uses, but the hole in the rotor is threaded differently from the hole in the hub. The hole in the rotor is a wider hole. This is done so you can thread a pair of bolts (one into each hole) and slowly tighten them down. This will EASILY push the rotor off of the hub in a matter of minutes.. no sweating, no blisters, no cursing, it is really that easy.

fonseca

That was the first thing I tried. It actually may have been one of your posts that I found a while back regarding that method, but it's in my pasted text file on brakes.

I threaded in some long bolts that I matched up against the little screws, and then used a socket and a long wrench. The first one stripped the threads right out of the rotor, and the second one broke off. Quite suddenly, I might add.

I'm still going to try the screw method on other rotors today, but I'm not expecting much.

Mad-Machine

well.. if you use the same bolts that match the screws.. you are just going to thread them into the hub.. you need to just match up to the threads on the rotors...

01tibby

there was no way i was getting those screws out. i even tried one of those punch things, or whatever they are called(things you hit with a hammer to loosen stuck fasteners). completely seized. ended up stripping the head. yeah, i had the properly sized bit too.

those broken rotors are the result of many many hours of pissed off swinging a heavy hammer. i cut em with a dremel too, but dont think that really did anything. i used just about every chemical imaginable. the only method i didnt use was something random suggested; heating them up with a blowtorch then dumping water on em.

after i broke the actual disk apart from the hat, i had to chisel the remaining peices off the hub. yeah, they were on that good. i said the same thing about the rust being stronger than welds...lol

fonseca

Sorry, that still wasn't clear despite editing. I screwed some socket head screws into the hubs from the back, and then another, larger, set through the rotors, so that the two met up. Held a wrench stationary on the back and used a socket on the front.

Anyway, that didn't work at all. I didn't want to use just the bolt alone through the rotor. With my luck it would have gotten stuck in the smaller hole on the hub. But my new hammer did the trick pretty well today, I got the driver side front rotor off in half an hour. Finished up a can of PB Blaster too.

Cleaning and painting the calipers is taking a lot longer than I'd like though. They were filthy. I now have the wheel back on the passenger side, and only need one more coat of paint on the driver side caliper before that's done. I seriously though about powerwashing and putting some undercoat on the inside of the fender wells, but that will have to wait. This has to be finished by tomorrow.

Mad-Machine

You know, I never even bothered with trying to use a bit or a screw driver on those rotor retaining screws. I put a vice grip on them as tight as I could get it and gave it a turn, broke them loose right away.

fonseca

I had to use a pair of pliers myself, the heads were very soft and the closest bit I had still stripped them.

I didn't get to the rear rotors, they will have to wait until next weekend. But the fronts are finally done. No good roads around here to bed them in properly, but I tried anyway, using several on/off ramps repeatedly.

That hi temp engine paint really sucks. I scraped it off in a bunch of spots getting the pads in, despite a ridiculous amount of time prepping the surface. I guess I'll try some paint on stuff instead of a spray for the rears. Maybe it wasn't dry enough, or too thick a coat. I don't know.

They look nice though, can't wait to get the back ones on. Couple of late night shots:

tanc

Looking good.

Can't wait, rotors from the GB will be coming in a week or so from Monday, and I will be going through the same fun you've been having.

fonseca

Finally finished! And in record time, only eight hours for the rears from start to finish, including waiting for several coats of paint on the calipers to dry. Ugh, my back is killing me.

The rear rotors came off with just a few heavy blows, because this time around I really saturated the back inside of the rotors where they meet the hub. Started spraying 'em yesterday. Saved a huge amount of time.

Just a bit of pad wear.



Just got the wheels on a few minutes ago. Time to go test 'em out.