I know this topic has been discussed before, but none of the ideas that I found on this forum have worked.
I'm in Massachusetts and I am in the process of trying to get my front rotors off.
So far I have applied heat with a propane torch, beaten with a BFH between the studs, tried the 1/2" bolt trick through the caliper mounting holes, tried driving the vehicle with the wheel and caliper mounted loosely and I cannot get the rotor to break loose. So tomorrow night I plan to get out the sawsall and the 4.5" grinder. A friend of a coworker who owns a garage laughed at my plight and advised that he cuts the rotors.
In my 30 years of driving this the first drum or rotor that I have not been able to get off by any of the above methods and when I was in college I used to do brake jobs on the side. I have 88000 miles on my 98 and this is about to be the third set of brakes. Anyone have any other suggestions? At this point I am willing to try anything on the other side.
I should add that this vehicle is exposed to excessive road salt in the winter and is used on the beaches of Cape Cod for most of the other seasons,but it never has been driven through saltwater.

 

Well you have certainly tried most of the heavy duty approaches before cutting it off. Just a couple clarifications for you that might help. The corrosion in my case was NOT on the face of the hub to the back face of the rotor as I would guess. In my case corrosion builds up between the EDGE of the hub and the inside side of the rotor---hard to explain. The clearance there is very small and corrosion builds up uniformily all around. I used the two bolts pushing on the back of the rotor through the bracket to get mine off. Tighten one at a time--working back and forth and rapping the rotor with a decent hammer (also be sure to soak the rotor around the studs (even though that may not be the area stuck--and if you can get at the back of the hub and squirt PBBlaster or Liq Wrench between the hub and rotor--I actually didn't do that) Then loosen the bolts and rotate 45deg and tighten the bolts again tight and hit again. Do this three or four times continuing to rotate it. The problem is the bolts push on only about 1/3 of the rotor so you get uneven pressure. But I gotta believe if you keep doing that it will gradually let go. There is a danger of wrapping the rotor if you tighten them too tight. Also did you try heat while the bolts were tightened up.

Well good luck---let us know how it turns out for you. Fortunately on my 2000 in Wisconsin (60K) it still popped off after just two attemps---then I cleaned everything well and applied Never Seize to the obvious areas where it was seizing up. Once this is done I doubt it will occur again.

 

Trucker 22,
I agree with everything you are saying 100%, especially about the corrosion on the inside mating surface between the hub and the rotor. That is exactly what I see. I tried applying the heat with the two bolts applying pressure and I was hoping for the "pop", but it never happened. I tried pounding the rotor from the inside and outside with bolt pressure applied When I did the brakes the first time, I had to pound between the studs, but both rotors came off. I spent about five hours yesterday trying to get this rotor off and I really thought that all the ideas on this subject on the forum were excellent ideas, which is why I gave them a try.

I do recall however that I had an old IH Scout prior to my Exp which I used on the Cape beaches as well. When it was time to do front end work on that vehicle it was a nightmare to get everything apart because of the saltwater exposure, but the old solid axles were more suited for repairs with the BFH than the front end of the expedition.

 

Well I'm out of ideas! You've tried them all that I know of. Really a surprise that applying bolt pressure and then expanding the rotor with heat would not break that corrosion loose.

Sounds to me like the Sawzall is in order---they say you cut a V in the rotor surface and then when you get the the hub you break it apart with chisel and BFH. What a shame.

Sounds like your salt water is worse than our WI winter!

 

While I have no more new ideas on removing the rotors -- I do suggest you use a small ammount of never-sieze on the rotor and backing before reinstalling. I have found this to help this situation -- and not affect rotor run out on vehicles which are very suseptable to that -- good luck -- Dale

 

I'ts one of the 'better ideas' to have the close tolerance. I did mine last week and sometimes it's easier to take the bearing out and use a press. Sometimes they break even with the never seize. That's why they call it the rust belt up here

 

