captainofiron

I know this isnt Jeep or XJ related, but man this is really the brake job from hell.
So the wife and I are going on Vacation and she doesnt want to rent a car like we normally do and she wants to take her Vibe.I figured I might as well do a little maintenance on it, I changed the oil, no problem, changed the spark plugs, no problem.
BUT THEN....


The wheel had been shaking severely when I would hit the brakes lightly, meaning the brakes were warped (I think warped might not be sufficiently describing this, I think bent might be right, haha)
I got the rotors and pads from Autozone, they looked like floating rotors, so I figured I would be done within an hour or so.
NOT SO...
The car is automatic, so I put it in park and lifted the front thinking that the tires wouldnt spin, they did, so I took it off the stands and lowered it until the tires touched, and loosened the driver side which was tight, but not insane (maybe 100lb-ft), BUT THEN the passenger side was on there. I ended up standing on my longest 1/2 drive rachet and jumping up and down on it, finally it came loose, then I read the manual seeing 76lb-ft torque on the wheels. No wonder the rotors are warped some idiot at a tire shop with an impact wrench went to town on the wheels.


I finally got everything off, and man its almost like the rotors are welded on. I took my wire brush for welding and went at the center hub, nothing, I sprayed silicone inside the back of the rotor and around the center lip, nothing. I have hit this rotor with my hammer as hard as I could possibly hit it. NOTHING


I took off the hub nut thinking maybe it wasnt a floating rotor, but after reading online and in the haynes manual I put it back on.
Im thinking of going and getting penetrating oil and a propane torch and making the rotor expand and contract, and of course getting a bigger hammer.


This is probably the worst brake job has ever gone for me.

Phragle

Good lord

Bustedknuckle

I've never seen overtightened wheel lug nuts cause a Rotor to warp. It's perched on the lip of the spindle, how snug it is really doesn't have an effect. What would warp the rotors would be if they've been cut before, and the metal is just fatigued and old. Or, if it was just pad slapped on a previous brake job, with no attention given to the rotors.

Also, a hanging caliper or bad brake hose could cause exessive wear and heat soak the rotor. An indication of that would be irregular pad wear, either the inside or outside worn more then one another.

I wouldn't torch it off, don't want to heat up the bearing in the spindle, ya know. Penetrating oil, and raise the car up more. Put a lug nut or two on loosely, then whallap the ever living **** out of the rotor until it comes loose. By how tight it's on, my assumption would be it's still the o.e. equipment.

Outlaw Star

Couldn't have said it better. I work on a lot of older stuff so stuck is in my vocabulary. But spray the hub with PB blaster and from the backside, whack it and turn it then whack it again. Just keep repeating this and it will eventually pop off. Good luck.

Gee oh Dee

Moved to 'Other Vehicles.'

cmor

That has to be the best phrase to describe how to go about rotor removal I've ever heard.
Been there with my wife's Vibe also. Good luck and let us know how you fare.

captainofiron

I got them off finally at midnight the day before we were leaving.

I let them soak in PB blaster and would reapply every 30 minutes

I went at them with a 4lb deadblow hammer and finally they came off

I need to take a picture of the back of the rotors, I pretty much destroyed them with my ball-peen hammer, they are full of big hammer marks

captainofiron

Here is the damage from the "Battle" I had with the rotors

jnicewan

I hope you put anti-seize on the mating surfaces for easy removal next time.

A couple tips I have used in the past, you can wedge a bar of some type between the body or frame and the rotor and use the power steering to assist with pushing the rotor off. Just use a little common sense here and be aware that the bar may slide off with force. This tip usually works as good as a BFH and sometimes easier due to space constraints.
Also have used a long screw drivers to stick into the rotor cooling fins to wiggle them off. This tip is not very helpfull for the really stuck rotors but for the ones than may need a little force to come off.

captainofiron

yea used plenty of anti seize, also the new rotors had a much larger clearance, I dont think it will be a problem in the future.