How to remove Rotors that are rusted on Ford Expedition
2nd paragraph contains instructions:
I just wanted to add a little advice to this area. I spent 3 hours trying to remove a single rusted on rotor on my 2000 exp. Everyone says use a bigger hammer... well I did. A 3 lb hammer, 5 lb hammer and a 10 pound sledge. I also tried a can of deep creep and wd40. I also tried... heat and impact tools. Then I tried 30 minutes of searching on the internet. Finnally, I found the correct advice somewhere (I cannot find it again) so I wanted to pass the information on to the rest of you because those three hours were so #$%^&*. This is a very neat trick. After removing the caliper and the caliper bracket you have 2 nice holes to work with to help you remove the rotor. Go buy a few 1/2 inch bolts at least 4 in long with nuts. Slide the bolt through the caliper bracket hole from the inside of the truck towards the rotor. As you slide in the bolt, place a nut on the bolt between the caliper bracket and the rotor. Hold the nut while tightening the bolt. The end of the bolt will push against the rotor and the the nut will push against the caliper bracket. Tighten the bolt as much as you can.. I mean really tight. Put on the second bolt in the other hole. After getting them both as tight as possible hit the rotor with a hammer. See if it moves at at all. Try tightening the bolts again. Hit it again. If it doesn't come off yet. Losen the bolts, turn the rotor 1/2 way try it again. On the first rotor it only took tighten the bolts once. On the second rotor it took 2 rotations of the rotor. 3 hours of pounding on the first rotor then 5 minutes with the bolt and the rotor popped off. On the second rotor it only took about 10 minutes to get it off. Hope this helps a few of you... I wish I could have found this trick right away ~Mark |
Welcome to FTE. Thanks for the tip.
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I have lived through this pain and know exactly where you're coming from. This tip should be added to the owners manual that was (is being?) created for Expedition owners through this forum.
-Sam |
That's a fantastic tip. Obvious now that I think of it. Thank you for bringing 'Enthusiast' into a thread. This place was going to have to change its name to Ford Truck 'Driver'.
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Originally Posted by hkiefus
That's a fantastic tip. Obvious now that I think of it. Thank you for bringing 'Enthusiast' into a thread. This place was going to have to change its name to Ford Truck 'Driver'.
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Rotor removal
SanMan you deserve an award---I have read so much about people struggling with this issue. I used your tip today and it worked great. I did place a steel bar between the rotor and the bolts to spread the pressure---but simply tightened one bolt then the other---after about two back and forths on the bolts holding the nuts---It "cracked"---I knew I had either broke it free or broke the knuckle---but I really didn't have to tighten the bolts that much in my case---2000 NAV 4x4 with 60K on the clock. I thought the corrosion issue was the face of the hub---it's really the edge of the hub---the hub is about .5in thick--this edge has little clearance on the rotor===the rotor rusts bad and creates an edge (much like a drum brake) and you can't get the rotor past it---the two bolts pushing it is enough to break it free. In my case I had to continue threading the bolts out to push the rotor out---a number of turns before I could pull it off.
I'm going to clean it up with a bead blaster and then dope up the edge with Never Seize and this problem will never occur again. However the rotor is rusting so bad I'll probably have to replace them at 100K just due to the corrosion. But at least they will come off. Thanks again for this tip---it's great |
question
After reading a few more brake threads I'm a little worried... I did replace both of my rotors and pads but the previous set of pads had more wear on the inside pads. Do you think I should have replaced the caliper? Other thread say that wear on the inside pad can be caused by the caliper not returning... Anyone with any thoughts.
Also, has anyone else used the bolt technique? 2000 Exp with 73,000 miles Mark |
An even better way to remove the rotors
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. |
I just replaced my front rotors this weekend. The left side would not budge, even after hitting. I did not know of the bolt trick, so I heated the rotor close to the hub with a propane torch and hit a couple of time while heating and it popped right off. On the right side I heated and pryed it off, much easier.
