Front Brake Rotor Change

[racokley]

I have a 96 2500 4x4 and I want to change the front rotors(they have been turned before, and are now warped)... The dealership tells me they have new rotors only for my truck (using VIN #), but I was under the impression (from previous work) that you had to remove the entire hub, etc. - If anyone has done this project, I would appreciate any help with how to proceed - Too many bucks to have the dealer change them (+$300)! - email me at: -- email address removed -- - Thanks!

 

[HoleshotHolset]

The hub is part of the sealed bearing assembly... . I have heard of people lightly tappin' on the rotors to get 'em off the hub... but you don't want to rail on 'em... otherwise you'll ruin the bearings.

Mine look they are on there pretty good..... so use 'never-seize' as if it were butter on an ear of corn. (assumtion here is that you really like butter on your corn... )



Matt

 

[Bigramguy]

You have to pull the hub assy out,to get at the rotors,but it isn't too hard. Leave the axle shafts in place to prevent any possible damage to the axle seals. Once the hub is off you can change the rotors. Not too hard. Do a search,as there is lots of good info and tips to get them off easily.

 

[dan_gilson]

I had mine turned on the truck. Are yours

to thin to turn again?



Just because they are warped does not mean that they can not be turned true. Mine went from ~0. 009 out to 0. 0005 after being turned on the truck.



They work fine and I have not had any more problems with them. (No re-warping as yet. )

 

[Extreme1]

Once you remove the hubs (the rotors are attached to them), drive out the wheel studs. That is what holds them on. The hard part will be removing the hubs. I'd give turning the rotors on the truck a shot first.

 

[-Alex-]

Where did you all find someone who turns the rotors on the vehicle? I called a few places and they acted like they never heard of it.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I hate to say it, but most places don't have this type of equipment... . I've seen them all the time at F*rd dealerships (Rotunda tool... ), though. I'm hoping to come across a shop that has one of these setups too... my rotors aren't warped (yet), but I want to turn 'em when I stuff in new pads (next 10k miles or so. . )



Matt

 

[dan_gilson]

The shop that did mine is a small one in Hayward CA, called Tyre Treads. You might want to give them a call (510) 581-3378. Ask for Cort. They should be able to tell you the name of the on-car lathe they used.



BTW: They had to modify the lathe to work. There was something said about a few minutes with a die grinder to get the lathe to bolt up to the large disks my 3500 has.



It certainly fixed my problem and was ~1/3 the cost of what Dodge quoted me. Also took less time even with the tool modification.



Another thing to think of: Turning on the car is better. You should be able to get to <0. 001" true . If you pull the rotors and lathe then reinstall I think the best you can expect is 0. 004-0. 005" true. This can still give you a pedal pulse BUT Dodge will claim that it is within spec.

 

[Extreme1]

A good friend of mine has the set up at his shop. Small (5 bay) independant place. Very high customer satisfaction rate. He said he hadn't used it for a couple years.

 

[dan_gilson]

That sounds exactly like how Trye Threads is set up.



A couple of things: I no longer allow Dodge to grease my front end. They over greased the heck out of it on the 30K service and shortly after that I began to have problems.



A week or so after I grease it I get back under it to see if any excess has appeared and if so I wipe it down with a rag then spray everything with brake clean. I spray all the grease off the exterior of the parts, then spray both sides of the rotors. I have now gone 20K miles without problems. The $2+ per can of brake clean is a lot less then the hassle of getting this fixed again.



Best of luck with getting your taken care of!

 

[illflem]

After my local Napa ruined my rotors after tiring to turn them I replaced them with Bendix rotors from carparts.com, only $62 each. I would weigh this price against the cost of turning, on every warped rotor that I've ever had turned the warp has returned. Replacing the rotors is a easy job as long as things aren't rusted together.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I'm gonna try and turn mine on the truck... . it's worth a shot...

No pulsation now... . and I hope to keep it that way!

Thanks for the info!

Matt

 

[racokley]

Got the rotors changed, and used the Iron Claw pads... Adjusted up the rear, and now the brakes are better than when it was new! - Thanks for the help, guys! - Rick

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I have yet to take off my rear drums... but are our rearends like the GM Corporate 14-bolt full-floating rearends as far as the drums go? By that I mean... do we have to take out the axleshafts to take off the drums?



Matt

 

[dan_gilson]

I have not had any problems getting my rear drums off. They just slide off nicely. Something to be said for living on the west coast of CA. We do not get much of any body rust out here.



At the 30K service the drums were sliding off a little too nicely. I don't to a lot of backing and they were not getting self adjusted. So, part of the pad was good and the other was getting way too thin. I had them replaced. Now I make it a habit to do a couple of long backing with the brake on in the parking lot at work. Upon inspect they seem to be OK after 20K miles.



There was a post about jacking the rear axle off the ground and going from forward to reverse while tapping the breaks in case the drums were rusted on. This seemed better to me than beating them off with a hammer. It is just not a good idea to stress chock cast iron that way. It tends to shatter.

 

[dan_gilson]

Sorry, I did not directly answer you question last time. The drums ware heald on by the wheels which are heald on my the lug nuts. They just slide off without pulling the axles. I hope this clears things.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

When I took off my rear tires to put 'never-seize' on the studs... . I briefly looked at the drums and tried to take 'em off the usual way... . I beat the hell out of them and they didn't move... . that's why I thought that our rearends are the type where you have to remove the axleshaft 1st.



This is reassuring, but I'm going to have to get pretty creative in trying to get these suckers off to get in there and make sure everything is okay. I'm going to try the usual "heat and beat"... .



Thanks for the info!

Matt

 

[illflem]

Matt, as Dan said just jack your rear end up, remove the wheels, start it up and slam on the brakes in forward and reverse, the drums will come right off. Make sure your E- brake is released and you aren't in 4WD !!!

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Oh, I thought he was kidding about the whole slamming on the brakes thing!!

I tried the 4WD back in May and it worked well... . so I'll make sure not to pull on the lever. On a different occasion, I straightened out a 4" O. D. steel pole with cement inside of it at work that was meant to protect cars from hitting stuff..... someone whacked it and bent it over. 4WD low range... . I didn't even have to feed it fuel... . I straightened it out at idle!

But I digress... ... Thanks a ton for the info Dan & illflem!!



I'm sooooooooh glad my brakes come apart much easier than my Dad's brakes on his diesel pickup.



Matt