SUSP: Replacing front rotors (Quick/Dirty Way)

[alb_accord]

sure it was bro but i don't really mind. people can offer their own advices in here. thats why i love this website because a lot of people have different ways on how to work on their cars. lol

[F22A6X]

ha I used the slide hammer method a while back when I did my rotors. the only downside to doing this is you run the risk of damaging the wheel bearings.

[alb_accord]

yeah but if u go with option one then there is no risk at all. if you go with option 2 then there is a rist to damage the wheel bearings.

[CrazyHondaOwnR]

this diy IS AWSOME!!!!!!! i did mine and there is absolutly no way to damage your bearing if you use number 1


thanks a million

[blazenem]

nice might have to try this i need brakes soon

[deckeda]

Wanna post the pics. I dont wanna register.

Here we go. This DIY comes courtesy of rnstein69 from SHO and Gen5Alive with some editing. I re-hosted his pix; can't control how small they are. It's the slide-hammer method.

Incidentally, there shouldn't be much reason to worry about the wheel bearing while it's apart as long as it's kept clean/away from dirt.

...

This is the way that I change my rotors. I did a lot of research to figure out how to do it this way, and I know that a lot of people on this forum may disagree with me for doing it this way. This is the 3rd time that I am changing my rotors and I have NOT had any type of hub damage or problems what so ever. I purchased my car with 65k miles, and it now has 148k on it.

Anyway, here it goes:

In the center of the hub, there is a 36mm nut. With the car still on the ground, unstake the nut and just crack it loose. I find that it is best/easiest to do this while the car is still on the ground. I used a 3/4" breaker bar with a 3 1/2 foot pipe. you need quite a bit of torque to get it off. I have literally bent a 1/2" breaker bar trying to get that nut off.

Here are a couple of pics:
Here is a pic of the "staked" nut


Next, UNstake that tab on the nut that falls into the little groove at the tip of the axle. A flat head screw driver and hammer works fine. Just crack the nut loose ... only about 1/8-1/4 turn.


Now we can loosen the lug nuts, jack the car up, and remove the wheel. I set a jackstand under the steering knuckle just to be on the safe side. After that, I then completely remove that 36mm nut. Before I go to the next step, I get somebody who’s around to hold their foot on the brake while I loosen (only 1/8-1/4 turn) the 14mm bolts between the wheel studs. I have someone press the brake so that I do not put too much pressure on the [Auto] tranny.

There are four of them holding the rotor to the rotor hat as you can see in the pic:
(BTW-that purple hub-centric ring can stay on the hub. It does not get in the way. If you want, you could pop it off with a screw driver, but there is no need to.)


There are 2 17mm bolts holding the caliper on. I'm sure you guys can figure out how to change the pads ... doesn't take a genius. Here's a top view of the rear-side of the caliper:


Make sure not to let the caliper just hang by the brake line: That's a big no no. You can wire it up to a suspension component with wire, or rest it on a box like I did here. Don't twist the brake line or put too much tension on it:

[deckeda]

Part 2:

...
Here are the tools that you will need in the next step. Slide hammer and "spider". I rented these at AutoZone for free for a deposit.


Place the spider on two opposing wheel studs and hold them on snuggly with lug nuts. Not too tight, just snug, you’re going to have to remove the lug nuts later when the rotor is removed.


Screw the Slide hammer into the spider, but make sure that you have the nut that comes with it. The nut is screwed to the spider so that everything is solid and won't move around:


Once everything is in place, start to "hammer" or press the rotor off. It should take about 10-12 good whacks:


Finally, the rotor is off, and here is the hub/bearing assembly:


Inside of the rotor/Slide hammer and spider still attached:


Slide hammer removed:

[alb_accord]

yeah that is my second method. i have done both of the methods in both cars.i use this method only when i couldn't lose up the 4 bolts in the back.

[Leung]

so to make this job the easist and safest way, i'm going to have to remove those four nuts in the back and rent me a slide hammer along with that front axle puller.

[cannedcb7]

good write up on that DIY. i have new calipers, pads, and rotors sittng in my garage but i didnt know how to replace the rotors. now u gave me a way so thanx!!!!

[aleks77]

Does the axle have to come out? Im a little confused on this part

and also is the Option "B" the safer of the two? and also the easier?

[alb_accord]

no u don't have to take off the axle. you have to push the tip of the axle inside as much as u can in order to reach the bolts in the back.
part B is the easiest because u don't have to remove the bolts in the back but its not as safe as part A. if you do part B make sure u put a lot of wheel bearing greese into it.

[HondaFan81]

A if you did lose the 4 #10 bolts in the back then the whole wheel bearing/ rotor will come out. replace the rotor

B if you couldn't losen the 4 bolts in the back then that means that the rotor came out with the hub without the wheel bearing. thats ok. just replace the rotor.

I know the suspension/brakes on these cars very well, I have restored many.

The truth on the following items:

A) If you did loosen up the 4-12pt screws in the back of the knuckle, using this method will result in the hub/rotor/bearing assembly being removed from the knuckle. However, if there is enough corrosion or press-fit holding the wheel bearing assembly into the knuckle bore, the wheel bearing can come apart on you (meaning the hub-side inner race stays with hub/rotor assembly and the other half of the wheel bearing stays inside the knuckle bore).

B) If you could NOT loosen up the 4-12pt screws in the back of the knuckle, using this method will result in the hub/rotor assembly only being removed. Again, if there is enough corrosion or press-fit holding the wheel bearing assembly into the knuckle bore, the wheel bearing can come apart on you (meaning the hub-side inner race stays with hub/rotor assembly and the other half of the wheel bearing stays inside the knuckle bore).


Best option, if you want to replace the front brake rotor only (on stock 90-93 Accord setup) and not take the risk of damaging the wheel bearing if it is in good condition:

- jack up front of car, remove wheel
- remove CV shaft nut
- remove brake caliper assembly with brackets
- remove brake line from knuckle
- use nondestructive method to dislocate all 3 front joints (outer tie-rod, lower and upper ball-joints)
- remove knuckle assembly with rotor/hub/wheel bearing assembly still installed
- remove 4-12pt screws from behind knuckle
- press out hub/rotor/wheel bearing assembly from knuckle bore without damaging wheel bearing (press on good surface, easily done)
- remove 4-6pt screws that attach rotor to hub
- orientate rotor with respect to wheel bearing flange to remove rotor from hub/wheel bearing assembly
- reorientate new rotor in same fashion to be installed onto hub/wheel bearing assembly
- reinstall 4-6pt screws to fasten rotor back to hub
- reinstall everything else, use new cotter pins, reuse CV shaft axle nut & restake if you were careful removing it (otherwise replace), grease joints if possible, clean/regrease caliper pins, antisieze appropriate screws for ease of removal later during this entire process.

Torque specs:

CV shaft nut = 180 lbft
upper control arm joint & outer tie-rod joint = 32 lbft
lower control arm joint = 40 lbft
wheel lugnuts = 80 lbft
4-12pt wheel bearing/knuckle screws = 33 lbft (torque evenly, if installing new wheel bearing to draw it into knuckle bore evenly)

4-6pt rotor-to-hub screws = snug

[HondaFan81]

Part 2:

I just noticed this after I posted, case-in-point. Wheel bearing came apart. I do not like this method because of this, you get any dirt in there and it will not be much longer before your wheel bearing goes bad.

[KeeleDesign]

just a lil advice.

soak your 6 point bolts on back side of caliper with wd40 or something of the nature about and hour before you plan on doing this swap. also imo don't take the chance of screwing your bearings up.. it's not that hard to do it how it was designed.