How can I rotate the rear rotor to free it?

omasou · #1 10-03-2016, 12:36 AM

My rear rotor is stuck on the hub. If I could spin the rotor I could tap it off at the back plate opening.

I released the parking brake but it still doesn't spin. Think it is b/c the car isn't in neutral?

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bmrboi2 · #2 10-03-2016, 08:10 AM

I take it youre doing your rear brakes. I had to shimmy and "encourage" my rear brake rotors on both sides. It was the longest toughest part of the whole brake job. I was able to get the first one of with a great deal of back and forrth wiggling. The other side came off a lot easier because I was an expert. I was seconds from using a sledge because patience had word thin. I think the rotor sensed that as it came off after some rather harsh back and forth movements.

pshovest · #3 10-03-2016, 09:52 AM

Is it stuck on the hub or stuck on the parking brake shoes?
A few wraps with a hammer should loosen the hub-to-rotor joint.
Loosening the parking brake star wheel adjuster will retract the shoes and allow removal. You won't be able to turn the rotor with car in park UNLESS both wheels are off the ground.

omasou · #4 10-03-2016, 06:17 PM

It's appears to be catching on the parking brakes.

I have put the car in neutral and manually released the parking brake but cannot spin the hub & rotor to get access to adjust the parking brakes or to whack the darn thing off.

Do I need to raise both rear tires off the ground to spin the rear hub when the car is in neutral?

pshovest · #5 10-03-2016, 07:02 PM

If trans is in neutral, you should be able to turn rear hub with one tire still on the ground. Try putting two wheel bolts in the hub and use a pry bar between the two to get leverage to turn the hub.

omasou · #6 10-04-2016, 08:05 AM

UPDATE

Last night I manually pulled the parking brake and put the car in neutral and could not turn the rotor or hub.

This morning I was going to put the rear wheel back for added torque but it was hard enough to see in the bolt hole to look for the parking brake adjustment screw without adding additional depth. So I tried @pshovest idea first. I backed out the wheel bolts far enough for my largest pry bar to clear the hub lip. I manually pulled the parking brake and attempted to turn the rotor or hub. No go. I again put the car in neutral and also pushed down the ebrake in the car for good measure. The D/S wheel was still on the ground and the rotor bolted to the hub turned!!!! I aligned one of the wheel bolt holes w/the parking brake adjuster, backed it off and pulled the rotor off w/o any persuasion.

Lessons Learned

Never ever turn the car on or attempt to otherwise put the car in neutral without the wheel bolts through the rotor and threaded into the hub!!! This is what started my entire adventure.

When I started the car and put it in neutral the parking brake shoes held the rotor and the hub rotated under it and blocked access to the threaded wheel bolt holes in the hub! Which also meant that I could not put the wheel back on and severely limited my options!

BTW, I used an old brake pad and clamped it to the caliper so that I could apply the brakes, start the car and put it in neutral w/o shooting the piston out of the caliper.

Thank you very much for your calm and continued encouragement. Not sure why it did not work the first 10 times but it did eventually work.

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