Hello All.

New to the forum, but not necessarily to rangers. My first vehicle was an '87 ranger, which I have passed on to my dad, and he has now moved through several of them since.

His latest one is a 2000 2WD with the 4 cyilinder engine. He is looking to have me help him change his brake rotors out, and Im just trying to figure out which ones to actually buy.

It looks like from the various parts searches I have done, that the rotors come with a bearing and the lugs already installed? All of the previous brake jobs I have done the rotor just slides back over the lugs, it didnt include them.

However, I see some of the rotors for sale that dont have the lugs on them. Im just slightly confused as to what are the right parts to buy, and whats going to change if Im doing a rotor that includes the lugs/bearing.

Sorry if this is a repeat post, I have done a search and couldnt find anything that was specific to this.

Thanks in advance!

~Bug

 

OK, Lets start form the beginning--after you have the front(left or right) of the truck jacked up and secure with jack stands, and you remove the wheel, you are looking at the caliper and rotor. first off-the caliper..should be 2 bolts(standard heads), or Allen screws(most common) on the backside of the caliper..locate these,and remove carefully(Righty tighty,lefty loosy)-these are your slider pins for the caliper to move in and out. Do NOT remove the dust boots for the pins. Clean and inspect for any damage -scoring ,gouging, bluing(too hot)-replace if not perfect..once these are removed, lift up on caliper to remove from bracket. Take out the outer pad, and secure caliper with wire ,bungy, etc..loosen, but do not remove master cylinder cap-Back to caliper -get a large c-clamp, and place over the inner pad and a flat surface on the back or the caliper, and slowly squeeze piston back into caliper. Don't force it -it should go in smoothly, meanwhile, take a peak at the master, so it doesn't overflow(wick with paper towel or remove excess with old turkey baster). Once that's done, secure caliper on wire hanger, or bungy-don't let caliper hang on its own weight-you'll damage hose and/or fittings..Check bracket to make sure its in good repair, and tight.. The rotor-remove dust cap at the center of the rotor -use a flat tip screwdriver and work it around the raised lip against the rotor, slightly twisting the screwdriver to work off the cap, or try channel locks, just don't squeeze too hard, you'll damage the cap. Once the cap is off, you see a cotter pin, remove and throw away-always use a new cotter pin when doing this work-there is a hub nut keeper, the hub nut, a keyed flat washer, and then the wheel bearing. Once you remove the hub nut, grab the rotor and pull it slightly to you, and the washer and bearing should fall in your hand. Wipe off the spindle once you've removed the rotor. Since you are replacing with new rotors, they should have the bearing races already pressed in.(the lugs should already be installed) You can buy without races, but you'll have to have them pressed in(not something you can do unless you have an Arbor Press or hydraulic type press),and you have to pay the parts store to do this (if they can). Best advice, buy rotors with new races.. and while you're at it, buy NEW bearings..I never put old bearings in new rotors. There is an inner bearing and an outer bearing-usually different diameters-have the parts guy mark the boxes inner and outer. You'll need dust seals for the inner bearing. Sometimes the inner bearing comes with the seal-check the box.. Everything is NEW, you know where you stand with this repair. Get a can of hi-temp wheel bearing grease-synthetic is fine if you choose..start with the INNER bearings-buy a bearing packer or place grease in the palm of your hand and take the edge of the bearing and press it into the grease, rotating the bearing as you go to get grease into the rollers-hold the inner race of the bearing and turn the outer to lube all the rollers, and then palm some more grease into the bearing till it just won't take any more, then gently place the inner bearing into the backside of the rotor-take the dust seal(flat side out) and GENTLY tap into place with a light hammer, or take a large socket(BIG!!), and try to put into place. Place the rotor aside, grab the outer bearing, and palm some grease the same way as the inner..all packed up -OK, lets put the rotor on the spindle gently, and then take the outer bearing and place it on the spindle(watch,as the bearing is conical), put the keyed flat washer on the spindle and then your hub nut. There are different ways to tighten the hub nut(there is a torque setting)-me, I like to snug up the hub nut just enough to make the rotor hard to turn-don't stand on it -just enough so it doesn't spin freely, then back it off 1/4 -1/2 turn, then snug with your fingers. It should spin freely-grab the rotor and pull in and out-if its too sloppy, snug up on the hub nut a little more, and recheck for slop. OK, align the hub nut keeper-with the holes in the spindle, and put in you're NEW cotter pin, and bend it to keep it from falling out. Replace the hub cap by gently tapping it in place with a light hammer. Wipe of new rotor with a degreasing cleaner.. Put in your NEW pads, drop the caliper in place-grease the caliper bolts with some synthetic caliper grease, and line up the caliper, and install the bolts. You can put some Thread-Locker on the threads if you choose(use sparingly)..Check brake fluid level, replace cap, step on pedal a couple of times-recheck fluid level-TAKE FOR TEST DRIVE. The only alternate course was to bleed the calipers as you were pressing the piston back into the caliper. But, then you'll have to bleed the whole system..I don't know how old the fluid is-if it's not a light amber, then bleed till its clean..Most of all, take your time to do it right. Invest in a Chiltons Manual for the vehicle-it'l save time and MONEY!! Hope this a help to you...

