Replacing Brake Rotor 85 Caprice

[RageCage]

I think I might have a warped rotor. Wobble and pulsing on braking. (Sears used air wrench on lug nuts). How easily does the hub and rotor come off ? And do I need to get the old bolts out, or do I get new bolts with the new hub/rotor ?

I think I need to bang out the old bolts with a special hammer, right? How do I get the bolts into the new hub/rotor? Just bang them in with the special hammer?

Thanks

[PeteA216]

Bang them with a heavy raw hide hammer, or just take a large ballpine hammer and a set piece of wood on the bolts to protect the threads. Oh, and using an air wrench doesn't usually cause the rotors to warp, its common wear on rotors, especially with heavy braking. Its from constant heating up and cooling off.

[burnM]

Remove wheel
Remove dustcap with flat head screwdriver
Remove cotter pin
Remove castle nut
Remove washer
Remove outer bearing
Pull rotor from spindle
Remove inner bearing seal
Remove inner bearing
Install lugs back on studs so that the studs do not protrude
Whack them with a hammer
Install studs on new rotor
Repack wheel bearings with new grease, do not get ANY dirt in them
Install inner bearings
Install a NEW bearing seal
Mount rotor on spindle
Install outer bearings,washer,nut
Torque to proper spec
Install NEW cotter pin
Dust cap
Re-install wheel
Torque to proper spec

[randy78]

time for new rotors they are only 25 bucks each new

i have to do this on my 88 caprice they are out of round and the car grabs and releases at lower speeds when are stopping all way to full stop, rotors are gone, and i noticed that they are grooved up really bad on backside, pads were allowed to wear past rivets at one time, ruined rotors,

i will most likely swap the rotors off my 82 trans am onto the 88 for now since i know those rotors are fine, at least way better than the 88 ones are, and the pads too, then i will get new rotors for both another day,
they all interchange B bodies, x bodies, F bodies, G bodies, 2wd s-10 pickups and so forth, but you have to watch for metric vs sae wheel studs and wheel nuts, i notied my 88 has SAE studs and nuts, but the 80s F bodies i know went to metric early 80s around 82 and definitely by 84 i know for a fact,



you are supposed to replace rotors every other pad change and no one does, so rotors are probably really super old and wayyyyyyy past their safety wear limit

get them off asap

[bobss396]

New or junkyard rotors come with the studs installed, no need to do any extra work. I always buy mine from the junkyards, cheap and you can often get ones that are super thick. They have a vast interchange and come on Caddys, big Buicks and so on.

Bob

[RageCage]

Thanks, guys, for the info. Autozone says the hub/rotor combo comes with the bolts already installed. $25 new.

I looked in a Chilton's manual, and it didn't say anything about repacking the wheel bearings, although it did say to adjust the cotter pin, if necessary. Chilton's just said, basically "Remove brake caliper, remove dust cover, remove cotter pin, remove washer, then remove hub/rotor as one unit. Reinstall in reverse order. " Nothing about removing bearings....
If and when I get to it amidst the current chaos, I'll let you know how I made out.

Rage

[burnM]

Whoops.. I forgot about brakes.... those might be important too....

Anytime I remove a rotor, I always take the time to repack the bearings. It should be done or at least inspected every 30k or so.