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Had thought about heating it, but worried about how much heat would be needed to get the rotor to actually expand, and would that much heat effect the seal and associated grease in the center hub - leading to additional work there.
How much heat did you give it, and what did you use? Propane torch enough? |
I used a propane torch, and just used enough heat to loosen. I did not use enough heat to change the color of the rotor. I was also concerned with heating the bearings, but made sure to keep the flame away from the hub and not get anything too hot.
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Sounds good. Will pass the tip on to a buddy of mine that has a shop. He seemed interested in finding out a good way, as they had done one with a stubborn rotor.
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YMMV though. After 5 hours (on the fronts) with PB Blaster and a BFH, I sent mine to the shop where the mechanic used heat for three hours, again with a BFH, and got nowhere. We had to replace the whole hub assembly with the rotors still frozen on.
He said the Ford dealership laughed when he called to order the hub parts (we had rotors already). "You doing a brake job?" they asked him when he wanted both the left and right sides. "Yeah, we get a lot of these calls because of rusted on rotors" the ****** at the Ford place joked. Grr. |
Originally Posted by saltzy
YMMV though. After 5 hours (on the fronts) with PB Blaster and a BFH, I sent mine to the shop where the mechanic used heat for three hours, again with a BFH, and got nowhere. We had to replace the whole hub assembly with the rotors still frozen on.
He said the Ford dealership laughed when he called to order the hub parts (we had rotors already). "You doing a brake job?" they asked him when he wanted both the left and right sides. "Yeah, we get a lot of these calls because of rusted on rotors" the ****** at the Ford place joked. Grr. Worked absolutely great for me, and I'd bet I can repeat it with great success in less time next. I took a little extra time to use a vernier caliper to measure the depth of the groove made by the whizz wheel and the sawsall on the front to back cut to make sure it did not go into the hub. By the way, the groove stopped at around the diameter made by the wheel studs. I tried whacking it before getting out the dremel tool to get any closer, and I was happy to see that the chisel just opened up the sucker, continuing the line started by the whizwheel. Can we post pictures here? Maybe I can take a picture of the rotor, and put a cold chisel in it to show what I'm talking about. |
Hi, any advice for the reae rotors?
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what i did for the rears, i put quite a bit of pb blaster in where the wheel studs come out. and let it soak in on all sides of the bolt hole, under the hat, be liberal with it, but don't get ridiculous with it. next i put on two lug nuts and tightened them just about snugly and that broke the rotor free from the backing.
what i did to prevent this in the future is to sand the inside of the rotor where it meets the hub, the hub flange, the outside of the rotor hat and the inside of the wheel and put a thin film of synthetic grease and put it all back. i haven't had to do the fronts yet because they're not warped and i really felt the wheel bearings were good and tight and spun well. i'll do them in a year or so, but the gentleman who suggested to put a threaded stud in the rotor mounting threads is a great idea. |
Mine came off easy. You may have to back off on the parking brake shoes. Do a search to find out which way to turn the adjuster star...
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Just did my front brakes the other night, was going to use the bolt method but found out I didn't have any bolts the right size. Then the light bulb came on, got out my bearing puller set and took just the cross part and the puller bolt. This was just the right size to go between the holes for the caliper bracket, and let me use a small piece of 1/4" steel to spread the force @ the rotor. Couple shots of penetrating oil, tightened up the puller bolt, and a couple whacks with a hammer and the rotor popped right off, finished the whole job in about an hour counting the test drive. Thank God for this forum, without the idea for the bolts I'd probably still be beating the poor thing.
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i just don't know guys, unless you are not using the rotors again, i would NOT hit them with any metal hammers and definitely no sledges. penetrating oil and a puller is a good idea. i had success with penetrating oil and tightening two lugnuts on the rotor (with the wheel off of course) and found that to break the galvanic connection. then again, i don't like where it snows and road salt and all that, although i do live at the beach and the air is salty all year long, i did have to deal with this problem for the rears.
