i finally started the replacement procedure tonight and hit a snag 20 mins into it. turns out the last time the brakes were done (by dealer techs) they shot in the nuts with the air gun and overtightened everything... including the rotor retaining screw.

its too late for me to power up my own air compressor (would wake up the neighbors) to shot out the rotor retaining screw. i may have to drill it out and extract it tomorrow anyways...

i'll post pics when i start removing the control arms and the hub tomorrow night and let ya'll know how bad it is...

so far, i think this is very DIY-able for home mechanic here.

Pics of the damage here






Upper boot is still intact