How to remove rusted rotors

02TahoeMD

Explorer
I put new front brakes on my Tahoe this weekend, and found the rotors to be corroded onto the hubs. I saturated all joining surfaces with WD-40, beat on the things with extreme prejudice, pried on them with crowbars, and they would not budge. At all. I probably spent an hour on the darn thing. I seriously evaluated having to take apart the hub assembly to dismount the rotor.

Then I got online and found this trick that worked absolute magic, I was extremely impressed with how well this worked, and just have to spread the word and save some sanity of my fellow do-it-yourselfers.

Take two bolts, 1/2 inch was what I had laying around. Insert them into the holes where the calipers bolt to the hub. Thread the bolt through a nut that you sit between the rotor and the hub. Start tightening the bolt, securing the nut with a wrench, and work back and forth applying even pressure to the rotor. In the case of the rotor that had been worked on an hour before, this caused the rotor to pop right off, immediately. The second rotor came off with a sequence of tightening the bolts until I was concerned about stripping the nut, then loosening them, rotating the wheel, then tightening again. When the rotor had made almost one complete rotation doing this it popped clear. Took 10 minutes. Sanity achieved!

If you are reusing your rotors, then place something flat between the rotor and the bolts to protect the surface. If you are not, then crank away....

Anyway, here is a pic of my front wheel assembly to show you what the setup looked like - the bolts are extra long but are just what I had immediately at hand, and worked fine....

IMG_5340.jpg


I made certain to apply some anti-squeal compound to the base of the hub and the edges where it contacts the inside of the rotor, hopefully to avert this problem from happening again.

Oh, and I put EBC rotors on with Greenstuff pads and am very pleased with the results.
 

SixLug

Explorer
I cant tell from the picture, but there arent any jacking-screw holes on the rotors are there? I used to have an Impreza and when taking the rotors off, you had to use a bolt in some jacking-screw holes to unseat the rotor. Just a thought. If not, use heat.

*just realize this wasnt a question thread...sorry.
 

R_Lefebvre

Expedition Leader
If you are reusing your rotors, then place something flat between the rotor and the bolts to protect the surface. If you are not, then crank away....

Nice trick, but I wouldn't ever use that on rotors you want to reuse. Probably warp them. Use a real penetrating oil, not WD40, that'll help too.
 

spencyg

This Space For Rent
Propane won't do it. You need an Oxy/Acy torch with a heating head. I just did rotors on my wife's car this weekend, and they woudln't come off without liberal application of heat (i.e. rotor hubs were dull red). Too much heat can lead to problems with your wheel bearings. Just pay attention and it shouldn't be a problem....

Spence
 

02TahoeMD

Explorer
I cant tell from the picture, but there arent any jacking-screw holes on the rotors are there? I used to have an Impreza and when taking the rotors off, you had to use a bolt in some jacking-screw holes to unseat the rotor. Just a thought. If not, use heat.

*just realize this wasnt a question thread...sorry.


No apologies necessary. I know exactly what you are talking about, but the fine engineers at GM had neglected to design that into the rotor. Two extra holes in the rotor would have been a huge help in getting them to pop free.

I was very paranoid about applying heat to my rotors for fear of causing damage to the hubs / bearings, not to mention I doubted my little home plumber's propane tank would do the job. I am glad I found this trick before I employed extreme measures in getting the darn things off.
 

I Leak Oil

Expedition Leader
Ah yes, I too had the joy of replacing the front rotors this past summer on my '04 silverado. I even had my porta-power alligator attachment set between the nuckle and the rotor with no dice. Finally ended up coming off with the porta-power, liquid wrench and a very large hammer. I actually had to break the rotors with the hammer to get them loose enough. They rust between the ID of the rotor and the OD of the hub flange.
Make sure you put a small amount of anti-seize on the right surfaces before reassembling. They will fall off the next time you need to remove them.
I've owned lots of rusty old vehicles before but this was right up there as far as crappy jobs to do....
 

opie

Explorer
Propane won't do it. You need an Oxy/Acy torch with a heating head. I just did rotors on my wife's car this weekend, and they woudln't come off without liberal application of heat (i.e. rotor hubs were dull red). Too much heat can lead to problems with your wheel bearings. Just pay attention and it shouldn't be a problem....

Spence

Ive used it with good success. Yeah it takes a little longer, but itll get the job done.

And think about the heat generated by the application of the brakes.
 

Bogo

Adventurer
Nice trick, but I wouldn't ever use that on rotors you want to reuse. Probably warp them. Use a real penetrating oil, not WD40, that'll help too.

Yep, 50% ATF and 50% acetone. I haven't found any commercial made penetrating oil that works better. Oh yeah, the acetone makes it highly volatile so you may want to use it in a well ventilated area like outside. If you don't want something so volatile, use Liquid Wrench.
 

brainmash

New member
This worked AWESOME! I beat on my rotors with a big hammer for about an hour - didn't budge. Had them off in about 5 minutes with this trick. This is legit - thank you!
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
No apologies necessary. I know exactly what you are talking about, but the fine engineers at GM had neglected to design that into the rotor. Two extra holes in the rotor would have been a huge help in getting them to pop free.

I was very paranoid about applying heat to my rotors for fear of causing damage to the hubs / bearings, not to mention I doubted my little home plumber's propane tank would do the job. I am glad I found this trick before I employed extreme measures in getting the darn things off.

Doesn't take a lot of heat in the metal. You just want enough temperature differential that the rotor metal starts to expand / shift enough to break the hold of the corrosion. A flame spreader tip, some even heating of the hub face of the rotor. Every couple minutes give the inboard side of the rotor a rap with the end of a mallet handle, weighted wood on rotor.

Your mechanical solution was decent.

 

vintageracer

To Infinity and Beyond!
Yep, 50% ATF and 50% acetone. I haven't found any commercial made penetrating oil that works better. Oh yeah, the acetone makes it highly volatile so you may want to use it in a well ventilated area like outside. If you don't want something so volatile, use Liquid Wrench.


I use this mix all the time and have for years. Nothing commercially available is even close and that includes Kroil!

From Machinist's Workshop article years ago:

"Machinist's Workshop" recently published information on various penetrating
oils. The magazine reports they tested these products for "break out
"torque" on rusted nuts and bolts. A subjective test was made of popular
penetrating oils, with the unit of merit being the torque required to
remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" bolt.
Average torque load to loosen nut:
No Oil used ........................516 foot pounds
WD-40 ..................... ........238 foot pounds
PB Blaster .........................214 foot pounds
Liquid Wrench ......................127 foot pounds
Kano Kroil .........................106 foot pounds
ATF/Acetone mix...................... 53 foot pounds

The ATF/Acetone mix is a "home brew" mix of 50/50 automatic transmission
fluid and acetone. Note this "home brew" released bolts better than any
commercial product in this one particular test. Note also that Liquid Wrench is almost as good as
Kroil for 20% of the price. ATF/Acetone mix is best, but you can also use ATF and lacquer thinner in a
50/50 mix. ATF = Any type of Automatic Transmission Fluid


Additional Note:

Put some "Anti-Seize" on those hub centers before you install your new rotors so you NEVER have this problem of stuck rotors again!
 

02TahoeMD

Explorer
I am amazed that this post from SO long ago still has some life - and usefulness - in it. Appreciate the feedback. :)

One thing I did start doing about 8 or so years ago is to use anti-seize when reassembling just about anything suspension related on my rig now. Makes repairs so much easier down the road.
 

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