Just a friendly reminder.

[Jcovill125]

PREFORM ROUTINE MAINTENANCE!!!!!!!!

Here's the back story.

A month ago the front end developed a slight wobble in the steering wheel when breaking. I say "slight" because it wasn't that bad when when applying a small amount of force on the brakes.

BUT

That "slight" wobble became a much bigger problem when you factor in a little bit of defensive driving.. Who am I kidding, I live in the Metro Detroit area.... all my driving is defensive. lol.

SO, I do what any responsible driver should do and I investigate said wobble. Rotors were to blame. I purchased new ones and started the hour long job. Well, one hour turned to two, turned to 8...

A friend and I tried everything to get these bastard rotors off.

Heat? nope.
PB Blaster? nope.
More heat?! nope.
Dead blow hammer? nope.
Deep creep and couple beers? nope. But we we're feeling good.
5lb sledge? nope.
10lb sledge?! still nope.
MORE HEAT!! nope.
Break fluid and a few more beers? nope. And yes please.

At this point we turned to YouTube for answers. And apparently this is a common problem in the rust belt....

After a few minutes of searching (hour 8) we resorted to a pry bar and cut off wheel.

So in conclusion. A break job that should have taken an hour to finish, ended with an empty six pack and two cut rotors.

Moral of the story? PREFORM ROUTINE MAINTENANCE!!!!


Side note: the rotors in question were in fact OE. So if my maths are good. they have been on the truck since September of 2002. making them 12 years old. (they STILL had A LOT of meat on them too!)

 

[stamp11127]

We have a similar problem on semi's brake drums. A bigger "manly" sledge hammer usually does the trick. We call it the "motivator".

Let pb blaster sit over night and it will help.

 

[IMINYOURCHAIR]

try picking up an expy with 276k with most of it's original front end parts still attached.

30 minute pitman arm took eight. everything else went as planned because "southern USA"

 

[DetroitDarin]

Last time I did breaks I eneded up swinging the flat side of an axe, baseball style, into the rotors to break them free. Glad you got 'em fixed

 

[Jcovill125]

I'm glad they came off after all the persuading we did. it was getting ridiculous.

 

[lve2wheel]

Live in Michigan too. I use a 2 1/2 pound sledge on the face of the rotor between all the lugs usually does the trick after a few good wacks. Sometimes a little persuation with heat or pb blaster is needed around the hub. Last time I did mine, I put a tiny tiny bit of antisieze on the hub where the rotor sits now they pull right off every time no problem.

 

[thewishkah]

I had the same issue on my truck. I ended up buying some thick bolts ,washers, and nuts and used the holes for the brake caliper mount, the bolts, and an impact wrench to tighten the bolts through the back of the hole to push the rotors off. After a few spins turn the rotor and do it again. You can hear the rotor pop when it breaks the rust seal. I did break 2 bolts in the process so buy a few extra. The did not work for the rear since they are set up a little different. For that I used a pry bar and dead blow hammer. here is a youtube video showing how to do it. It is not my video but same process I just used an impact gun. Remove Rusted Brake Rotors ( Easy for any car or truck ) - YouTube

 

[robbieg]

+1!!! This is by far the easiest way I have found to remove stuck/rusted rotors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtsTJCRljAs

 

[FordandPolaris]

When mine were stuck, I just replaced the entire wheel hub on each front. They were completely seized. The back rotors practically fell off in comparison.