hellasboy

Ok, i'm putting in new rear rotors and i have 1 problem.. I can't get the ******* center bolt off. I'm using a torque wrench and WD-40 and so far no go. I can't believe how hard it is to remove these bolts!!! Any help (before it gets dark )?

Thanks
Nick

hellasboy

maybe it might help if i added a pic

ForNgoods

damn man... i'm bout to replace my rotors too and ur not making me feel any better.

London Bill

Hellasboy;

There is no need to remove the centre hub nut, the rotor will only be held by the rust around the hub, give it (rotor) a few taps with a copper mallet to loosen it up.



If there are any threaded holes in the rotor you could use a couple of bolts to force the rotor off the hub (I cant see from the photo if this is possible).

hellasboy

Thanks Bill,
I've given the rotor a few dozen "taps" with a rubber mallet and a regular hammer (i dont have a copper mallet) and still no go... the rust is incredibly strong. I'll keep on working on it... hopefully soon....

Nick

gadgetSC

Use the threaded holes near the center with a couple bolts. It works best as bill suggested. Sounds dumb but make sure the hand brake isnt set.


gadgetSC

London Bill

Hellasboy;

Although the park brake may be OFF, the wear ring on the internal drum can catch on the brake shoes, might be worth slacking off the shoe adjustment a few notches if the rotor sticks when you try to extract it from the hub.

hellasboy

I'm stuck on finding a screw/nut that will fit the holes to "push" out the rusted rotor. I had enough time to check out 1 place and they only sold standard, not metric...

BUT a guy there told me that I should look around the car for a nut and just borrow that one

So I've been looking for the last 20 minutes and have not seemed to find one yet, any suggestions on where I can find a nut that would fill in these holes? (I'm guessing that the threaded section would need to be 8mm, the nut section at least 10+ mm"

Thanks again!

hellasboy

Ok, i found 2 screws...
that loud metallic pop sound is great!
right now i'm at reinstalling the calipers. I've taken a lot of pics so maybe me or someone else can write an official FAQ with pics.

Camshaft

If anyone has a problem with rust in the future, buy a can of PB penetrating catalyst. It works wonders on rusty stuff, far better than WD40. When all else fails, use direct force.

hellasboy

Ok, im done for the day, i might get a chance tommorow to work on it.

I got the caliper put back on and everything but now my brakes pads are always in contact with the rotor. definitely not good. any ideas on what went wrong and what i can do to fix it? (besides going somewhere to get it fixed... which i just might do but don't want to drive and jack up my new pads and rotors)

London Bill

Hellasboy;

Are you sure it is the disc pads and not the park brake shoes that are holding the brake on?

It is quite common for the single rear piston to "seize" in the caliper, I guess when you push the piston in a bit it picks up crud and then sticks after applying the foot brake, these can be stripped out and re-sealed, the piston can be replaced or polished up with 1200 grade wet&dry rubbing paper using brake fluid as a lubricant as long as it does not have heavy pitting.