palehorse

Well, ruined my LF rotor on my 1995 2500 4x4 8800 truck...got 2 new rotors pads etc. started the job last night. Broken finger, and I am hoarse from swearing. Good G_d is this always this bad?? Had a manual....

wheel off, took catsillated nut off and started to bang...and bang...and bang..
manual said to take the 4 bolts off behind hub...did so...hub and all came off,

drove studs out...why I am not sure...seemed like a good idea at the time...seems like the rotor is captured between the hub and flange,,and there is no way to remove rotor with out the hub and driving the studs out.

Will finish tonite after I pick up new studs which I buggered up.

Oh...the "manual" said....If it is a 4X4 ...take to the dealer. nice.




ANYBODY have hints, tricks ....anything...please!!

Thanks,

Don Scott

infidel

At least the rotor/bearing came off the axle, that's usually the problem.
All the studs have to be removed to remove the bearing.
You can use a copper hand sledge or a press to remove the studs without buggering them up.
Don't try to suck the new studs in with an impact wrench with the wheel on, you'll ruin the wheel. Use a pile of washers instead.
Make sure to use a torque wrench several times after driving to make sure the new studs are seated enough.
I guarantee some will be loose.

Timberman

Welcome to the world of 2nd gen brakes. They are my personal nightmare. I just take mine to the local truck shop and throw piles of cash at them each spring. Good luck man.

Mule Skinner

I had mine done last week, thot about doing it myself but now that I read this, glad I threw cash as well

MDMIKE

Just got done this very job.

Hint #1: Leaving the big axle nut attached, thread 2 opposing bolts back into the back of the unit bearing about 1/2 way. Then, get a deep 9/16" Craftsman socket w/ a shorty extension on it and put it on the head of the bolt. Start the truck and turn the wheel 1 way until you feel the hub pop out on the 1 side. Repeat for the other side. You are essentially using the power steering on the truck as a "press" to get the unit bearing out. It makes a long, angry job into a 5 minute walk in the park.

Hint #2: Once you have the unit bearing/rotor combo on the floor, thread a factory lugnut onto the stud until the nut is almost flush with the end of the stud. A couple smacks with the hammer should drive the studs out without buggering them up too bad.

Hind #3: Put the stud through the back of the new rotor and bearing combo and thread a factory lugnut onto the stud. Hammer down with your impact gun until the stud is "pressed" all the way in. I used a little antiseaze on each stud and went through the process 3 times to make sure each stud was pressed all the way in.

Hint #4: Use anitseaze on the surface where the unit bearing slides into the steering knuckle. Also, use antiseaze where the stub axle shaft slides into the unit bearing. This way the next time you have to do brakes, everything should come apart much easier.

These are the steps I used this past weekend and everything went easier than planned. If anyone sees a flaw in my logic here, please feel free to correct me. I've driven the truck for the last couple of days and the brakes feel great and my wheels haven't fallen off yet

MIke

palehorse

one last thing...the hub { bearing block, ya know the one with the four bolts, most inboard?} see....that thing came off and the bearing stayed on the shaft....am I jammed up or does it reseat into the hub assembly.

after this me thinks I stick with my day job. ; )



Thanks for that....I'll try some of that...maybe the other side will be easier with those tips and me up the learning curve.

I payed 700.00 3 years ago to have this done...I thought then it was steep...
I now think it was cheap.

I have done a few b#ll B##sting jobs.... but this pos takes the cake by far.

MDMIKE

I think you're stuck, unfortunately. I've never been able to get the unit bearings to seat back together enough to be safe to drive on them. Hopefully someone else will chime in and prove me wrong, but I don't think so.

I guess I should edit my "hints" to add some more anitseaze to the splines where the stub axle shaft goes into the unit bearing when reasembling everything.

Russ Roth

The grief on the brakes is only through year '99, I think. My '01 has outboard rotors and is very easy to change.

infidel

I didn't quite understand your first post. Now that I do it seems you have a very big problem.
You're going to have to get the bearing off the axle now, which will be difficult with the rotor off and the bearing busted.
I would use a cutting torch very carefully at this point.
New bearing is very pricey, at least $250.
Think you are right, you would have been better off letting someone else do the work.

Mechanos

You got rooked. The design changed in '00 I believe. They went to a slip on rotor. Simply remove the caliper and slide the rotor off the hub/bearing. Slide on new or resurfaced rotor and re-install caliper with new pads. Couldn't be simpler.

Silver R/T

Thanks for clarifying. You got me scared, I have to check out my brakes on my 01 and I sure don't want to mess with complicated brake system.

patdaly

I still think there should be an easy way to convert to the 00-up slip on rotors for us older guys.

John Faughn

I thought I saw a conversion a while back , but not cheap or easy , it requires replacing the steering knuckle with the newer one .
And that's not a guarantee , I have had some , where the rotor gets rusted on , so the hole rotor bearing hub comes off as a unit , then chip the rust of , between the inside of the rotor hat & bearing flange , definitely want to clean this up good & use lots of ant seize .

palehorse

I am pleased to report..job is done!!!

First off...I was mistaken...the bearing stayed in the hub...what I saw was the backer plate on the axel.

Finished LF .....RF took about 1 1/2 hours since I had a better idea what I was doing.

A couple things for the next guy to do these the first time...

1. after removing wheel,calliper etc. I removed nut first, then drove the studs in while still on hub. use a dead blow hammer, or a least a spare nut to keep from buggering the stud ends. I think this " activity" starts to break things loose.

2. Now remove 4 bolts behind.

3. remove hub...a old, flat wood chisel { tool abuse) is great to get in behind hub, one side, then the other...go in a far as you can when there is room,,that helps keep the bearing in the hub. hub and rotor come off spliine in one piece...its not that heavy, but you don't want it bouncing off your foot either.

4. once off, remove old rotor from hubside, replace with new. Check your stud threads...the last thing you want to do is put a bad stud in, antiseize on the studs is good.

5. seat studs, the old rotor, flipped over, with new hub placed on top makes a dandy jig to hold the assembly whilst driving in the studs. I used an old bolt held in vice grips as a drift. you know its seated when the hammer about flys out of you hands.

6. anti-sieze everything thats not moving...take care to clean it offf the rotor.

7. for some reason...it worked best to line up the bolt holes for the 4 bolts behind, and start the bolts, then tighten the big nut...then tighten the 4 bolts behind. replace caliper...ec etc.

8. buy 3X the amount of brake-kleen you think you will need, anti =seize is your friend, have a couple spare studs and nuts on hand...impact driver is key. buy a can of go -jo.

This was a bear... but I will do it again if I have to.

Thanks all!!

DS

palehorse

Brakes are awsome. BTW I had my mechanic put two new rotors on about 2 years ago. I "believe"...in looking at the RF rotor. which was trashed as well on the back side..., and how friggen much tighter and stuck it was,,,he didn't
"do" the RF. and the axel threads were " buggered"...same guy I took my Range Rover to last year to put a new transfer case chain in....he HAD to road test it and blew the tranny. 700.00 job turned into 5200.00 at the dealer.

He is toast.

I am going to put on the GM cyclinders on the rears tthis week end.My palms sweats to think I was hauling 12,000 lbs of horses and goose neck on those brakes.

PTA is was...its nice to know all is in order.

Out.