rear brake rotor replacement

[95'4.0exp]

i need to replace both my front and rear rotors on my 95 explorer, and i'm not sure on the simplicity of the rear rotor removal and installation, and how long it'll take. if you have any input/info, let me know.


thanks.

 

[c.mike]

My dad and I did the brakes on my EX a few months ago(the first time with 95000 miles on it) and the biggest problem we had with the rear rotors was how tightly they were on the truck. It took probably an hour to break each free with the assistance of a big hammer and lots of PB Blaster. Hope this helps, Good luck.

 

[mcnulty6807]

You will have to jack the car up, make sure it is supported well.

When you are doing the rear breaks make sure the emergency break isn't on or it will be nearly impossible to remove the rotor.

Remove the wheel, then remove the caliper, on the rear you will have a couple things that look like washers holding the rotor in place. They can be tricky but they bend pretty easy with a flat head screw driver. Then just pull the rotor off. Since you are this far you mine as well check the pads too.


When you put it all back together make sure you tighten the caliper bolts good, they are known to loosen by themselves.

Its a pretty easy job, first time may take you a couple hours.

 

[jremington59]

There's nothing to the fronts, but your ebrake pads can hold the rear rotors in place. My shoes were gone so my backs came off as easy as the fronts. If you let the rears gravity bleed it makes it easier to bleeding the lines. Make sure you don't let the master cylinder get empty and get air in the lines.

 

[95'4.0exp]

c.mike: i think this will be the first time in 162400 miles.
mcnulty6807: thank you for the info, i looked it up online and said it would be easier to take to a shop but i dont want to pay for time and service.
jremington59: im pretty sure my shoes are gone too, its been driven with the parking brake before, and even with the brake on full it still doesnt lock when i put it in park.

 

[95'4.0exp]

and also, aside from the brakes, if i remove the ford security system box under the dash, would it cause any major problems, i dont have a remote to disengage my alarm, so after like 3 minuts of the ignition being turned off, and in acc, it engages.
the horn was diconnected before i got my explorer, and then when i start it up the wiring is f***ed up and causes the alarm lights to flash a few times. if i plug anything into the cig lighter, or the 12 volt plug it causes the lights to flash nonstop. any way to fix it or just remove the box

 

[Ricky B]

Hey Kidz, just thought I'd add my three cents worth on this thread----I spent 2 hours a few months ago trying to get the rotor off of my daughter's '96 XLT 4x4 (with the 4.0) but gave up after doing the parking brake cable slack/clamp trick, the drill bit in the turnbuckle trick, some hammering with wooden blocks and ball peens, backing off the e-brake star adjustment, marinating in PB Blaster, ad-frickin-nauseum. I just lost interest in it and had other things to do----plus the brakes were still working decently and there weren't any safety concerns.


But today I really got into it. I went back thru all my previous notes and re-read some threads and posts here and got my arsenal of crap all ready to go. Long story short, after removing the wheel and the calipers I shot all five wheel studs & the center axle hub & behind the backing plate with PB Blaster. Then I backed off the parking/e-brake as far as it would go. An hour later I took a hammer to the center axle casting (as I held out the rotor with my left hand), but got nada. Then I put some lug nuts back on part way and gave those a whack or twelve---hoping to loosen things up. Not sure if that was helping at all....but you just never know. So whilst scratching my head for a bit and digging around in my shop for something-----I found my cheapo Harbor Freight slide hammer. After putting this end fitting on it I started doing some slamming on the only exposed part of the roto I could get it to grab. I also made some scratch marks on the axle and the rotor (arrow shaped) to let me know if I was making any progress. After a few slams I thought I heard a thud sound, which is good. Then I figured I needed to get the end fitting to the opposite side of the rotor----and I just barely got it to go on, after pushing in on the dust shield a bit. Now I could get this thing to slide around to any 'clock' position on the rotor that I needed to. And after another dozen slams or so? Voila----rotor popped off like nothing. But just to be fair, the parking/e-brake shoes had NOT yet dug themselves into the rotor (thereby making their own big groove, thus locking themselves into the rotor), so I dodged a bullet there.

Anyways, new rotor and pads installed, all bolts and slides cleaned and lubed, grease applied to the inside rotor mounting area (so it won't rust on again) and I was back on the road in 30 minutes.

Here's the H/Freight slide hammer I used;