I’m not much of a mechanic. I can do the basic shit like change my break pads, oil, and whatever else, but it’s not the kind of thing I do on the regular.
My breaks are starting to have the little warning squeek, so I figured I would change the pads and possibly the rotors since my inspection was due like 3 weeks ago.
So I get into it this morning, and everything is looking like it should be easy. For a minute I thought I didn’t even need rotors, but upon close inspection, the inner side of one of them is chewed to shit and the corrosponding pad is also pretty much gone.
So I begin the process of removing the screws that hold everything together, and ended up coming across two problems which I couldn’t take care of.
#1 the thing that holds the calipers has two bolts that I could not get undone. I just couldn’t get the leverage to get them off.
#2 I couldnt get off what looks to be a cap that covers up whatever part of the axle comes through the end of the wheel.
I already have the rotors and the pads. I just need someone who is a bit more experienced and has the tools to get it taken care of properly. If someone is interested in making a bit of cash, shoot me a PM… or if you can recommend a mechanic that would take care of it without killing me on price, I would appreciate it. If things would have come off a bit easier, I could have done the whole job in less than an hour and a half… and thats with me trying to figure out wtf is up…
Its the circular thing in the middle I can’t get off - and two bolts on the back side that hold the caliper mount onto the hub (forgive me if im using the wrong terms :P)
The thing in the middle is a dust cap. I usually use a flat head and a hammer to pry it off. As for the caliper bolts, get the car as high as you can, spray it up with some PB Blaster and use a breaker bar to get the leverage you need. Also, unlock the steering wheel, and turn the wheel one way or the other so you can reach the bolts easier. Hitting up the bolts with a torch works well too. Just don’t melt the rubber boots on the caliper. To get the rotor off, you’ll also need to remove the caliper bracket. That too will have bolts that’ll be pretty tight. Inside the dust cap there is probably a nut and cotter key. Those should be easy to take off, as there is usually a lot of grease inside the cap.
For the bolts on the back I like to hit the socket wrench arm with a hammer. But turning the wheels and useing a breaker bar also works very well too. For the dust cap on the front the guy before gave good instructions. Oh one more thing. After you get those bolts off be sure to paint them with anti-seize compound before putting them back on. This will help getting them off for next time.
Oh and don’t be afraid to get alittle rough with it.:shoot: Thoose bolts and the dust cap are most likely on very tight.
To make a long story short, I beat the royal shit out of the dust cap with a hammer and flathead like suggested (I tried that before I posted this). I couldn’t get the truck up any higher than I already did because the jack I had wasn’t very large. I even added some wood blocks to get some extra height. I tried using a breaker bar, but it was too large so I couldn’t get in under the wheelwell properly. I am going to try turning the wheel to get a better angle… I just don’t know what to do about the dust cover.
Get a better tool. Craftsman has smaller prybars that are better than flatheads that can probably fit and are more sturdy for hammer strikes. That dust cap looks like it’s metal, so it is probably rust welded in there tight. I would tell you heat the cap up, but if there really is grease in there, you might want to be careful/ not do that. Only other thing is cut it off, and you need air tools for that.
Get a bigger hammer and put your back into it? :shrug:
If the dust cap is being that much of a whore, just do whatever it takes to get it off and buy a new one. They are cheap and this one doesn’t seem worth the struggle.
The bolts aren’t gonna give up without a struggle. Have you cut your knuckles up yet and yelled “Muthafucker!” a couple hundred times? That may be what your missing!!
I have a bolt on my drivers side rear caliper bracket that is stuck really good too. I already broke two sockets trying to get it loose. I’m gonna head over to Sears and restock on sockets and give it another try. Its the only corner left to do on my car. You just gotta keep trying. Air rachets or an impact gun work well if you have air and can reach the bolt. You have to be careful with impacts though. Sometimes they’ll break the bolt. Then your really in for a ride!!
As long as you don’t round off the bolts, just pull till your red in the face and have lost your religion and veins are starting to pop and are starting to growl “you muthafuckaaaaaaaaaa”! Right about that 4th “a” is usually when it’ll give.
Or… If you can get the wrench to hang just right and position yourself just right, you can probably get the bolts to move by putting your foot on the wrench and pushing with your leg and/or kicking it.
all kinds of disassembling needed with those…if they are anythign like the 4x4 ones…you basically have to disassemble the hub to get the rotor off…then u have to disassemble the hub housing form the rotor and put it on the new rotor…
I was going to say… why does the dust cap even need to be removed? I’ve never had to remove it on any of my cars (but it might be different on a truck).
I’d be looking for some help in the form of the Nissan service manual (if somebody has been kind enough to host it for download) or some other form of manual that will tell you exactly what you really need to remove in order to change out the rotors. The caliper bracket bolts that are giving you so much trouble are almost certainly one of the things that needs to be removed, that much I can tell you.
Ok… im gonna give it a shot tomorrow night again. I got my father helping me, and he has a shitload more tools. I am guessing I am going to have to do some stuff with the hub. The new rotors don’t have any hardware on them at all. I will posts pics of them when I get home so you guys can give me some last minute advice.
word… so I broke down and spent the big $16 on a Haynes manual on my way home. Most of mine, and MaximaSE98s suspicians are correct.
I do have to remove the caliper bracket, and it is the two bolts I thought it was. I will have a bigger jack, and will try the wheel turn trick so I can get some leverage. I also got a can of liquid wrench to try on it. If all else fails, I do have a blowtorch that I will be carefull with. Between me and my oldman, I am sure there will be enough “mother fucker cock suckers” to scare the bitches off.
As for the dust/hub cover - I will just get something a bit better to knock on it with. I was using a shitty flathead with a lite mallett. This time I will bring out the big guns on it.
After that is when the fun part begins - the rotor is attached to the hub housing. So I need to remove the hub housing from the hub. That involves taking out the wheel bearings and whatnot too… in all honesty, it doesn’t look all that bad… and im looking forward to trying it =)
wish me luck! any last minute advice or comments are appreciated
