New Rotors

[MikeA]

How hard is it to install new rotors? My current ones are pretty much shot; I was wondering if it was worth it to pay someone to do the job for me.

[D_Fisher]

Re: New Rotors

Its very easy, I wouldn't pay anyone to do it.Take off the wheels, brake calipers, and then pull off the rotors. Install is the reverse.

[HokieBird]

Re: New Rotors

It's super easy as long as you have the tools. I ran into a small snag with my rears because of an issue with the ebrake, but besides that it only took about 5-1o minutes per corner including taking off the wheels.

[MikeA]

Re: New Rotors

What special tools would I need? Also, would I have to drain the brake fluid? I've never worked on brakes before so all this stuff is new to me.

[99pewterv6]

Re: New Rotors

What special tools would I need? Also, would I have to drain the brake fluid? I've never worked on brakes before so all this stuff is new to me.

I just changed all four of my rotors and pads last weekend.
The only special tool i used was a caliper piston compressor thing it's just a flat plate with a screw in the middle used to push the caliper piston in to change the pads. Sears Item #: 00947365000 . <---That is what i used
I didnt drain any brake fluid.

[bah]

Re: New Rotors

you do not need a piston compressor, just a standard c-clamp, just put it on one of the edges and screw it in as far as you can, you do not need to bleed any lines

[MikeA]

Re: New Rotors

thanks guys. It doesnt seem too hard, im gonna give it a shot.

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: New Rotors

You don't even need a C-clamp. Two large screwdrivers in an X fashion work well.

Make sure you pick up some brake grease and grease your brake bolts. If not, they will get too hot and become weak.

When spreading the new pads (with a tool, a c-clamp, or screwdrivers), you will have take the cap of the brake resevior and a little may spill out. You do not drain any fluid, and you do not have to bleed them afterwards.

[Lurieh]

Re: New Rotors

Rotors are pretty easy to replace. There are four bolts you'll need to remove. Two from the brake caliper, and two from the brake caliper mounting bracket. The two from the brake caliper will allow you to remove the caliper from the bracket(the brake hose will still be attached, so you'll have to "hang" it out of the way). The brake caliper mounting bracket will still need to be removed as well in order to remove the actual rotors. All four bolts are face into the vehicle, meaning you'll have to reach to the inside of the caliper to get at them. I used air tools to get at most of the bolts. My impact wrench barely had enough clearance and I had to remove two bolts in the rear by hand. PB blaster, or liquid wrench are your friends, so use them a lot.

I used one of my old brake pads to help compress the piston. I layed the old pad back into the caliper and went to town with the C-clamp. It gave me a consistent pressure all around the piston edge.

One hint: Get a BFG. Some, or all of your rotors may be rust welded to the hubs. You may need to pound them off. Use tons of PB blaster(not wd-40, not liquid wrench, not spit). Pound away from the back and the rotors will pop off. I only needed to do that on one rotor. The other three weren't stuck at all. Please note that on each of my rotors, I had three small retaining washers on three of my lug bolts. My guess is they are there to make sure the rotor doesn't just fall off when you are servicing them. I pried mine off with a small set of needle nose pliers.

Tools needed:

Socket set(metric)
Ratchet
crescent and box end wrenches(metric)
Hammer(a heavy rubber mallet, or small sledge will work better than a claw hammer)
PB blaster(don't buy the cheaper off-brand stuff. PB blaster FTW!)

And one last suggestion: If you are already going to be fooling with the brakes might as well get some paint and color your calipers.

[bah]

Re: New Rotors

you do NOT need to take those bolts off of the caliper itself, all they are holding in is the caliper pins, just take off the brackets, and then the bracket will slide right off the caliper, and the only reason you would even need to take the bracket off the calipers is to regrease the pins, which i would reccommend doing, but it just slides right off, and there is no reason to take those pins off unless they are rusted in or broken (i had one rusted in and i had to buy an entirely new bracket) but the caliper itself should move freely on the pins, if it doesnt, you have a problem