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Originally Posted by SoCal01
i just don't know guys, unless you are not using the rotors again, i would NOT hit them with any metal hammers and definitely no sledges.
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you'd be dead wrong to assume that.
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And you know this how? I don't believe I've seen a single person here asking how to put dented and smashed rotors back into service.
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Originally Posted by SoCal01
i just don't know guys, unless you are not using the rotors again, i would NOT hit them with any metal hammers and definitely no sledges. penetrating oil and a puller is a good idea. i had success ...
At that diameter, and this serious problem, gear pullers don't do much... besides it gets to be dangerous when you see the rotor arched like steel, and still won't move ;-). You can slice them off quite easily -- messy job though having to remove all that material.... |
Originally Posted by fordinsky
Well, right there is the magic: you had success, and others didn't. After soaking the rotors for hours with all the anti-seize liquids and anti-rust and oils for 6 hours -- I had to cut bait and cut off the rotors!
At that diameter, and this serious problem, gear pullers don't do much... besides it gets to be dangerous when you see the rotor arched like steel, and still won't move ;-). You can slice them off quite easily -- messy job though having to remove all that material.... |
Remove wheel, Beat on it with a small hammer, swear, get a beer and a bigger hammer, beat on it with a bigger hammer, swear more, get another beer and the propane torch, heat it up and beat on it with the biggest hammer you have, kick it and swear at it a few times, go get cutting torch and another beer, get it as hot as you can, swear and hit it as hard as you can with a sledgehammer.
Replace brakes, or is that breaks?... In all seriousness, it took an oxy-acetylene torch to heat up the rotors on my 99 Expedition enough to get the rotors off, along with lots of swearing. |
Originally Posted by sanman1969
After reading a few more brake threads I'm a little worried... I did replace both of my rotors and pads but the previous set of pads had more wear on the inside pads. Do you think I should have replaced the caliper? Other thread say that wear on the inside pad can be caused by the caliper not returning... Anyone with any thoughts.
Also, has anyone else used the bolt technique? 2000 Exp with 73,000 miles Mark So in addition to pads, I went ahead and replaced calipers (rebuilt units) and rotors (new NAPA parts). I was at 166K and figured it was time. They were surpringly cheap ($75 for both front rotors, and about $120 for both of the calipers). I plan to go back and replace the brake hoses too. Not as cheap, but hey it's cheap "insurance". Also, regarding stuck rotors, I remember many vehicles I've owned had threaded holes through which you drove bolts, in a similar fashion to the original post above, to free up rotors. Too bad those holes arent provided for as a standard design feature. Since I was replacing my rotors anyway, I just banged the heck out of them with my 2-pound sledge until they gave way... |
I just did a brake upgrade on my '96 and I didn't have the bolt holes in my rotors. I worked for 3 days to get my all 4 of my rotors off with no success. I kept hearing out good PB Blaster is, so I went out and got a can. Less than 15 minutes after I put it on I was able to beat each rotor off with a 10 lb sledge.
REAL point of this story ... Since I upgraded to some nice slotted rotors (which I LOVE) and I don't want to destroy them if I have to remove them, I used anti-seze compound (yes, the grey stuff you put on spark plugs) on both the hub and back of the rotors. Even if I get the rotors wet, they shouldn't rust ever! I've used this trick on other cars with promising results. |
Originally Posted by Eric S.
So in addition to pads, I went ahead and replaced calipers (rebuilt units) and rotors (new NAPA parts). I was at 166K and figured it was time. They were surpringly cheap ($75 for both front rotors, and about $120 for both of the calipers). I plan to go back and replace the brake hoses too. Not as cheap, but hey it's cheap "insurance".