Well, I got the first rotor off in a little more than a half hour. Here is how I did it: Made two cuts with sawzall between two studs from the outside diameter of the rotor toward the axle. Make sure to cut all the way thru on the inner braking surface and continue until you just nick the hub. I found the region where the caliper normally is mounted is the safest place to cut. Cut very carefully so that you don't damage anything. You will need blades that are made for approx. 1/4" thick steel.
Place a pipe wrench with a piece of pipe on the handle if necessary on the rotor between the two cuts and push on pipe wrench toward the center of the axle. The wedge shaped piece will snap off almost at the axle hub outside diameter. If this piece snapped easily, then make an additional cut spaced a little further apart and snap that piece off. Continue to repeat this process. As I got half way around the rotor, a wedge shaped piece snapped off with a section of the hub of the rotor. I then pried the remaining rotor section off with a screwdriver. I child could have pried off the remaining rotor piece. I'm looking forward to getting the other rotor off. If I had thought of this sooner I could have saved myself a lof of aggravation. I definitely will use the antiseize for reassembly.

 

Did you find the interference to be the edge of the hub on the inside back of the rotor? Just curious.

One note on Never Seize. Use it very sparingly. Nice really thin film is all that is needed as far as I know. The rotors get hot and the compound softens and flings everywhere that you don't want it.

After you are back up and running another good thing to do is at every tire rotation "wiggle" the rotor---it should move some on the hub telling you it's not seized to the hub. If it won't move then would be a good idea to free it up before it gets really bad again.

Are you buying high performance rotors? I still have factory--some report good results with other than OEM.

 

Trucker22,

The interference was at the edge of the hub on the inside because once I had approx. a half the braking surfaces portion of the rotor broken off, it was very easy to pry off th remaining rotor section.
You make very good points about checking the rotors at the time of tire rotation and using never seize sparingly.
I purchased Bendix rotors which are the more expensive of two choices at my auto parts store at about $62.00 each with a one year warranty. I did not buy high performance rotors last time around and I had no problems with rotor warpage, which was a pleasant surprise as our other Ford products seem to be prone to rotor warpage with our driving styles.

 

thanks for the confirmation---seems that is where the corrosion builds up and glad you have things under control !

 

You left out the "Large doses of PB Blaster over several days method" Worked like a charm for me. That and 5lb. hammer , but they came off in one piece!


DOC

 

Hey man, I just recently did the front rotors on my 99 exped. 4x4.

It was TOUGH. Tried all the tips and tricks on here (bolts, etc.)

None of them worked worth a damn!

POUND POUND POUND POUND POUND!


My rotors finally popped off with a 4lb sledge, or was it 5lb? Either way, doesn't matter. Get yourself a decent sledge hammer. It is very tough to get a great swing at the rotor with the lugs there. You can protect them from the hammer ruining the threads by screwing on the nuts. Or if you want you can pound them out, they will draw back in when you remount your tire. I think I only ended up pounding one or two out. First one came out due to a poor swing...

But anyway, prep however you would like (removing lugs, screwing on nuts, appling a penetrating oil, or whatever etc...) And just pound the **** out of it. It took me at least a half hour of pounding to get them off. (each) I tried not to let the hammer bounce, just smash it into the face of the rotor and try to keep it in contact with it, to really drive that force into the rotor. I do say you should wear some hearing protection, you'll thank me when your old. And while your at it, why not some safety glasses?

Keep in mind, i'm no professional so I back up none of my suggestions. Use them with your own discretion. And most of all have fun! haha

You'll get them eventually.

 

I tried pounding the crap out of the rotors initially to no avail. I have used the pounding method on many occasions but this was the first time ever that I could not get either one to break free. In order to avoid damage to the studs, I hold a small 2# sledgehammer between the studs and then beat on that sledge with a larger one.
Besides, I get worried that with that much pounding, something else could fail (on the vehicle). By the way, the second rotor came off with three cuts in less than a half hour.

 

I was also worried about possbily messing up other areas of the suspension also. All mechanics I talked to said to just keep at it. Eventually it worked. I think someone mentioned it earlier, throw some anti-seeze on the new rotors for future relief.

 

I've replaced my '97 rotors twice already and once you start beating on them, they're junk! So be sure you're going all the way!! I've used anti seize and even coated the rotor backs but both times I had to cut them off. I just used a die grinder and cut lines between the studs and chisled out the pieces. Eventually they come off. just don't cut too deep or you'll cut into the hub. It's a messy job but it works..