Tip on Getting a stuck Rotor off

[gijoecam]

Oh for God's sake. It's not overkill if that's the only way you can get them off! I've seen them where they had to be cut off! Funny...I've been around this business for over 35 years. I've never seen one set of wheel bearings hurt because of removing stuck rotors...unless they had to be cut off.

Great suggestion with the pipe. You do what you have to do. My only caution would be damaged rotors. I would probably hesitate to reuse them depending on how hard I had to hit them. Of course, that could be true from dead blow hammers too.

Not to resurrect and beat a dead horse, but....

I have personal experience on that one. The first time I changed 'em on my 98, I beat the snot out of 'em to get them off the hub. 4-lb baby sledge eventually got them loose. It wasn't a lip, but a solid corrosion weld to the hub.

I had to replace the hubs roughly 5000 miles later. The bearings showed evidence of brinnelling, undoubtedly due to my hammering. I have pics somewhere in my Flickr account...

It boils down to the fact that the hubs are still bearings, and nobody in their right mind pounds on bearings unless they have to. I certainly understand that realistically, in some cases, there is no other way, and you do what you have to do.

-Joe

 

[skoal_mint]

I'v runined a bearing once on a 02 dodge truck, changing ball joints and took off the axel nut and forgot to put it back on while hitting the rotor and the bearing fell apart...cost me $400 buck, lol... Thats the only way to really damage a bearing like that, and always use a chisel to get bearings off, never hit the flang

Their really is no TIP'S for getting stuck rotors off, do what you gotta do. HEAT + BFH

 

[Kiliona]

I think this is a great way to get the leverage to pop these off, as long as, like others have mentioned, if you use this method don't plan on reusing the rotors (but on explorers often turning rotors is more expensive than just buying a new set anyways).

However a word of caution, to people that prefer heat:
1) remember heat can warp metal if the metal isn't cooled SLOWLY, if you're so worried about damaging bearings wacking rotors off with a hammer be extra careful heating the bearing seats as to not warp them.
2) Bearings are packed with grease! I have had a dangerous experience involving a grease packed ball joint, a heating torch, a hammer, and an explosion that chipped a half dollar sized hole out of a concrete shop floor. Be careful with flames near grease.