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guess i need a brass hammer??? (question)

monster1

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Jan 8, 2012
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Pulled the front rotors off the wife's car today. They were pretty frozen on there. I was able t get them off with a ball peon while rotating the rotors. One off I noticed that I left pretty deep dings on the back side of the rotors. I dropped them of at Oreillys and asked them if there was going to be a problem. They didn't know the answer because their machine guy went home for the day. I am making an educated guess that they will be fine because they make rotors with holes and slots but I wouldn't want the guy to turn them down so far that they'll barely be in spec. 30$ for the pair to turn or a new pair for 100$. What do you think?
 
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wornoutoldman

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You won't know until or unless you measured them to see if you had enough meat left to cut em and checked that they are still (or can be cut) avoiding run out. Absence of wobble side to side/pulsation.
 
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Zick

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Actually it sounds like you need a dead blow hammer. This always worked well for me.
 

OccupantRJ

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The dings compressed and may have work hardened those areas in a manner where they don't cut consistently. I would be interested in how they turn out. You may want to invest in a dead blow hammer, or use your hammer along with a block of oak wood to protect surfaces in the future. Also using penetrating fluid on the mating joint will help remove hub-stuck drums and rotors. Dry metal is very tenacious.
 
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monster1

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You won't know until or unless you measured them to see if you had enough meat left to cut em and checked that they are still (or can be cut) avoiding run out. Absence of wobble side to side/pu


They pulsated on the car. What you mean by rumour is how much meat they remove until the surface of the rotor runs true like a trued bicycle wheel?
 

rlitman

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I don't think brass would be good for this. A deadblow would work. I've never had to hit a rotor that hard though. Just some taps around the perimeter of the hat with a ball peen to break any rust free, and worst case, use some puller bolts in the threaded holes that are there for this purpose.
 

Silver6.0

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I don't think brass would be good for this. A deadblow would work. I've never had to hit a rotor that hard though. Just some taps around the perimeter of the hat with a ball peen to break any rust free, and worst case, use some puller bolts in the threaded holes that are there for this purpose.

I agree, I learned this from a veteran front end tech. I spray the area with penetrant then hit between the studs with a ball pein, not the BFH I usually use when I work on semi trucks lol. Also be careful not to hit the studs and if your really scared just thread the lug nuts back on a couple then whack away.

Same procedure works well with stuck on drum brakes.
 
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monster1

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These rotors float on the hub. The lug studs aren't attached to the rotors. On this Kia sorento there is no place for the bolt on a puller to push against. The dustcap to the hub is huge. The dealer said the way they get them off is with a deadblow. They were rusted on there good. The two screws that go through the rotor to the hub wouldn't budge either even after soaking. Ended up extracting them out.
 
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Zengineer

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When you reassemble, put a little never-sieze on the rotor mounting face so that it doesn't stick again.

Many slip on rotors have a threaded hole in them that you can thread a bolt into, to push the rotor off in those situations.
 

rlitman

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Many slip on rotors have a threaded hole in them that you can thread a bolt into, to push the rotor off in those situations.

That's what I was saying. You don't need the puller (because you cannot push on the dust cap). Just the bolts from the puller (they'll fit into the holes threaded in the rotor).

I don't hammer next to the studs on the face of the hat. If you disturb the shape of that surface, the wheel won't sit flat. I hit the sides of the hat, but just enough to break any corrosion loose.
 

xurusaibobx

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today most rotors are super cheap i dont understand why people go to the trouble of trying to cut rotors. heck even some manufactures make their rotors so thin you cant even cut them.
 

MattT

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I don't think brass would be good for this. A deadblow would work. I've never had to hit a rotor that hard though. Just some taps around the perimeter of the hat with a ball peen to break any rust free, and worst case, use some puller bolts in the threaded holes that are there for this purpose.

I hit one so hard it broke the rotor off the hat. 20 year old car that I'm guessing was still on the original rotors. But yeah a few whacks around the perimeter will free 'em up more often than not. And Murphy only puts the jacking screw holes in rotors that don't get frozen on;)
 

nismomans13

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if you were planning on reusing the rotors why would you of went to town on them with a hammer anyway? Seems odd, most rotors have threaded holes in them for removing them. The only time i take a hammer to mine is when i'm pitching them, and even then, i hammer the rotor hat around the studs, not the brake pad surface unless their REALLY stuck.
 

metaleltr

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I have yet to see a BMW with threaded holes. I also have yet to see a BMW that the rotors are not seized on. BFH gets then every time. The rotor do get dinged up, then trashed.
 
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monster1

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They were really frozen on. I didn't realize that I was dinging the rotors so bad. They ended up being too warped to turn anyway so I ended up buying new. Learn learned and deadblow hammers bought!
 

66 GMC Truckin

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Brass Hammers and punches are mainly used when you need to eliminate any possibility of sparks such as when working with gasoline, or other explosive materials. Ball Pein Hammer works fine. Hit the rotor hard between the studs a few times and it should break loose quite easily.
 
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