Rear Rotor Removal-ebrake stuck?

[SHUTUPNDRIVE]

I've ben through this mess twice. I couldn't believe how much they wanted for those little toy brake shoes. I finally found some that were barely affordable. My old ones had fallen apart from rust. The problem is , most of us rarely use our E-brakes. The rust builds up on the inside of the rotor. The shoes rust and the friction material flakes off. I beat on those rotors years ago when nobody had a clue how to do it. I found a factory manual that said to adjust the shoes with the rotor off. Use an outside caliper to measure to an exact measurement, then install the rotors. The problem of course is from years of use or non use, there is a ridge built up on the outside edge of the drum/ rotor, making it almost impossible to slide them on. Now what I do is after it rains I step on my e-brake pedal that last 50 feet or so before I park it. It dries the inside of the rotor and cleans off any rust that has accumulated. Another hassle I've found is the rotors warp after a couple of years of city driving. I buy rotors with long warranties. If they warp I take them back to the part store and have them measured with a micrometer . The numbskull will usually tell me they're warped and want to charge me to cut them. At that point I have to slap em around a little, and explain to him that ,if it's warped now ,what do you think will happen when you cut them making them even thinner ? Just about all rotors are made in China with inferior steel, which make them susceptible to warping and pitting. Not much we could do about that.. Hope this helps.

 

[05MONTY]

Napa has lifetime rotors..I got 2 for my 05

 

[ProLaxer]

Ok guys, I read through the threads and want to premtivly thank you for your help. I am going to be swapping the pads and rototrs on front and back of the Sport Trac tomorrow assuming I can get the fuq'n rim off of the hub/stubs itself......

 

[rhofer]

I know this is an old thread but I just did my rear brakes and I tried this trick to get the rotors offs. After removing the caliper insert a thinner 3" bolt into each of the holes where the caliper was bolted on, after thru the hole put on 2 washers and 2 nuts. Tighten one nut towards the hole and the other towards the rotor so the bolt doesn't come thru to the rotor. Alternate tightening the bolts until you hear the pop of the rotor freeing up, if the rotor doesn't come free then turn to the other side and repeat, works like a charm.

 

[BigRondo]

Just failed inspection because of parking brake. Gonna tackle this mother tomorrow. A lot of good info in this thread. Wish me luck!!!!!!

 

[bam_bam1ca]

OK... here's a question. When doing the rear e-brakes, how do you get the emergency brake actuator arm off of the backing plate without having to remove the axle? The pivot on the arm is almost always seized, and needs to be taken apart and buffed, or a new one installed, but Ford in their wisdom didn't make for any easy way (that I can see) to get this part out to service it. Does anybody have some grains of wisdom on this?

 

[RickM]

Yeah the Ebrake shoes have an issue with the friction media bond breaking down. Best I could find was autozone @ around $60.

 

[bradleyhodges]

stuck rotor

rear passenger rotor is free from hub, but i could tell the ebrake was preventing the top of the rotor from coming off. I'll try the adjuster screw idea but based on the older threads it sounds like its gonna be a pain. Any other suggestions?

 

[intelisevil]

After several months of PB Blaster and banging and prying and swearing, this is how I finally got my rear passenger side rotor off:

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-hydraulic-gear-puller-66657.html

The tool comes disassembled in a nice hard plastic storage case. It took longer to assemble the tool than it took to finally get my old rotor off!!! The rotor flew about four feet when it 'popped' off. The 25 pound tool jumped about two feet.

15 minutes later I had my last slotted Brembo rotor & new pads installed and went for a break-in drive. The other three rotors were installed five months ago.

In the postmortem, I found a thick ring of rust on the inside of the parking brake drum that couldn't clear the parking brake shoes even though I had fully loosened them with the star wheel adjuster.

 

[bradleyhodges]

Finally got the rotor off. I sprayed WD40 between the dust shield and the rotor, it loosened up the rust and the rotor came off about 1/4 inch. I managed to wedge a thin hammer in between the dust shield and rotor and using a rubber mallet I pounded on the hammer from the inside out. The rotor finally came off. Their was a lip of built up rust inside the rotor that was preventing the rotor from coming off. I debated punching out the adjuster screw access port, but the punch out is very thick and the resulting access port would have been too small. Hopefully, Ford is reading this to improve the engineering.

