OdessitPashka

I decided to finaly install my new rotors with pads today... but after I took the calipers off I could not get the damn rotors off! I tried hammering them and hitting, and evrything you can think off... even asked my dad to help me, but he couldn't get them off either.

How the hell do I get them off??? Shouldn't they be "slide off" type of rotors? I understand that they might have rusted, but not that bad!

Another problem was getting my rear calipers off and on. I had to hammer them in because I couldn't just slide them in... very strange! Is that normal, or something should be adjusted?

Also, intalled my ARK racing sway bar. It's 22mm thick and I had some major issues putting it in. It seems to be too wide, and now it's pushing against my shocks.... and it's making this weird noise when I drive. Is it normal? Did anyone else have this problem with bigger sway bar?

thanks

OP

Mad-Machine

I am SO going to have to make a sticky on this...

Most times Rotors can come off fairly easily if you know the proper trick. The screw that holds the rotor on is threaded into a whole with two different sized bolt threads. The one that is in the hub is a small diameter than the hole in the rotor. The trick is to get two bolts that thread into the rotor but NOT the hub. Once you find what size they are, you slowly thread them in till they hit the hub and then you give them equal amounts of torque and turning until either the rotor lifts off of the face of the hub or the face of the rotor breaks. If the later happens, it usually makes it easier to beat it off of the hub.

As for the brake caliper pistons, I hope you did not hurt anything by beating them in with a hammer. What you do there is open the caps on the Resevour and make sure you have at least a centremeter or two air space between the fluid and the top of the container.
For the front calipers, a simple large "U" clamp will suffice to shove the piston back into the caliper. The rears require a specialsed tool that will run you ten bucks at the automotive store. You have to both push them in AND turn them to reset the Parking brake mechanism.

Double_A

DUde, i just did my rotors and pads the other day. First off make sure the little screws keeping the rotor in place is removed (prolly obvious, but just thought id say it anyway). My front rotors were a huge bia to get off. I had my 250 cousin pull and rotate tham as i slammed them form behind with a hammer. They came off, but my arm felt like rubber by that time. So my advice is to do the same. Pound the heck out of them from the back and have someone pull on them from the front.

I had the rear caliper problem as well. I still dont know how to do it properly. We had to take the entire thing apart to release the pressure. Like we had to take out the little piston out of its cylinder all together (I know you shouldnt ever do that, but we had no other option) We tried every thing we could, we called my mechanic, the Hyundai dealership and all of our buddies before taking the piston out. So unless you want to take it all apart, im not sure how to get the caliper open wide enough for new rotors and pads.

Edit: Sorry mad, I guess we were writing at the same time. Just to let you know though, that tool did not work for the passenger side rear. The poston would not go in any further than where it was. The driver side rear worked fine though

01tibby

i found that with one of my rears, i had to unscrew it, then screw it back in, because it wouldnt go in the first time.

for the rotors, yeah...you're fvcked. i had to break mine into about 10 peices each to get them off. a search would have own3d you. tongue.gif

mad, your method works great....if you can get the screws out. they were NOT coming out for me. i tried every know method of removing screws, none of them worked. plus, those things are made of surprisingly soft metal.

OdessitPashka

Sorry for not searching. I had more than one question (rotors, calipers, pads, swaybar), so I decided to make a new thread.

I guess I'm f&*ked because I got the rear screw out, but stripped front ones.... Thanks for a great write up Mad, but I'm just gonna take it to a show to get it done. It's hard to hit anything from the inside because car is lowered and I can't lift it up too much, and it's just not comfortable to hit anything when you are laying on the ground! I want a lift!!! I'm also gonna get my pads changed at the same time, so screw it, let he people at the shop F&*k with it.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Can someone help me with the swaybar question?

thanks

01tibby

NO!!!!!

dont give up man...it will make it that much more satisfying when you get it done. first, drill out those screws in the front rotors. then you have a bunch of different things to try and get those fronts out....

-go rent a big three prong gear puller
-blast the seal with some pb blaster
-heat the rotors up with a blow torch, then throw some water on them. rapid heat up and cool down can braek the bond
-cut the b****es with a dremel or something

it tooke me three days....lol...but i wouldnt have had it any other way. B)

OdessitPashka

haha. I can't deal with this crap for 3 days. I have way too many things going on in my life... I would love to do it myself, since as you can see I started, but it's just too much hassle for someone who lives in a townhouse with 15 neighbors around...

I'm just gonna pay $100 or so to get it done in couple hours and be happy with it smile.gif

hamhead

What color are your shocks (Dunno if you can tell as easy if they're black). Is there paint coming off the swaybar onto the shock? How bad is it rubbing on it? The sound you hear is probably them rubbing together.

If its very little, you could do one of two things.

1. Dunno if on Tib's you can do this... once again I've only done suspension work on older cars with air shocks and the like. You can reposition the shock further outward so it doesnt' rub on the swaybar.

2. Hack a little bit of the shock and a little bit of the swaybar in the places where they rub. Just hack a little bit at a time if you do take this route.

OdessitPashka

My shocks are silver (KYB).

I would not want to chop anything off the swaybar because it would probably loose its stiffness, nor I would want to chop a piece of my shock....

I might take them to some shop and get the bar bent a little bit... we'll see how it drives tomorrow. If the sound isn't too bad then I'll just keep it the way it is.

Double_A

Man, dont give up. I stripped out the head of every screw. They are soft as crap. Grab a pair of vice grips and lock them onto the sides of the screws head. Then turn, it should be easy.