Is there anyone as stupid as me?

[TwinTurboGTR]

Yeah, you might have forgotten the 6mm retaining screw or it is just rusted on there pretty good.

The handbrake mech work differently on our cars than most cars. Ours is a drum brake design. Where the rear rotors effectively have a drum/shoe set up. Pulling the handbrake spreads the shoes out whereas others have a floating caliper. Where pulling on the handbrake engages the caliper to apply pressure to the rotor. But its all rear, nothing up front.

Check the ring of the hub and make sure you wire brush the crud on there. Then use PB plaster or liquid wrench to have the oil penetrate. If you are going to waste the rotor, rubber mallet isnt gonna cut it, use a hammer or 3lbs sledge. Had the same problem on my 01 4.4 Hub wouldnt come off for anything. Sprayed some PB and used a 3lbs sledge. LIGHTY tapped around to loosen and then just gave it a few whacks to get it off.

[LeiZ]

Nice. I'll give it another try later this week. This is really a pain in the a$$.

Originally Posted by TwinTurboGTR

Yeah, you might have forgotten the 6mm retaining screw or it is just rusted on there pretty good.

The handbrake mech work differently on our cars than most cars. Ours is a drum brake design. Where the rear rotors effectively have a drum/shoe set up. Pulling the handbrake spreads the shoes out whereas others have a floating caliper. Where pulling on the handbrake engages the caliper to apply pressure to the rotor. But its all rear, nothing up front.

Check the ring of the hub and make sure you wire brush the crud on there. Then use PB plaster or liquid wrench to have the oil penetrate. If you are going to waste the rotor, rubber mallet isnt gonna cut it, use a hammer or 3lbs sledge. Had the same problem on my 01 4.4 Hub wouldnt come off for anything. Sprayed some PB and used a 3lbs sledge. LIGHTY tapped around to loosen and then just gave it a few whacks to get it off.

[bcredliner]

Spray the bolt and around the hub with penetrating oil. Do it again in an hour. Let it sit overnight.

Remove the bolt on the front side of the rotor.

Rotors should be replaced when pads are replaced so it doesn't matter if you hit the face of the rotor. Get a bigger hammer! I have a steel head hammer I use to drive railroad spikes. Whack the front of the rotor around the outer face. whack it as hard as you want. It won't hurt anything and might even come off.

Before hitting the back of the rotor look at the metal shield so you will know how far away from the rotor and what the shape should be as you might hit the shield and you will need to get it back to original shape and distance from the rotor.

Then put two hands on that big a#s hammer and whack the back side on the bottom of the rotor. You may have to whack it many many times and as hard as you can but it will come off. You can rotate the hub if you want but I have never needed to do so.

Be sure you don't have a part of your body where the rotor will fall.

Before you install the new rotor wire brush the hub and put some high temp anti-seize grease on the bolt and the hub.

Would you like some input on the pad removal/ install or are you familiar with the process?

[LeiZ]

WOW, this really helps! I always worrying about hammering it too hard, that it might damage some potential suspension parts. Looks like I was being too gentle. This thing is definitely a b****. But I know how to deal with b****.

Originally Posted by bcredliner

Spray the bolt and around the hub with penetrating oil. Do it again in an hour. Let it sit overnight.

Remove the bolt on the front side of the rotor.

Rotors should be replaced when pads are replaced so it doesn't matter if you hit the face of the rotor. Get a bigger hammer! I have a steel head hammer I use to drive railroad spikes. Whack the front of the rotor around the outer face. whack it as hard as you want. It won't hurt anything and might even come off.

Before hitting the back of the rotor look at the metal shield so you will know how far away from the rotor and what the shape should be as you might hit the shield and you will need to get it back to original shape and distance from the rotor.

Then put two hands on that big a#s hammer and whack the back side on the bottom of the rotor. You may have to whack it many many times and as hard as you can but it will come off. You can rotate the hub if you want but I have never needed to do so.

Be sure you don't have a part of your body where the rotor will fall.

Before you install the new rotor wire brush the hub and put some high temp anti-seize grease on the bolt and the hub.

Would you like some input on the pad removal/ install or are you familiar with the process?

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by LeiZ

WOW, this really helps! I always worrying about hammering it too hard, that it might damage some potential suspension parts. Looks like I was being too gentle. This thing is definitely a b****. But I know how to deal with b****.

Are you comfortable with how to do the rest of the job?

Ceramic pads are nice because they are low dust pads. They do wear longer and wear rotors less but I still replace the rotors with the pads because they are not very expensive, they have gone through so many heat cycles and the thinner they are the more likely to warp. When I inspect the old rotor they are almost always smooth but they always have a ridge where the pads don't make contact which indicates rotor wear. I am also of the opinion that new pads seat better and wear better on new rotors. That's OCD, maximum performance me.

[srmmmm]

If you go to ceramic compound pads, you'll minimize your rotor replacement in the future. My first set of Akebono pads were installed with new Brembo rotors at 67,000 miles. The pads went 130,000 miles and the rotors showed no measurable wear. Now with 40,000 miles on the second set of Akebono pads, the rotors still look brand new.

2002 X5 3.0 237,000 miles
2004 325i 106,000 miles

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by LeiZ

I was doing a simple front brake rotor replacement last night. Got everything out of the way, wheels, caliper, carrier bracket, rotor retaining bolt, etc. Now comes my stupid part: Time to remove the old rotor. It just stuck to the hub and won't come OFF. I tried rubber mallet, hammer, crawl under the car and hammer it HARD. Just won't come off. After making all kinds of noise for over 30 minutes, ya, 30 minutes, I quit! This shit must be soooooo rusted to the hub, I was thinking. Better let the garage to handle it. Next 20 minutes, I put everything back on..........

This morning, I just can't help thinking the whole process in my head over and over again. Suddenly I realized, SHIT! I was SOOOOOO stupid!!!! I forgot one thing! No wonder why it stuck to the hub and not come off.

I'm sure you all know what I forgot...

You didn't bring it to a professional.

[X5SND]

Originally Posted by upallnight

You didn't bring it to a professional.

I concur....when in doubt...

[TerminatorX5]

i would use a dead blow hammer instead of regular hammer...

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

i would use a dead blow hammer instead of regular hammer...

I think he's using a Rubber Mallet.