Been working on mine today removing all 4 rotors, etc. Front right, came off with just a few whacks on the rotor, no supplemental help. Went over to the left front, and no such luck. Then tried the bolt trick, did not work.
Pulled out the good old Sawsall. Put an 18 bimetal blade in. Cut the rotor, and used the other one as a guide as to how deep in the hub area to go. Used my whizz wheel (die grinder) with the carbon wheel in it, and cut a little bit of a groove on the face.
Then I put a cold chisel in the cut in the rotor. A few whacks with a 3 lb sledge, and cracked the sucker open. Came off fine.
Couple clarifications and suggestions on the above from way back in 2005:
1. Remove the caliper first (and the bracket I think - it has been a while) to get the room to cut the rotor
2. look down in the ventilation area of the hub - see the air gap - you are cutting in there, as there is not as much metal in there and they are at an angle
when using the die grinder, you don't have to go too deep. Enough to let the metal break when hitting the chisel in the groove that was cut
4. you can use a cold chisel, or any other type of wedge that will go in there and be of adequate strength and take a hit
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I'm telling you guys - USE THE SAWZALL!!! why do people keep trying to save rotors
I agree with you, but maybe everyone doesn't have access to a sawzall as easily as they do to a couple of nuts and bolts. So for some, it's worth a shot to see if the bolt method works first.
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I agree with you, but maybe everyone doesn't have access to a sawzall as easily as they do to a couple of nuts and bolts. So for some, it's worth a shot to see if the bolt method works first.
Valid point. In fact, I tried the bolt method a little, and decided risking bending the caliper bracket (like some above have done) is just not worth the risk...
So, if you don't have a sawzall, think about how much el cheapo sawzall at harbor freight, or taking the time to borrow one from a friend (and a die grinder) is. It just might be worth the investment in time and/or money
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Thanks very much for the information on removing the rotors when they are rusted on. I was banging away for about an half hour before I had to take a break from sweating. I cam in the house, got a cold beer and sat down at the computer and starting looking for help. I found it and went to home depot to get my bolts. It only took really about two minutes and I had them off. Thanks alot my man for the info.
Wow these are all great tips I read here. I used to use an angle grinder with a cutting wheel to cut through the meat of the rotor, and drive a wedge into the slot I just made. Then start drilling 1/8" holes in the face of the rotor hub in a line with the slot. About the 3rd or 4th hole, there's a big crack, and it's off.
But then I thunk about what the real problem may be and did this. The rotor pilots on the outside of hub flange (not the center of the hub as I found out). The clearance is like .005", so just a little bit of rust starts to wedge the rotor on. Use your angle grinder to grind the outside of the hub flange down about 1/8" all the way around. Now lay a weld bead across the outside edge of the hub flange in three places, spaced 120 deg apart. Grind the welds down until the rotor just fits on snugly. Check the rotor with a dial indicator to make sure its reasonable centered. Now, you don't have drive the hub through the ridge of rust all the way around the rotor, but only in those three spots...much easier, only a few taps and its off. Make the welds with 309 stainless, and you'll never have a problem again. It's a bit of work and requires welding, but it's worth it.
Here's another thing I learned after years of dealing with this problem. You can tell that the rotor is rusting on pretty tight by paying close attention to the pulsing of the brake pedal. If a rotor is warped or thin, it will shudder more the hotter it gets, because it warps worse. When it's cold it'll be relatively smooth. When the rotor is rusted on however, the pedal will pulse more when the rotor is COLD, and smooth out when it's hot, which is backwards. A cold rotor has lumpy irregular rust jammed between it and the flange which distorts it. When the rotor expands from heat, the bigger it gets and the looser it becomes around the rust, so it gets flatter, and smooths out. Plus when the rotor gets hot, rust chips may fall out, change position, maybe clump up. Then when the rotor cools and clamps down on the rust again, the rust lumps may be different, which may change how the rotor is distorted, and how the pedal pulses when cold. Sometimes the rotor smooths out when cold, then then next day it's back to cold pulsing again. That's the telltale sign of rusted on rotors. This drove me nuts until it dawned on me what was going on. Hope this long winded explanation helps someone.
Another tip that may work for some. I have to do the rotors on my 2000 4x4 Expedition and mine were rusted on quite a bit too.
After coming back for a 6:30am ice time with my lil timbit hockey player, I immediately pulled the truck into the garage, jacked her up and removed the wheels.
The brakes were good and hot and I just gave each one a few whacks with a small maul/sledge. Basically a fat hammer and they both popped off. (not much effort at all actually)
I used the 4" bolt trick and got my rotors off. Put my new rotors / brakes on. Now my ABS light comes on after a few miles. Any idea of what I may have done??
Just did mine this weekend.... for teh front i took a grinder cut on the hub lip them scored down half way used a chisel and broke a peice off, after that two smacks with the sledge hammer... and i was good to go
Well I'm not as lucky, the bolt trick did not work for me and it looks like I'll have to get to cutting. I even tried the hammer no luck at all. Wish mine would just come off, I was to be moving at the end of this month but don't look like that's going to happen.
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98 5.4 Eddie 4x4 176K (body) & 70k (engine) she's back!
88 Stang LX 5.0 HO (stock for now)
03 Windstar LX 3.8 187k (a huge pain in the you know what )
95 Mazda Protege Dx 1.5L 5spd 222,252 miles (wrecked)
I took it one step beyond that, I Salem Witch dunked those bad boys if you will. I had those things dripping wet. All most everyday for over a week I sprayed and made sure that they were drowning in Blaster. No change, no luck. Going to rent a puller today and see what happens. Wish me luck.
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98 5.4 Eddie 4x4 176K (body) & 70k (engine) she's back!
88 Stang LX 5.0 HO (stock for now)
03 Windstar LX 3.8 187k (a huge pain in the you know what )
95 Mazda Protege Dx 1.5L 5spd 222,252 miles (wrecked)
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