stubborn rear rotors

[srJOEYdet]

I am in the process of removing my rear hubs, and I cant get the rotors off. my chilton's manual says that they pull right off... it is possible that they could have been rusted on. What are my options? Thanks,

Joey

[HippoSleek]

I'm sure they are rusted on.  There should be two small holes near the center of the rotor (inside the studs).  Find a bolt that fits and thread it into those holes.  Keep going until they pop off.

[uiuc240]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (HippoSleek @ July 26 2002,07:36)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I'm sure they are rusted on. There should be two small holes near the center of the rotor (inside the studs). Find a bolt that fits and thread it into those holes. Keep going until they pop off.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
and when that still doesn't work, take a hammer and whack the middle of the rotor on the hat part that comes over the hub. &nbsp;hit it a few times and it'll fall right off. &nbsp;you have to bus' the rus' loose.

Eric

[sykikchimp]

A good rubber mallet is one of those tools that you find you need all the time.. &nbsp;that and a breaker bar. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

[hopeful]

take the parking brake off... <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

[SSJ2Gohan]

Haha, I second the parking brake thing.

Hammers are fun. &nbsp;That should work. &nbsp;Your not using the rotors again anyway I imagine so dont worry about damaging them.

[srJOEYdet]

Sorry guys... I was not specific enough. The rear rotors on DOHC S13's don't have the treading in the for the bolts to pop off the rotors. they only have that in the front. And the rotors have a hole in the middlethat that huge 36mm bolt comes through. So I cannot hammer at he middle of the rotor. I will try a rubber mallet. But there isa shroud in the way of the back of the disk. Is this rivited onto the hub or is it removable? My useless chilton's manual doesn't cover it. It brilliantly states to "remove center nut, and pull rotor off" thanks guys

Also: Who said anything about not using the rotors again? I'm not doing a brake swap. I am removing the hubs so I can have the press fit bushing sleeves pushed out by a local machine shop. Unless you can get the hubs off without removing the brakes. My manual said it's the way to do it. Too bad I dont have the $$$ for an FSM.

Joey

[Russki]

Ok, here's what happened with me. I needed a full break job, rotors and brake pads. I snapped a few bolts because of the rust, but that was the easy part. The rear rotors I had to pound on a few times with a hammer to get off, and since i was replacing them, i didn't worry about damage. The front ones weren't so easy to take off. I had to torch them to cherry red... twice and pound on them until chips of the rotor started flying off, after about a half an hour of pounding, it finally came loose. That was both of my front ones. If your rotors are half as rusty as mine were, you will have to get new ones because you will not get them off without damage. You're welcome to try, but I suggest spending the 50 bux or so on a set of new ones. Torching should be your last resort... if you have one that is (i did mine at the dealership where i work so i had all the tools). Well, i think that covers most of it, any other questions just ask. btw, i have a '90 se that has been sitting for 2 years, so rust has invaded the whole underside of the car.

Edit:
sorry, forgot to add that after torching my front ones, i had to repack the bearings in case the grease has crystalized, but i'm not sure how the rear ones work, if you damage anything while torching or not, so be careful about that.

[srJOEYdet]

My problem is that i cannot pund on the rear ones due to the guard things. The cover is on the backside of the disc to protect it from debris.


EDIT: I just gave the left one like 2 taps with a light rubber mallet and it fell right off! (7:40 west coast time)

EDIT 2: Got the second one too. Just gotta do the ball joints and i'm done.

Thanks

Joey

[Fourgig]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (srJOEYdet @ July 26 2002,5:58)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Too bad I dont have the $$$ for an FSM.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
I was trying to replace all 4 rotors on my '97 about 30 minutes ago and I can tell you that the FSM doesn't tell you how to remove the rotors. &nbsp;The best I could find was a picture of the suspension assembly that also included the rotors. &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/dozingoff.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':zzz:'>

It would have been nice if the FSM tells you what size that massive nut is that holds the rotor on. &nbsp;What is that thing? &nbsp;Like 34mm or something? &nbsp;I had to stop after getting the dust cap off cause I didn't have a socket even close to that size. &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cry.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':cry:'>

[HippoSleek]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (srJOEYdet @ July 26 2002,9:26)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">My problem is that i cannot pund on the rear ones due to the guard things. The cover is on the backside of the disc to protect it from debris.


EDIT: I just gave the left one like 2 taps with a light rubber mallet and it fell right off! (7:40 west coast time)

EDIT 2: Got the second one too. Just gotta do the ball joints and i'm done.

Thanks

Joey</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
God bless the BFRM - one of my favorite tools <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

[srJOEYdet]

BFRM.... Big f*cking rubber mallet?

At first i thought you were talking about BFI... Brute force and ignorrance.

The monster nut is a whopping 36mm. The biggest available at schucks. Or checker for others (they are the same store)

P.S. I hate NAPA!