Shane |
Originally Posted by quick35th
Sorry to bring this old thread back but where did you get your rebuilt calipers at for $75? Reason I ask is I think I have a sticking caliper in the front. If I have to agressively stop (not slowly/gentally coming to a stop) as soon as I let up off the brake peddle I can feel a slight pop/thud come from the front.
Shane |
just changed my front rotors today banged on them for about 3 hrs. gave up
and went an bought a 7``angle grinder and cut them down to the hub about a 1/4 inch before the hub. cut it like a piece of pie then wacked it with the 4 lb. sledge hammer. after a few good whacks it became loose an d fell off |
I'd have to recommend the grinder approach, cutting yourself a piece of "pie," then taking that chunk and use a very big chisel (happened to be laying around in the garage) and wedging it against the hub then taking a big freakin' hammer and driving it home. Eventually it's gonna peel like an orange. I did happen to try the screw method recommended above with heavy duty bolts (thickest that would fit through the caliper mounting holes) and they both snapped, there was that much force required.
Drink plenty of booze, get more booze, get creative as to what words you'll come up with, and be persistent. I didn't have a torch or a sawzall, but the angle grinder was the best thing to use in hacking up the rotor... be sure to wear gloves and goggles. |
I did snap the handles of an old school miner's pick axe, the sledge hammer approach proved futile, and also the leverage of a prybar with a pipe also got bent to hell as well.
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I have seen a bunch of these, when they are really bad, order rotors and get the torch. On the really bad ones the rotors have to be heated around the outer edge of the rotor hub face, then hit with the sledge, if that still dont work you have to start cutting into the rotor from the middle out, mind you this gets the rotor glowing red...after the rotor cracks, a few good slugs and it comes off. If you don't want to replace the rotors and they still have enough to cut, take them to a shop that has an oncar brake lathe, this will save you time and headaches..so dont start slaming on the rotor just yet. Hope this helps.
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After reading about the frozen rotors I removed all of my rotors within a few months of purchasing the truck (Jan 04) and I applied a bit of antisieze to the contact area of the hub and rotor to prevent this problem for when I do need a brake job. Just something for all to consider.
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Antisieze
This is a great idea---but be sure it's applied especially to the 1/2in wide EDGE of the hub---not just the face. Most of the corrosion occurs between the edge of the hub and the inside edge of the rotor. At least that was the problem in my case.
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THANK YOU sanman1969!
While not a Ford owner, nor enthusiast, you solved a problem than has frustrated me for several days. Good to know the jack bolt trick works equally well on a Chevy Silverado. Having moved to the upper mid-west several years ago from the deserts of California, this is the first time I've had heavy corrosion as an issue during a brake job. 3 days of PB blaster, hammers and frustration were solved in 10 minutes and $3 worth of nuts and bolts. |
I'm in hopes that here in Va, they won't be too badly rusted on. I'll find out in a few weeks. Great pointers by all BTW. I also think I'll place sheet of felt paper behind the new rotors. What do you all think? Is there a better material that will resist decay or would anti seize just be better?
Tim |
:-tapWe had to replace the whole hub assembly with the rotors still frozen on.:-fire
___________ Calcul taux d'interet immobilier meilleur banque | Taux d interets legal emprunt actuel | Calcul taux d'interet immobilier |
Originally Posted by tseekins
(Post 8107724)
I also think I'll place sheet of felt paper behind the new rotors. What do you all think?
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Soak the rotor with pb blaster where it meets the hub, let it sit a while, spray it again, then loosen the lug nuts on the wheel by about 1/2 turn or so, then slowly back the truck about 3-5 feet or so. The weight of the vehicle/engine will pop the rotors from the rust. Don't over do it, just a couple of feet is all it takes. The popping noise can be pretty loud. Bring the truck forward, jack it up, remove the wheels and caliper, then tap the rotors, they should fall off easier. Worked for me, keep in mind I also planned to replace the rotors anyway and rebuilt the calipers, etc, this trick just makes it go quicker.
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