my son has a 03 exp, he bought rear rotors and pads,thought this would be A easy job his pads had some meat left on them but since we had new rotors we would put them on well we could not get them off. do you have to remove the emergency brake cable?? it seemed like the emergency brake shoes were holding the rotor on

 

If you cannot get the rotors off you may have to back off the shoes for the parking brake. To do this you will have to pull a small rubber plug out of the backing plate and use a brake spoon or a large flat bladed screwdriver to rotate the star wheel inside the backing plate.

 

craig thanks for the reply

 

I replaced the rear rotors on my 99EB last weekend. They were quite difficult to remove - not because of the e-brake shoes but because they were seized tight to the hub. Once I got it broken free from the hub, the brake shoes did hold it, but you could still move the rotor around forward/back. So - if you've already broken them from the hub, you should just be able to keep working them back and forth until you can get them over the shoes. Try to reach down behind the rotor with a pry bar and work the shoe back towards the hub.

If they don't move at all, it's not the parking brake. I used lots of heat and a long heavy bar so that I could get a hard swing at the rotor in the little opening in the brake shield. Trying to tap it and miss the mounts for the caliper was not possible without the long bar acting as a giant punch.

I did not remove the parking brake cable, and the parking brake adjusters were frozen so turning them to loosen the parking brake was not an option.

 

cact34r thanks for the reply i think i have to do the same thing you did, with the heat. thanks

 

One post I read that on this board that I thought was a great idea - use a 1/8" grinder and cut 3 slots in the rotor, back near the braking surface. Then, use a gear puller, put the jaws in the slots you cut, and pull. I think they would come off easy if you had the right pull on them.

As I was hitting, I would turn the rotor because it has to come of somewhat straight too.

 

I replaced my rotos on my 03 Expy this summer and ran into some trouble with the front rotors. What seemed to work for me was to remove the caliper and move it out of the way and spray WD40 around the center, around the bolt holes and from behind the rotor then let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes. I then gave swift hits to the rotor INWARD to brake it lose, then I gave it light blows from the back going around the rotor until it starts to seperate. The first one took me around 30 minutes, once I knew what to do the second was done in half the time. I didn't have any issues with the back ones but I would suggest doing the same for the back as I did for the front. By the way, this was the first time the rotors had been replaced from the time I bought the Expy back in June of 03'. Hope this helps out, good luck!

 

If you're replacing the rotors, take a sawzall with metal cutting blade to them. Cut down between the vanes and be carefull not to cut into the hub. One or 2 whacks with a hammer or a chisel in the cut and they'll pop right off. Less than 5 minutes per rotor and very easy. Brush anti-seize on the mating surfaces so you don't have the same problem in the future.

 

thanks for the replys you have good ideas i am sure i wont have any problems ,as if one idea dont work,i have several to chose from every body has been very helpful thanks

 

This is what I do, I use a 2lb. sledge hammer and I give the rotor a wack between the studs in a star pattern. This should loosen the rotor.
LKWDF350

 

Hi all,
I changed the rear rotors and replaced the pads on our 2003 Expedition XLT today. The first one was a real challenge & as I didn't find the answers I needed from the Expedition forum, and as I've yet to find a Haynes or similar manual for anything beyond an '02 Expy, I thought I'd list the steps that I used and that worked rather quickly on the 2nd rotor. Here'go

1-Chock wheels securely, loosen lug nuts, then jack up 1st wheel.
2-Remove the wheel & tire
3-Go ahead & liberally spray the seam between the spindle and the rotor now with a thread loosener.
4-Remove the two 18mm bolts that hold the caliper assy to the backplate of the spindle.Take a large flat head or similar, wedge between rotor and pads & gently pry open a bit forcing the caliper piston to retract. You'll need 1/4" to 1/2" to free caliper assy.
5-Pull caliper assy up and away from rotor. Simply twist the assy and set atop A arm above rotor for now.
6-With the wheels firmly chocked to prevent rolling, put the transmission into neutral. Using a pry bar or similar, wedge it between several lug bolts and force the rotor to spin. This will assure that the emergency brake (drum brake assy, unseen, inside the rotor) is not sticking or hanging up.
Then take a hammer and whack the rotor between the lug bolts. Hit it hard as you need to break the corrosion welding the rotor to the spindle.
7-Next take a rubber mallet and hit the backside of the disc as hard as you can a couple of times. Rotate the rotor 180 degrees using the pry bar, and hit again. Continue this while rotating the rotor in an alternating pattern until the rotor breaks free of the spindle. (Note - hit a block of wood with a hammer if you don't have a rubber mallet).
8-The rest is pretty straight-forward. I laid the flat side of the pry bar across the piston, then used a c clamp to slowly, gently push the piston back into the full retracted position.
9-Pull the old pads and install the new ones. I used a silicon grease on the backside of the pads wherever they touched the piston or caliper to help prevent squealing.
10-Clean what corrosion you can from the spindle ring and the span between the lug bolts, wherever it meets the rotor. I again used a very thin layer of silicon grease on these surfaces to prevent them from bonding from corrosion in the future. Others spoke of using anti-seizure paste for this.
11-Install the rotor then swing the caliper assy down into place.
12-Re-install bolts securing caliper assy.
13-Hang the wheel back on and install lug nuts. Remember to re-tighten in an alternating pattern once you've lowered & removed the jack.

Hope this helps & please share your experience on this or any other tricky repairs on your '03+ Expedition.

Thanks, Wedo43

 

Only thing I would add is that I remove the master Cylinder cap and placed a few rags underneath to prevent any major spillage of brake fluid for when i depressed the caliper piston - great write up!

 

When I do brakes, I loosen the master cylinder cap but never remove it and I place rags around the master cylinder. I once saw the oil splash from the master cylinder with the cap removed while someone else was collapsing one of the wheel pistons. I'm always afraid fo getting brake fluid on the paint.

 

True dat! DOT 3-4 is great paint remover.

 

or open the bleeder screw on the caliper and push that dirty brake fluid out, instead of back up into your master cylinder.