Great way to Remove Stubborn Brake Rotors

[PROSTOCKTOM]

Well after fighting to remove one of the front rotors on my Expedition for almost an hour this afternoon I

decided to check out Google to see what the internet experts were doing to remove them.

I ran across this excellent video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtsTJCRljAs

10 mins later the rotor was off.

I thought it was just to good not to share and save someone else the trouble I've went though today.

Tom

 

[SRB]

Nice tip Tom
Somewhat useless for our Chevy's that don't rust though Can you really hear a Ford rust on a quite night?

How about a tip to get the back drums off my dually's, they are tighter than a.........never mind.


Steve

 

[Nick Campagna]

Great tip. When I changed the rotors on my Eldo, the right front came off in pieces, and the left had to be heated so much, the bearings cooked, grease ran out, and they prematurely failed. The inside face rusted to the hubs. I think I'll make a stainless shim, ~.005 so that the new rotors don't become one with the hubs. On the rear, I just took the hub off and used a 20 ton press.

 

[Ted in Olympia]

Neat trick but it was sure painful to watch,

TED

 

[PROSTOCKTOM]

Neat trick but it was sure painful to watch,

TED

Maybe so, but it felt a lot better than sitting on my ass for an hour beating it with a hammer and waving a torch around.

That pair of Brembo rotors lived 180,000 miles, so I figure the new set I just installed will finish out the life of the truck.

Tom

 

[DevilDeVille]

A slide hammer will work for drum removal, also there are hub/drum pullers on the market.

 

[Maddog]

Thats one benefit ofmliving in Florida. No salted on brake rotors. Lol. Great video...

Maddog

 

[73eldoconvert]

I definitely live in the rust belt and work on a lot of rusted crap but have never had that issue before. Drums yes but not a rotor. Dont think I have ever had to tangle with a 4x4 ford like that though. Is there something unique about that design that makes them stick more than other makes or designs?

You tube is great for this stuff most of the time. I had trouble getting the rear rotor/drums off my Dodge and the videos just showed to bash em off. I was looking for a good place to bash when I then noticed the slot to access the adjusters on the shoes. Guess I should have posted a video of the angle you have to look at em to see the slot.

 

[SRB]

Thats one benefit ofmliving in Florida. No salted on brake rotors. Lol. Great video...

Maddog

I agree, good clip. The person in the video made the obivous and smart choices. Big hammer, bigger hammer, sledge hammer. lol lol lol lol

Steve

 

[Cadiac]

Nice tip Tom
Somewhat useless for our Chevy's that don't rust though Can you really hear a Ford rust on a quite night?

How about a tip to get the back drums off my dually's, they are tighter than a.........never mind.


Steve

Have an air hammer? I have a BIG old rivet gun that will get anything to move. lol Rattle back and forth on the flat of drum-against the axle.

 

[PROSTOCKTOM]

Nice tip Tom
Somewhat useless for our Chevy's that don't rust though Can you really hear a Ford rust on a quite night?

How about a tip to get the back drums off my dually's, they are tighter than a.........never mind.


Steve

Have an air hammer? I have a BIG old rivet gun that will get anything to move. lol Rattle back and forth on the flat of drum-against the axle.

I used an air hammer on it also and I always use anti seeze on the hub face as well.

I had also even ran a sanding drum around the inside of the bores before I put them on years ago.

For what ever reason F150/ Expeditions have a big problem.

What I should have done it drill and tap a few holes in them like a lot of foreign cars do on their drums and rotors.

I guess maybe by the time you get to old to work on cars you figure out all the tricks of the trade. lol

Tom

 

[SRB]

Cadiac
Yes, I have air hammers and such, handy for all kinds of stuff, very good at removing FWD Hub/bearings.

My luck is usually that a spring or two holding the brake shoes against the backing plate breaks and the shoe cocks at an angle as I try to pull the drum off. Makes for a real fight.

I have resorted to the fire wrench a few times. :gnasher:


Steve

 

[Bruce Roe]

That guy should thread that all the way in, then use 2 wrenches to turn the
nuts away from each other. I use almost the same idea to pop ball joints,
a piece of pipe with about 5/8" threaded rod inside, 2 nuts at one end.

When I get a vehicle, the brake drums & rotors are checked, rust is brushed
off around the contact spots. Then they are coated with anti seize compound,
usually I have no more problems getting them apart. Bruce Roe

 

[Cadiac]

I use a worn down-flattened brass set in the rivet gun to make ball joints pop. I back the nut off just a little/1-2 turns, support the vehicle under the frame rail, a floor jack -close- right under the ball joint and about the 2nd or 3rd thump of the gun on the knuckle, they always pop. -pressure from the coil spring. I used that big gun to change the front wheel bearings, knuckle on the car on my past 67 Eldo.That was a s-o-b! :yikes:

 

[61cadman]

Apparently I am missing something with Fords. Rusted up brakes seem to be normal. seems like every 6 months I have had to do something to my brother in laws 2005 Ford 4x4 brakes. He bought in 2007 used from a dealership Last thing I just did was replaced the rotors at 65k and naother set of front pads Since day one the front and back brakes looked terrible all rusted up when I took them apart Some parts were just rusted and stuck , broken and could not see how the brakes could even work. . i just thought he bought one of those trucks that was caught up down south in floods then was cleaned up and sent up north to be traded in and sold.

Todd

 

[PROSTOCKTOM]

Apparently I am missing something with Fords. Rusted up brakes seem to be normal. seems like every 6 months I have had to do something to my brother in laws 2005 Ford 4x4 brakes. He bought in 2007 used from a dealership Last thing I just did was replaced the rotors at 65k and naother set of front pads Since day one the front and back brakes looked terrible all rusted up when I took them apart Some parts were just rusted and stuck , broken and could not see how the brakes could even work. . i just thought he bought one of those trucks that was caught up down south in floods then was cleaned up and sent up north to be traded in and sold.

Todd

Well the maim problem with them is the quality of brake rotor material and the size of the rotors in the first place.

I only buy Brembo rotors for my cars and trucks and If they are available in the Power Slot versions I run them.

I use the C-Max ceramic pads from Auto Zone ( for free replacements ) and I get great trouble free rotor life.

The set of Brembo rotors I just took off had 180,000 miles on them, so I'm more than happy with that life span.

Tom

 

[powersport]

Radical method proved to be successful in my case:

More photos http://grommitsgarage.blogspot.ru/2012/11/changing-stubborn-brake-disks-i-did-not.html