2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission going to do front brake this weekend 96 3500

[FreeBMW]

Well i need to do front brakes this weekend... . they are pulling to the left under moderate to hard braking and they continueously sqeak at low speeds.



The question I have... ... . anything out of the ordanairy? I have done tons of disk brake jobs on BMWs,subarus, small cars. IS it the same?



pull the wheel, then the caliper, once the caliper is off the rotor will slid off the studs (might need to be beaten on) new rotor on and them pads,caliper





is that pretty much it??? anything else need to come off to get the rotor off???



anyone that has any pics of the wheel off with the brakes in the shot it would be great.





Thanks

 

[rrl989]

Clayton,



Rotors don't just slide off, they are mounted on the hub assembly. Removal is not impossible, but, too much for me. I'm going to DC Friday to try to get them cut on the truck, was told 3 hrs. labor. With my luck, the rotors will be out of spec, and then I have to pay, pay, pay... .....



Ron

 

[y-knot]

Front rotors are not that bad to deal with, you just need a few tools. Also, no rotor should be beaten on with a hammer, thats just not good mechanics. The front tires are removed, Remove calipers, hang them with ty-wire out on the way, then you will need to remove the the dulley adapters (they are there to space the front wheels out) You should use a puller on this. mount the puller and pull it off, be carefull and don't beat on the ears, it is a cast part. Now you can get to the castle nut, remove cotter pin and nut. Mount your puller again, and pull the hub/rotor off, use the puller to do the work, once you move it about 3/4" it will come off easy. Now you need to seperate the rotor from the hub. Use a peice of plywood (you need to protect the bearing race, so use care), place the hub on the wood, studs up. Now nut a wheel nut on each stud, so as the end of stud is flush with top of wheel nut, Now take a hammer and nock each stud out. The rotor can now be seperated. Turn your rotors, or get new ones (highly recomenmed), clean everything up. Carefully clean inter bearings, re grease, remonut hub/rotors (when installing sutds back into rotor/hub assy, use wheel nuts to pull stud through, do not use a hammer and drive them in, make sure studs are fully seated). Push hub/rotor assy on far enough to start castlenut and use it to push assy back on, you will need something to put in between wheel stud/ and groud to hold wheel from turning. Torque to 175 lbs. ft and remount duelly adapters, torque to 135 lbs. ft. , mount caliper torque to 38 lbs. ft. , mount wheel torque to 135 lbs. ft. You did it!

 

[willyslover]

one slight deviation from Tony's info [which is very good]



do not force the caliper piston back into the caliper without opening up the bleed screw . . let the brake fluid out through the bleed screw as you press the piston back into the caliper... use a clear plastic tube 1/4" to put over the bleed screw head and catch the fluid in the old throw away water bottle or something like that.

 

[tjm]

You might want to consider flushing the brake fluid. The service manual doesn't list a maintenance interval for this procedure.



Tim

 

[Extreme1]

y-not gives a good overview but I have a couple comments:



A slide hammer type puller works really well, AutoZone near me claims to have one they rent for free.



I recommend either not turning the rotors or getting them turned on the truck. Many folks have posted about runnout problems (pulsing pedal) after removintg them to get turned. I've done a ton of car jobs and always turn the rotors but on this vehicle, if the rotors look good, I won't turn them



Also, don't use the castle nut to pull the hub bearing assembly back into the spindle. There are 4 bolts to do that and if you clean up the bore of the spindle and OD of the bearing assembly (put a rust resistand coating of grease or something on it), it will slide right in.



I snug the axle nut and wait until the wheel is back on the truck and on the ground to torque it. The dually spacer is open on the back side so you can reach it fine but you'll need a short extension.