 

[pjohnson1980]

the easiest brakes I did was my fathers van (dodge I think). They had 2 tapped holes in the face of the rotor 180 degrees apart. you just wrenched in 2 bolts alittle at a time and they poped right off. It was like a built in puller. I think if I have the chance on mine, If there is enough meat there, I will drill and tap 2 holes in my rotors.

 

[Recoil Rob]

My Honda CRV has the same thing, you even use the hydraulic line clamp nuts. Only problem is the threads are too rusty. I didn't have to pull them this time so I greased them for next time.

 

[andyi]

Rear rotor stuck

I released cable as described above, removed cable at each wheel ( pull forward on cable sheath, rearward on spring and drop cable through slot). Pound the levers apart so they are at the maximum release positions. At the upper rear quadrant of dust shields make two cuts about an inch apart on the cylindrical portion with a cold chisel and roll the sheet metal back so the edge of the drum portion is exposed. I made a scraper from the tang of a file. Heat it red and bend one half inch at ninety degrees. File the sides of the tang edges to make about 80 degree included angles at the inside of the bent over section. Heat it bright red and sprinkle water on the tip to harden it. Let the heat from the base of the tang come down to the tip until the water sizzles off the whole thing and quench. You should have a hard scraper. Install one nut on the rotor to keep it in place. Use some washers so the stud does not come through the nut cap. Using a box wrench on the nut as a crank, turn the rotor. Position the scraper to cut the rust on the inside of the drum using the ends of your opening for support while leveraging the scraper edge against the rust ridge. The ridge may be 5/16 inch wide. Get it all. Flush scrapings with a hose. This worked for me, after a lot of work, but was the only way. Put on EBC Greenstuff DP61617 Front and DP61631 rear pads. Watch that inner and outer pads have their "hooks" at the top.

 

[scapino]

I gotta say, a picture of the "ebrake tension lockout hole" would really be helpful!!

I googled and there are no photos anywhere - and I can't find it.
-j

 

[swshawaii]

^ parking-brake-cable-tension-release-general-procedures.pdf

 

[scapino]

I know this is an old thread but adding in my experience here. My 05 Sport Trac has just over 190k miles and I finally broke down and replaced the rear rotors this weekend. I should note this was my second attempt - first attempt about 5yrs ago failed and I just gave up at that time and slapped new pads and calipers on.

So this wknd, I pulled off the calipers and pads off with no problems - but the friggen rotors.... Got the 3lb BFH and whacked the circumference several times - then whacked the drum - then the rotor surface - then the entire hub. Nothing. The only thing I accomplished was a ringing in my ears. (note: if you try this I suggest ear plugs)

Then I tried releasing the parking brake like everyone has suggested here - but I couldn't figure that out.

Oh, and did I mention it was 95 deg f and 100% humidity here in Chicago this weekend? So yeah, my patience was thin.

Then I saw INTELISEVIL's comment above about the 12 ton gear puller. I was like, wtf - what is the worst that could happen. Worst case it rips the parking shoes off; right...?

So I went to Auto Zone and got the largest gear puller they had (gotta luv the free tool rental at AZ). They only had a 7 ton puller but it fit the rotors perfectly. The passenger side popped off fairly easily with the gear puller. The drivers side was a b*tch; took quite a bit of cranking and for a moment I thought I was gonna need a bigger gear puller (or at least a longer pipe to get more force on the wrench to turn it). But it finally flew off with a crash.

After both rotors were off I inspected the ebrakes / parking brakes and inside of the rotors. Yes, the ebrake shoes were completely covered in rust. But there was no rust lip preventing the rotors from coming off like everyone suggested. It simply was the ID (inner diameter) of the rotor pressed on the hub that was the problem.

So, new pads, new rotors, and new calipers on both front & rears now - and it only took 8hrs (includes the trip to AZ for the gear puller).

And again, did I mentioned it was 95 f'n degrees...?

 

[scapino]

@intelisevil
You know that Auto Zone has free tool rentals; right?
-j

After several months of PB Blaster and banging and prying and swearing, this is how I finally got my rear passenger side rotor off:

12 Ton 3 Jaw Hydraulic Gear Puller