1998 corolla help! front rotor wont come off,?

[Robenstein]

My Scion TC had stuck rotors at 40k miles and after only being through three winters.

So an OEM rotor can stick...Iowa uses a LOT of salt on the roads. They have not stuck since, but I did the anti seize trick. I used bolts and a pneumatic hammer to rattle them off my car.

 

[philipp10]

Heat, Heat, Heat. Nothing works better. Cook the rotor till it expands and it will pop right off. And BTW, hitting it with a 3 lb sludge hammer could damage your bearings.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Thinking about it, perhaps OP had an ill-fitting aftermarket rotor installed by force. If that's the case, good luck in removing that.

Toyota OEM rotor would never get stuck, rust or not, as it fits very, very loosely on the wheel studs.

Aftermarket parts and bad mechanics really ruin your car.


not true, my RAV4 with original rotors did a good job of rusting to the hubs.

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: Gokhan
Originally Posted By: Joel_MD
Have you ever worked on a car before? Rust has a tendency to form on bare steel parts, like brake rotors, and cause them to seize. It may not specify in the owner's manual, but sometimes you have to use a BFH.

I have a 1985 Corolla and have never had that problem. I can't imagine rust having the rotor stuck in place because it's normally very, very loose. If there is some rust, just use some penetrating oil on the wheel studs and light hammering if necessary.


You live in LA for gods sake. What do you know about rust? Come to Minnesota and I'll show you rust.

 

[philipp10]

the idea of using the 8 mm threads is great, until rust destroys them too. Wish I would of took pics of my 7 year old rotors last summer. Crazy rust.

 

[asand1]

Originally Posted By: philipp10
Heat, Heat, Heat. Nothing works better. Cook the rotor till it expands and it will pop right off. And BTW, hitting it with a 3 lb sludge hammer could damage your bearings.


So would heat.

 

[asand1]

Hacksaw and chisel to split the rotor in two.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: philipp10
Heat, Heat, Heat. Nothing works better. Cook the rotor till it expands and it will pop right off. And BTW, hitting it with a 3 lb sludge hammer could damage your bearings.

Yeah, but there is one unfortunate side effect of that heat. It often harms the wheel bearing.

I am fairly certain the front wheel bearings are press fit in the knuckle, but I haven't worked on a 1990s Corolla in a while.

 

[ziggy]

I went too home depot, bought 2 #8 1/2x3bolts, (they were goldish) and 2 reg silver non 8 gradebolts..jut n case. the silver bolts had threads up oo the head, the #8 gold bolts, hadthreafs uphalfway till it was smooth metal..
washers, nuts.
now..i tried to put 2 of the differentbolts through a new napacaliper for my 98 corolla..n car. their to big!!! through the bracket holes...
will these bolts, ft through the arm on knuckle? somethingtellsme i should have gotten 3/8 bolts.

 

[ziggy]

impretty sure the 1/2 x 3boltswont fit...the bolts too backof bracketmount, were 14 or 17mmif that helps,means anything..def think imgunna need 3/8 bolts. next size smaller from 1/2 that is.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: ziggy
impretty sure the 1/2 x 3boltswont fit...

The video was for a Ford. You have a Toyota. The brakes are different sizes from each other.

The video only shows the IDEA, which is the most important thing. Now you take some measurements and determine the sizes YOU need, THEN you go to HD.

If you are unable to think your way through this relatively-simple task, then maybe you should let a pro tackle this job. He will have the rotor off in a few minutes.

 

[Olas]

Stock up on cutoff blades and get the grinder out

 

[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: asand1
Originally Posted By: philipp10
Heat, Heat, Heat. Nothing works better. Cook the rotor till it expands and it will pop right off. And BTW, hitting it with a 3 lb sludge hammer could damage your bearings.


So would heat.


not true. While you will heat up your rotor, the bearings will never see enough heat to do any damage. You would have to seriously heat that whole area really hot to damage the bearings. The key is to heat right on the rotor, just outside the hub. The material expands and bond is broken. The hub just will not get that hot if you do it right. There is a reason professional mechanics use heat.

 

[ziggy]

now i can do this just never thought or saw this demonstraated before. thats all. It did say for any vehicle an car!!! in the vid.. but gut feeling started too tel me smaller bolts are needed.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Tegger
I am amazed that nobody has posted THIS yet. The best method I've found so far.




So why was that rotor so difficult to break loose? This is why:

Note that this Toyota hub has an interrupted perimeter, probably in an attempt at making the rotor less difficult to get off once it rusts. Many other cars have full-round hubs that grab even more tenaciously.


I like this idea; will have to try to remember it.

But why are those rotors getting replaced? They look pristine to me.

*

For some reason now I want to loosen up my rotors this spring, put on some antisieze, and reinstall. Oh, why can't the oem's just charge us five bucks more and put antisieze on in the first place? of all the stupid things to charge for, this would be one of the few things I would pay good money for.

 

[Silverado12]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Tegger
I am amazed that nobody has posted THIS yet. The best method I've found so far.




So why was that rotor so difficult to break loose? This is why:

Note that this Toyota hub has an interrupted perimeter, probably in an attempt at making the rotor less difficult to get off once it rusts. Many other cars have full-round hubs that grab even more tenaciously.


I like this idea; will have to try to remember it.

But why are those rotors getting replaced? They look pristine to me.

*

For some reason now I want to loosen up my rotors this spring, put on some antisieze, and reinstall. Oh, why can't the oem's just charge us five bucks more and put antisieze on in the first place? of all the stupid things to charge for, this would be one of the few things I would pay good money for.


They may be warped/unevenly worn spots that you can't see just by looking at them, but can feel at 65 mph when he hits the pedal.

 

[Vikas]

wouldn't that method still damage the rotors? of course, if you are going to put them back, why are you trying to remove them in the first place?

 

[supton]

True did not think about warped.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
wouldn't that method still damage the rotors?

If the rotors are rusted on so badly that they require violent force to remove, chances are excellent that you're going to wreck them on removal anyway. Such rotors should be considered as scrap even before you start work.