Front rotors! Aaaarghhh

homewrecker

homewrecker

gear jammer
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Messages
2,137
Been trying to get the front rotors off of my friends 99 4x4 dually.These things are being a pain.Did my 01 a couple years ago and didn't have any problems.The rust has these babies locked on.Any secrets to getting them off? They have penetrating oil soaking on them for the night and if that doesn't work I'm gonna try to heat them up tomorrow evening.After that I'm lost on how to get them off without breaking them.Give me some tips guys.
 
Get a air impact hammer with a blunt tip and run it around it for a bit to try and brake the rust loose. It will make a hellacious vibration that can help. Heat might not be the best idea because it could become to much without knowing so keep that in consideration.
 
BgBlDodge said:
Aren't the 99 rotors pressed on?
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Lets hope not cause I don't have a set of jaw pullers big enough to get them off!Just figures I go volunteering to help a friend save a few bucks and now its gonna become a headache for me:badidea:
 
IIRC, guys put a socket between the hub and axle housing and rotate the steering wheel to press the hub out. Do a search for it. I remember someone putting up a nice description on how to do it.
 
jus did it on my 99 2500 idk if its the same as 1 tons tho but on mine the whole rotor and wheel bearing is one piece and then u gotta beat the wheel studs out in order to seperate them but be careful when pullin them off the truck cause i split one of my bearings and those babies arent cheap...i wish ya the best of luck tho they are deft a pain!
 
A 3lb hammer and the studs drive right out. Air hammer is nice to put them back in though, I've done it several times with a hammer and a 1/2" extension though. Press works too! You should use new studs but I've never had a issue re-using them. Some of the better bearing even come with new studs, haven't seen a rotor come with them though. Just don't try and use the lugnuts to pull them back through, won't happen.
 
i used the lugnuts and a impact to bring my studs back through and it worked jus fine
 
Leave the axle nut tight until you get the bearing loose. That'll keep the bearing from separating.
Make sure to use lots of Anti seize you put it back together. Makes next time that much easier.
 
yaa deft alot of anti seize i used a half bottle between the two sides i did
 
Got these suckers off today and sent to get turned.Just wanted to say thanks for the info guys.Its not to bad a job if you know the "proper" way to do it.
 
I haven't had the opportunity to pull front rotors. I know on the OTR trucks that I work on that run up north. The air hammer is the best help I have found.
 
I bought new rotors and calipers when I did the brakes on my 99' 100K miles ago. The old rotors were heat cracked all over and probably beyond repair. I'm now very careful with riding the brakes too long and always change my pads early. It's such a pain to pull the rotors on the 99's that I'm doing everything I can to ensure these ones last. I recall breaking a 24" 1/2" breaker bar trying to break the axle nut loose. If I remember correctly, I had a 4' long cheater pipe over the breaker bar and was bouncing on the end of the bar holding onto my towing mirrors for balance.
 
Big Blue24 said:
I had a 4' long cheater pipe over the breaker bar and was bouncing on the end of the bar holding onto my towing mirrors for balance.
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LOL! Thats about the truth.Fortunately I have a 4' long Snap On 3/4" torque wrench that made the breaking a little easier.I had a tire iron wedged to hold the rotor and put a nice bow in it.My manual is showing they are only torqued to 175ftlbs but all that rust made it feel like 300!
 
I was originally using a tire iron socket over the end of the 1/2" breaker bar and the tire iron bent. So I upped the ante with the 4' pipe and it broke the joint in the breaker bar. Luckily I found a 3/4" breaker bar and after two or three good bounces, me weighing 200 at the time, it broke loose. It was torquing so hard I had to move my truck off the gravel and onto the cement so the front tires would quit turning and jarring! 200 lbs times 4' works out to 800 ft lbs!

I wonder if a good 3/4" impact would have broken it loose.
 
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