 

As with all repairs safety is #1!!!!!

 

Wow!

Thanks for the quick, and very through reply! So all this really turns into is a brake job + a bearing replacement at the same time.... I have just never seen the bearing races in the rotor before, it has always been a separate piece.

I very much appreciate the time you put into the writeup! Ill make sure to print while working away on it in a few weeks.

Is there an easy way, short of taking off and measuring, to determine what diameter rotors are on the truck? I see waaaaay too many options when I try to buy them....

 

If you give the parts guy your truck info(year, model, engine size, 4x2 or 4x4, and sometimes "date of manufacture" could be critical because of parts change in a given model year), He should be able to fit you with the right part-I think the only option on rotors is if it's a 4x2 or 4x4(not sure), but drums are a different animal with 2 sizes to choose from on late model Rangers...Should'nt be too hard to get an idea of the diameter with just taking the wheel off, but I don't think it is necessary...

 

Thanks again DRB.

I have had the problem with the parts guy (depends on who I get) because there are two different rotor sizes for the same truck. At this point Im just looking at rockauto.com to get an idea of whats out there.

If I understand you correctly, the bearing races are pressed into the rotors already, along with the lugs, correct? So to buy new bearings, I just need an inner and outer cone? (Sorry, I know, very newbie questions)

I just am looking at different bearing kits from Napa, Advance Auto and RockAuto and Im not sure what all of the differences are...

Thanks!

 

OK, so I stand corrected-there are 3 sizes that I saw on the Advance Auto web site. I did not give any thought to anti-lock brakes..I thought all Rangers were rear wheel anti-lock only. On the web site there are sizes for 4x4, and then 4x2, and then 4 wheel anti-lock, and then rear wheel only anti-lock. We've established that you have a 4x2(rotor should have lugs and races installed), you need to know if you have 4 wheel anti-lock..If you don't have a spec sheet on this truck to find out, pull off one the front wheels, and see if there is a "speed sensor" attached to the the steering knuckle which is also part of the spindle assy. If and when you do pull off a rotor, you will see what is called a "speed sensor ring" on the inside of the rotor, but is around the hub, or where the the wheel bearing would go. If you have both of these parts, than you 4 wheel anti-lock brakes..4 wheel anti-lock brakes are pretty much an option on Rangers, but you never know who bought the truck new and what their preferences are..Hope this helps-I know it can get involved, but once you know what you have, you won't forget if you have to do it again...

 

Hi DRB.

Its rear wheel anti-lock, not the four wheel, so that eliminates that variable. I think I now have it narrowed down, since the last thing to check is just coil springs or torsion bar (according to the online parts listings). Ill check when its not dark out to see which it has, but Im assuming torsion bar. (Who knew there were so many options on one little truck?)

 

Before I forget, yes, you do need an inner and outer bearing set for each rotor, and you DO NEED that dust seal as I explained in the previous post. Where ever you buy your parts, they should be able to help you with the right bearings-if the parts guy is worth his salt!! It can get frustating when you get a parts guy jerking your chain, and acts like he's doing you a favor just being there..I remember that stuff, and they don't get my business now or in the future...more than likely you have torsion arms, just like my '99..

 

Hey,Clark, if you get a chance, give us an update..I'm curious as to how you made out....

 

Clark, hope you and family had a nice holiday!! How did you make out on Dad"s truck??Drop a line to let me know how you did-if you did?

 

Mornin' DRB.

Sorry for the delay, but with the holidays I havent been near the computer too much.

We are about to tackle the brake job today. Its finally going to be warm/dry enough to tear into things (here in upstate NY) that we can get to it.

Hopefully Ill have good news to report by the end of the day, or Ill be posting back on here for more helpful tips if it doesnt go well

Thanks for checkin' in on me!

 

Clark, how did it go?? Hope all is well!! Hope you and yours had a very safe and happy new year!! Drop a line....

 

Hello Hello!

Well, Im guilty again of being lax on the replies... Its hard at home since the folks have Dialup...so it takes about 5 mins to get this page to load up....

The right answer to "how did it go" is really that it didnt.... we pulled the front wheels, and looked at everything, and the front brake system was in great shape. My guess is that someone had already done some work on it. My dad had said it was the front based on the shimmy he had when braking, so I got all set to do a front brake job.

So, we put the fronts back on, and pulled the rear wheel. I could barely turn the hub, and then it just broke and spun, and then caught again... not a good sign. We pried the drum off, and it was clear from looking at the wear spots on the inside that the drum was very out of round. It was a run to the parts store to get drums and shoes, and we slapped everything on the one side. On the other side, the drum slid right off, which was strange. Turns out that the lining had separated from the rear shoe, so that just fell out when we pulled the drum. Good thing more bad things didnt happen before we got to it.

So, while I didnt need to do the front brake job, we DEFINITELY needed to do the rears. I really appreciate your detailed responses! If I run into any other troubles, Ill make sure to post a few new threads! Happy New Year to all!

 

If you had a lining fall off, that tells me the rears overheated, especially with other side being out of round, but that should all be good now, I just wouldn't use the parking brake anymore!!!