Mike D

Just an update. I had a buddy come over last night who has experience with brakes. He said my rotors where in great shape. The surface was smooth with no pits, scares or ridges and the brake pad had about 1/3 left. So, I ended up replacing the pads, lubing the caliper pins and adjusting the rear drums. End result, great brake pedal feel and way better stopping power. The rear drums were way out of adjustment. I printed off this thread off for next time. Thanks to all for their input. I learned a lot.

cumminsboy

Big Blue, yes, the rotors are floating on 01's (thank goodness)!!

BigBlue

Thank God. Now I just gotta figure out how to get that stripped 12 point bolt out that holds the caliper bracket on.

scottsjeeprolet

First thing is to disconnect the abs cable so that it is free form the vehicle, as it will come off with the assembly.
Leave the 1 11/16" nut connected to the axle.
this will keep the wheel bearing assembly from trying to seperate, then take it off after getting the bearing off.
I just did mine and it was not easy. i used chisels and steel wedges to get mine off.
Have fun and enjoy.
scotte

overkill12v

I recently did my rotors on my 94,It was the second set put on the truck.My rig has about 160k on her, the first set I had a garage install.( no time ) Any how about 30k ago I replaced the axle u-joint. The point i'm getting at is this, after all of the work and sweat of doing this job you may want to consider replacing the hub .They are not cheap but it may save you down the road, my hub had enough by the third disasembly. these units are not servicable and by beating the crap out of the rotor I would guess you shorten their life. I found that by pulling one of the 4 bolts holding the hub assy. on and matching it up w/ a slightly longer bolt, and installing the 4 longer bolts to use a air chisel with a drift or round punch attachment to alternatively hammer on. Just give a few bursts to each bolt head till you work the hub assy. free. Then remove the longer bolts and put them in the tool box for next time. Using this tip should knock a couple of hours off.

FastSS

Remove wheel
Remove axle nut (I believe its 1 and 7/16ths)
thread the four bolts on the rear of the hub halfway out
remove caliper... no need to take off the line, just put it off to the side
hammer hub loose by beating on a socket protecting the bolts from the back...
it will probably take quite some time unless you have air.

IF you think its a good idea to replace your hubs at the cost of around 300 each, use the service manual proceedure of a puller... it will most likely seperate your hubs which do not go back together... once apart the part that was bolted on likes to stay where it was...

Its quite possibly the biggest pain in the rear ever.

BTW your axles will leak for a while when you get it done... just keep topping it up and if its not cured in a few months then you have a really really nasty job ahead of you... nasty to the point where you may just find it better to carry around a bottle of axle lube and the tools to fill it wherever you need...

nitrousn

several things to do. 1- wash out the axle tubes the best you can before disassembly. 2- blow them out well before you remove the axle. 3- remove the fill plug and with a suction gun remove a quart and save it to a clean can for refilling when done. lowering the fluid level will keep it from spilling out when the shafts are removed. 4- remove the axle nut and reinstall it. [this way its free on the shaft and easier to remove when the bearing is out of the knuckle] then remove the hub and bearing with the axle still attached. then you can remove the nut and slide the hub and bearing assembley off the shaft once out and on the floor.[ doing it this way keeps the bearing togeather].

98 2500

i didn't read all these replies but i happened to need to replace my rotor yesterday. I was a first timer and it was much more difficult than expected, but more than possible to do. heres what i did step by (almost) step

-remove wheel
-remove caliper and hang it on some suspension stuff
-remove axle nut (on mine it was 1 and 3/4")
-remove the 4 12 point 9/16" bolts behind the rotor.
-while pulling outward on the rotor, hit the axle with a mallet (steel not rubber) till they seperate
-also if you have 4 wheel abs(as i did) remove the VRS sensor, attaches with a hex bolt.
-once apart, smack the wheel studs out with said mallet. I mushroomed the heads on the studs and had to grind them down so as not to interfere with the lug nut engagment
-put new rotor on, put wheel studs back in. and i used an impact and the lugnuts and tightened the heck out of them to make sure the studs fully seated.
-put assembly back on remembering (as i did not) the metal gasket and the rotor shield
-have fun trying to hold the heavy rotor up and in position while lining up the bolt holes and getting the assembly to seat correctly on the axle splines don't get frustrated, just be persistent
-oh yeah don't forget to rethread that abs sensor back through the rotor shield or, if you forgot as i did, just cut the shield to hell and slide the sensor in. also easier to put the sensor on while assembly is off, but don't forget to thread it through the shield before replacing into the assembly.
-put everything back together, clean yourself off and have a beer

also don't forget, as i did , to crack the master cylinder cap when using a c clamp to compress the caliper piston. I forgot and ended up detaching the caliper, compressing it that way (with no resistance) and in the process left about a half quart of brake fluid on my driveway. But other than that and about 4 or 5 hours of my time. It was actually fun....yeah i must be

infidel

Why would you want to remove the axle to replace a rotor?
I've found just jacking the side I'm working high is enough to keep the fluid on the other side.
Most important thing to avoid leaks afterwards is to always keep the axle centered while the hub is off. A few rags work just fine.

Barry Smith

DZLPWR, Brilliant!!!! I wish I had known this trick! I used a Slide hammer and it still took two days. Next time I will know to ask you guys. I just figured I'll change the rotors no big deal Sunday I finally got them done.

DZLPWR

Anyway to help get the job done.
I dont do much work anymore without researching here first. Great resouce to have.

dendrizzi

This Post is the best my brother has been beating the **** out of his rotor trying to get it off. Finally I figured we should look online. Thank god I found this site!!! i will update when we get it apart.
Thanks guys!

Geico266

Take it in. Its a tough job.

Crimedog

DO NOT REMOVE the axle nut while you bust the hub loose!!!

If you crack it free, then tighten it back up again it will keep the hub bearing from separating when you take it off. Be liberall with anti seize when you reassemble everything, including all parts of where the hub meets the knuckle, and the axle shaft threads so that if/when you have to take it apart again, you won't run as much risk.

Dave88LX

Oh man, this is going to be a much uglier job than I thought!