Is there anyone as stupid as me?
 

Update: This shit won't come off until a 4lb sledge hammer came. Whack the heck out of it. FINALLY! Please see the pics, new vs old. Thanks for the help from here, guys. It can't be done w/o your input. XOUTPOST ROCKS!!!

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...:D

The little phillip screw?

HANDBRAKE!!!!!!:explode:

Say what? What does hand brake have anything to do with the front rotors? :dunno:

Small rotor retaining screw, allen head.

I thought you said you removed it in your post? Handbrake wouldn't apply to front wheels. Did you take the car out of gear so you could rotate the rotor as you were hammering?

I hope 30 minutes of sweating it out you didn't damage anything in the hub lol!

Are you guys sure handbrake won't affect the FRONT rotors? When I did my REAR rotors, it did affect. So all right, now I'm DOUBLE STUPID!!!!! :bustingup

You got it right, 30 minutes of hammering, seems to knock something loose, :( Now I can feel the wheel has some free play. Dayum!!:hitanykey:

PB Blaster is your friend, i'm sure its just rusted on there pretty good. Spray some PB blaster around the hub where the rotor meets the hub and on the backside too, should penetrate and you can knock it loose.

If you took the caliper off and the retaining screw, that's all you need. Leave the car in neutral so the wheel can rotate as well (not sure if you can do this with an auto, I do it on my stick though), that way you can hammer the rotor all around evenly as you go.

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.

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.

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

+1

+1

OP - then what was the rotor retaining bolt you referred to? So then the rotor is still not off after removing the retaining screw?

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?

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

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****. :D

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.

You didn't bring it to a professional.

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

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

I think he's using a Rubber Mallet. :nanana:

After making sure everything is off, a good couple blows with a sledgehammer will get it off. That means new rotor if that was the plan anyway. Make sure the car is well supported if you are swinging under it towards the outside.

Put the lug bolts back in but thread them half way only. Get a piece of 2x4 about as long as the diameter of the rotor. Put the 2x4 centered across the bolts. Adjust the bolts as necessary so the wood sits flat on at least 3 bolts so it doesn't twist. Use 2 large C-clamps to pull the back of the rotor out against the wood. Tighten the C-clamps in unison so it pulls evenly. Good luck.

Take the rotor screw off. Put the wheel back on with the lug bolts finger tight. Put the X5 back on the ground. Back up or pull forward and then hammer the brakes. Rotor is now loose.

WOW, you guys are all GENIUS!!!!!!!!!! So many ways to break it loose. lol. Learned!!!

When dealing with large car parts which are "stuck together" you will be much more successful using a smaller force applied slowly (Clamps / pullers / levers) as opposed to a large forced applied rapidly (Hammer) to separate them.

Hammer is faster, closer, much louder, more manly man and lots more fun.

By the time you get it all clamped up I will have the calipers installed. My ears will still be ringing but it usually goes away.

I'm with redliner, BFH or bust.