RTH - can't separate rotor from hub

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Joined
May 12, 2010
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Location
Northern Virginia
in the middle of front rotor replacement. Removed the 5 bolts that hold rotor to hub on front right and been trying for the past 45 minutes to break it free. started nice and easy, then used pb blaster around where the hub meets the rotor on both sides, still no luck. Even just tried slamming rotor edge on concrete (holding hub). Not breaking free.

Any tips/tricks?
 
Did you remove the 54mm nut?
 
ENGINE er said:
Did you remove the 54mm nut?

lol - yes. rotor/hub assembly is off spindle. i was wackin the sht out of it on the ground. i did get it to start separating but then how well will te new roor mate to the hub surface even if i got it all rhe way off and wht about the othe side... no more time to mess w it so looks like im gonna get fd and buy new hubs at the dealer.... gotta get this all back together today. wonder if abs sensor comes with it.

now i just hope my tools r still there when i get hm :(

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Try a heavy chisel. Start with medium taps with a BFM and go around and around until it seperates. Just a fraction at a time. Worked for me.
 
jhrrld said:
impact driver. I used a small cordless one and a vice and they came off pretty quickly.

you used an impact driver for the rotor bolts or to separate the rotor from hub?

i was able to get bolts off easy (well, with an impact wrench off a puny pancake compressor) but after that i had a hell of a time getting the rotor separated die to rust etc.

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jemsec said:
Try a heavy chisel. Start with medium taps with a BFM and go around and around until it seperates. Just a fraction at a time. Worked for me.

Thanks man - pb blaster and a fraction at a time with a screw driver then pry bar did it. finished the ps side an all back toether. now i need to do driver side .... really hope it goes smoother.

thx again for the tip!

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IIRC you have to go straight or it gets cocked. Is there a lot of rust on the hub center? If so drive them back on so there is some slop and then try a little rotation to work the rust free. Seems like mine started easy, then seemed impossible then they gave in... jeeze I just did this in March and hardly remember doing it. I'll look at some pics and try and get back to you.
 
agaisin said:
you used an impact driver for the rotor bolts or to separate the rotor from hub?

i was able to get bolts off easy (well, with an impact wrench off a puny pancake compressor) but after that i had a hell of a time getting the rotor separated die to rust etc.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD

Yup, then laid a scrap peice of 4x4 on end and used that to push the hub apart from the rotor: took a few good wacks. 6'5" 260 bitches :flipoff2:
 
I did this friday night and this was my method.

I sprayed where the hub sits against the rotor with PB blaster. You want to spray right near where the bolts you remove are. Then, i placed the rotor in a vise (with towels to protect the rotor) and used a prybar between the rotor and hub. I slowly worked my way around going side to side (kind of like how you tighten lug nuts) It takes about 5 minutes or so of slowly prying it out. Be careful that when you finally get it out that it does not fall to the ground.
If you don't have a vise, i would start asking my neighbors if they did, haha.

Opps, sounds like you already got it doing the same thing.
 
Thanks again everyone - finished everything (front and rear caliper rebuilds and rotor/pad replacement). Thankfully I didn't have to use the hub assemblies I purchased from the dealer in a panic (it was ~$750 and that was with my oh s*** discount so luckily I can return 'em)... Driver side rotor was a lot quicker, instead of 3+ hours (including trip to dealer for backup parts), it was about 20 minutes to separate the driver side rotor/hub. Fwiw, I didn't use a vice - I just laid worked it on the ground with an automotive type prybar working opposite sides little bit by little bit. Also I took out bearings and protected them, and covered both sides of hub to keep debris from getting in...

For the DS I didn't even both with PB Blaster.

I guess the big thing for me is expectations - I went into this part thinking after I got the bolts off it should come right off, and having to use major force for something I think should be easy always scares me.

So I appreciate everyone that confirmed this was not abnormal (at least for n. easterners)!!!
 
I figure i probably don't need to start a new thread. Here's my issue. How do get the rotor to seat on the hub properly? i cleaned off the mating surface on both the hub and the rotor and rather than hit the rotor with a BFH, is there anything i should do in particular? maybe tighten the bolts that hold the rotor to the hub in an even manner? This is RTH needed.
 
I figure i probably don't need to start a new thread. Here's my issue. How do get the rotor to seat on the hub properly? i cleaned off the mating surface on both the hub and the rotor and rather than hit the rotor with a BFH, is there anything i should do in particular? maybe tighten the bolts that hold the rotor to the hub in an even manner? This is RTH needed.
Try rotating the rotor relative to the hub...you may find one position easier to fit than the others.

I also add a dab of Never-Seez to the mating surfaces to make removal easier later.

Steve
 
Thanks. I actually found a great way of doing this. I will post pics and description when i'm done. If anyone can answer my question in the bearing thread, that'd be great.
 
I use the wheel. Mount it to the inside of the wheel and tighten the lugs for stability. Then you can do as suggested above, find the best mounting place and tighten accordingly.
 
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