Hello.

I know this has been asnwered before; but I can not find it. I also know this is supposed to be real simple; thus I think I am missing something real simple.

I have new ART rotors and pads ready to go on. I can not get the rotor off. I will assume it is 2 peices from that I see, otherwise they sent me the wrong part.

I took off the caliper, no problem. Took out the front hub switch assembly. I see the u-clip and bolt in there. I pull the clip out a little (won't come out all the way) and see the bolt spinning. But not matter what I do the rotore does not budge.

So what is holding that sucker on there? Again probably simple; but I just can not see it. Plus not sure why that u-clip (horseshoe clip) is too tight to take all the way out. Did not want to ruin anything so I did not pull too hard on it.

(2001 F250, 4x4 5.4 in case you wanted to know)

Thanks.

 

Should be what is called a floating rotor. Many times it is stuck on from rust and corrision. Spray penatrating oil on rotor hub and nut studs and hit hub with big hammer (careful of the studs).Also if your replacing the rotors you can hit it from behind on the rotor surface.good luck

 

Really, that is it. Just beat the sucker out. OK, I can see that.

I will say that for 50,000 miles the brakes and rotors are still good. I thought for sure with that milage I they needed to be replaced. Given what I see they are good for another 20,000 easy.

 

I had 80k on my brakes on the 97 F-150, still had life yet. Replace because I was doing ball joints and tie-rod ends. Just smacker loose.later.

 

On my 94 F250 which has press fit studs, you have to press the studs out to get the rotor off. You should use a hydraulic press, but... the old sledghammer and a block of steel as a cushion work just fine.

Some studs might have a internal style star washer which needs to be removed first. It is real obvious and from what I have read does not need to be replaced. I think the washer is used on the semi floating rotors, not press fit.

To replace the stud just put them in and torque them down to get them to seat. Do this while the hub is off the truck so you can inspect things.

If you are lucky, your model does not have the press fit studs like mine does, if so you can just pound the rotor with a rubber mallet or use a torch to loosen the rusty spots.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

just wack it

 

My truck had like 40k when I swapped in the ART brakes. Had a hell of a time getting the rotors off. Best thing to do is spray a good amount of wd-40 (or similar) where the rotor and hub meet, outside and inside too. Let it sit as you do the others. Then tap all the way around till it comes off.

After about a hour, trying to get one rotor off I knew they where gonna end up on the scrap pile. Rears came off easier tho. Believe it or not I got all the way up to using a full size sledge-hammer.

Nelson

 

If you are having trouble getting the rotors off it is probably because it uses pressed in studs. Check my last post.

A semi floating rotor or whatever it is called should not require a lot of whacking. Pressed in studs will require either a press or whacking on the studs(with a cushion between), not the rotor. Whacking a rotor with a steel hammer is not good.

If at first you don't succeed, stop and evaluate the situation. Don't always use a bigger hammer.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

From what I was told before there is nothing to it, no special pressing tools needed. I have a friend who has the sam eyear truck and his rotor setup is different than mine; but like yours. I was just checking to make sure there was not something else I was supposed to take off.

But it is all good. Last time I stopped and started a few times just to give a different look to it. As you said to evaluate the situation.

 

Oh, one other thing...

I assumed you already had the wheel hub/rotor assembly off the truck right?

Actually if the rotor is semi floating that should not be necessary since the rotor should just come off. But with pressed studs you must remove the wheel assembly.


With pressed on studs, you have to have the wheel hub/rotor off to press the studs. Getting the assembly off is tricky, you mentioned the U clip and bolt but there is one other large C clip that holds the hub/rotor on my 94 4x4. The C clip is about the size of a piston ring and sits in a groove on the inside diameter of the hub about 1/2 inch from the opening. Since things are greasy, the big C clip is hard to see. You can feel it and with a small screw driver or sharp poker, you can get the end of the clip out of the groove and then it comes out easy. Then the hub/rotor comes off the truck and then you remove the rotor.

So if you are having trouble getting the rotor separated from the hub and if the hub is still on the truck, you need to remove the big C clip. Be careful not to damage the grease seal and the wheel assembly is heavy. It took me a couple weeks to figure this one out even with help from this web site and Haynes, no one ever mentioned the C clip. I think it is on only certain models(mine is a Dana 50 front end). It is really easy to do but hard to see.

I am pretty sure you only need to do this for pressed studs. My other two cars with semi floating rotors just pop off, no sweat.


Good Luck,

Jim Henderson