kane2k

So I had some issues with my front passenger brake and I decided to replace the pads and discs. Picked up Monroe parts from CT ( $31 /disc and $60 for two sets of front pads) and went to work with my handy socket set.

The passenger side went well, got the caliper and mounting removed fine, drilled out the screws (they were seriously stuck) and then threaded in two 8mm bolts until the disc popped off. I put everything back together and moved to the driver side.

I did the same thing, but when I threaded the bolts into the holes, the bolts sheared instead of popping the disc off. I tried knocking it a bit with a mallet and eventually just had to leave the disc on the car. It was still in good shape so I figure it's not an urgent issue.

So now I've fixed my brakes and everything is fine, but I have no idea how I will ever get that disc off if it needs to be replaced. Has anyone had any experience with this?

The only thing I can think of is drilling the bolt out of the disc, going in with a tap and restoring the threads, then trying again with harder bolts (these were rated 8.8). I didn't consider heating the disc with a torch because I'd be worried about damaging the bearing.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

D.T.P

brute force, grab a sledge hammer and go at it..lol
or to be on a safer side you could just hammer around the disk to create vibrations and hope to unseize it.

Silver_EM

plasma cutter :P

kane2k

Yeah, I gave it quite a few whacks with the head of a sledgehammer but it didn't budge.

D.T.P

damn..outta ideas then.

chris_v2

You need heat. Plain and simple..

kane2k

So just heat the centre of the disc with a propane torch from the outer side? Is there a risk of damaging the bearing that way? The rubber boot seems pretty close and I'm assuming I'm going to have to get the disc hotter than braking would get it for it to break free.

chris_v2

Yes there is a risk of damaging the bearing. However, usually a little bit of heat will be enough to free it.

Propane torch won't do anything btw, unless you hold it there for like 30 minutes.

kane2k

Yeah, that risk to the bearing would go up with such a long heat up time.

Thanks for the help.

3rdgen3

You need mapgas...go to crappy tire or princess auto and in the torch/gas section you should find a yellow "propane" bottle, its actually a gas called Propylene. It will heat that sucker up MUCH hotter than propane could ever get and much faster too, than smash the ever living **** out of that rotor and it will come loose, guaranteed.

kane2k

You made that sound like an action movie. Sounds like a good plan. Thanks.