Replacing my rotors.....

[shendren]

well, i pulled the first rotor and unit bearing off tonight. i got the bearing off my just knocking out the bolts one at a time. time came to get the bolts back thru the bearing and into the new rotors and they would not seat all of the way down. i will take them to napa tomorrow to see if they have a press of sorts to get the bolts in. i bought the rotors from napa and they were supposed to be the better ones (american made/$85 each). anyone have this problem in the past? thanks. scott.

 

[Alaskaskiff]

I just pounded mine back in with a hammer and a large punch. They went in no problem.

 

[illflem]

Pull them in with a bunch of washers and a upside down lug nut. An impact wrench works best, but you can do it by hand if you have a way to keep the rotor from turning. A bar with rags to protect the threads in between the studs will work. Don't do it with your rim on, you will damage it. I don't trust a punch to pound them all the way in. After everything is back together recheck the torque on your lug nuts after a couple hundred miles, they will always need more tightening.

 

[shendren]

i'll try the washer thing tomorrow. i was worried that i would damage the tapered lug nut but with the washer thing i probably won't. i tried the putting it on the rim technique and using an air wrench. no luck. thanks. scott.

 

[illflem]

Shoot Scott you're right, I'm spacing here, you must have chrome capped lug nuts that you can't turn over. Just get the correct sized Grade 8 nut to crank them down. Sometimes when you wail down with an impact it will chip the chrome off the lug nuts or scar them up. I was thinking of the non-fancy type of nut.

 

[Blakers]

Yes, use a separate grade nut, rather than one of your lug nuts. They are a bear to get seated by driving with a punch. Grease them good too before you start.



Blake

 

[shendren]

got both of the rotors and pads replaced. no problems. well, almost. seems that before the rotors were replaced, the truck pulled slightly to the left when braking. so i did the back up thing and adjusted the rears and the pull disappeared. nice. the front end was still jumping up and down when braking, so i replaced the front rotors and pads. the jumping is now gone. but... ... yep you guessed it... ... ... the freaking thing is pulling now to the right. i made sure the calipers were not sticking on those slide bolts. did the back up thing again. still can't figure it out. can anyone shed some light as to why the new rotors and/or pads are making it pull to the right? thanks. scott.

 

[illflem]

Have you checked the trackbar?

 

[Cooker]

The pulling is a common problem for these trucks. You might try switching sides with the pads. This helped mine a little. If your pads are new I don't know how much it will help?



It may be hard to believe, but new tires made my pulling disappear. How old are your tires? What brand are they? The tires I replaced were some off-brand tire so I think they were falling apart inside and not running true. This is probably not the case with a quality name brand tire.



FWIW - The back-up rear brake adjustment doesn't always work the best. You might try manually adjusting the rear brakes?

 

[shendren]

thanks illflem and cooker..... what is the track bar? and why would this be all of a sudden entering the picture. why wouldn't you just suspect the rotors? thanks...

 

[Gray 5.9]

When I replaced my wheel bearings and had my rotors turned, I got new studs and just used a bull pin and a 15pound sledge hammer to seat the rotors to the bearings bettwen two large pieces of 12"by 12" timber. When I Hammered on the studs I would listen to hear when I got a solid "PINGING" sound, thats how I knew that the stud was seated. Another thing I did was I use a little antisieze on the studs and calipers.

 

[Cooker]

I wouldn't suspect the rotors becasue this is such a common problem for so many Ram owners. So common I think Dodge issued a TSB about it.



-Ryan

 

[PUMPERDUDE]

Hey Scott

The track bar is what keeps your dana 60 centered under your truck. Look at it while your wife/girlfriend turns the wheel. If there is any play at all it must be replaced. Check out lukes links. Also check out your ball joints while your at it. Just went down that road with my 95. Lots o'luck

 

[shendren]

look... ... the night before i changed the rotors, it was going down the road just fine and when i braked, no pull.



then, i just changed the rotors and now i have pull when braking... .



i don't get it.

 

[illflem]

Although I've never experienced it I've heard that if you force the caliper piston back without opening the bleed screw that our type of master cylinder can be damaged. Not sure what the symptoms of a damaged one would be but it is a thought. Something else the manual doesn't tell you about.

 

[icarus33]

Scott,



I would revisit the rear brakes. The rear shoe adjustment makes a HUGE difference in the pull. I can make mine pull to which ever side I want.



You need to raise the rear axle and place on stands and adjust those things manually. The auto adjusters rarely work. If your pull is on the right, your left rear is likely not putting as much force on the drum as the right one is. Spin the tire and listen for the shoe contacting the drum. Remove that orange cover for the adjuster and rotate it till you can start hearing the drum rub. It will probably sound out of round too. Do the same for the other side.



Then, what I do is start the truck and let the wheels spin and hit the brakes a couple of times to center the shoes back up. Shut down engine and repeat adjustment.



I've had very good luck doing this adjustment and after a couple times, like at every oil change, you'll get a good feel for it. The way to check if you're too tight on the adjustment is to take it for a drive for 2-3 miles on a highway, pull over and feel the drum. If they are very hot, back them off a click or two. You'll need a second screwdriver in the adjuster hole to push the adjuster clip back so that it can be clicked in the opposite direction. It is normally a one way rotation.



ic

 

[JMoglia]

Howdy Scott, try bleeding out calipers if you havn't already,I got some of those bleeders from Genos with check valve built in very very cool. I try to change fluid every two years on everything with discs especially these auto trans cummins trucks,fluid heats up on discs quick and will break down,also when you push caliper back to install new pads you can losen bleeder instead of pushing fluid back. anyway thats my . 02.

good luck,

JDM JOE

 

[shendren]

well, thanks guys for all of the help. i will crawl under it tomorrow and do the rear adj thing..... i am back in COLD indiana now. . what a pain... . i much rather to work on it in sunny fla... . but you guys make it a lot easier... that's for sure. i have really gotten my $'s worth with my subscription to this board. btw, where is my block heater plug in located?



thanks. scott.

 

[Cooker]

If you pop the hood it should be on the passenger side radiator support. If not visible, check the connection at the block (passenger side of block below exhaust manifold) to see if anyone had removed it. With the truck being from sunny Florida I'd say that's a good chance.



-Ryan