How Do You Get Drive Flange Off ??

[skip]

Finally broke down and bought the slotted and drilled rotors I've been coveting for so long. Now how do you get the drive flanges pulled off to get the rotors off ?
Looks like it will take a puller but what type ?

[timc]

Finally broke down and bought the slotted and drilled rotors I've been coveting for so long. Now how do you get the drive flanges pulled off to get the rotors off ?
Looks like it will take a puller but what type ?

don't know if this is what your talking about but i'm guessing your stuck because the flange spacer is sticking well, but i did a full brake job recently, and i think i know what your talking about... there is a spacer in the center that is behind the castle nut? if so, i felt stoopified for a moment trying to figure out how to get it out.... i used a plastic mallet and pounded on the rotor opposite sides back and forth to cause a vibration to brake that flange loose, actually popped out on the first two whacks... after trying prying tools before and failing miserably for 15min or so! lol after that spacer is removed, the rotor and drive assembly should be free to remove. hope this is what your talking about,

if its the castle nut, then thats should be a 1 5/16 nut or 34mm... and i'd recommend a 4 ft cheater bar and a damn good torque wrench, and a helper to sit in the car to put their foot on the brake! try not to fall on your face when leaning into it! but i think you already got past this part right?

[Cheleker]

I can't recommend hitting the disc.
What process did your workshop manual recommend?
You can use a soft faced hammer to tap on the end of the drive flange. Once broken loose, the flange should pull right off.

[timc]

I have a plastic mallet that wouldn't damage the disc, and a tap tap hit (not a pounding i guess) did the trick. NOT A METAL HAMMER! No damage this way, and plenty safe.

[skip]

Thanks for the good answers. It recomended a puller but was not specific on what type.
I am also of the oppinion that you should NEVER Strike a brake rotor that you intend on using again with any hammer. Brake rotors are castings which are not meant to take lateral forces.
At the least you could bend the rotor enough that it would be felt at the pedal under normal braking. At worst you could cause it to crack which you would absolutely feel when it broke under any braking.
Since I am replacing both rotors, one of which is scored really bad I will probably break out the plastic dead blow hammer for a few smart whacks. Looks like a liberal dose of WD-40 or CRC is probably in order too.
I did order a caliper rebuild kit for the later 8.4 inch disc brakes. When I pulled the caliper apart to do the seals the bore and piston were galled bad enough that I ordered a replacement for the caliper. I've never had good luck rebuilding calipers which were scored they just end up sticking again. Oh well the left side can probably benefit from new seals while I'm at it!
Here's a question for all you gifted mechanical wizards.
Why does the right front brake caliper on a lhd vehicle fail more often than the left?
(I don't know, but I have had 4 right calipers fail in 3 different vehicles over the years, how come?)

[mascher]

If the 8.4" caliper is built like the 7.5" caliper, galling of the bore doesn't affect rebuilding as long as the grooves that hold the seals are in good shape. You will have to replace the galled or scored piston. These calipers don't use the bore as a seal or really even a guide. The piston floats on the seals.

You probably know this already but, you have to remove the drive flange nut and cone washer to take off the rotor and drive flange. After that's off grab the rotor at 12 and 6 o'clock and push and pull. It should loosen even if it doesn't come off. Sometimes the bearing spacer hangs up.

The right-hand caliper shouldn't fail sooner on a left-hand-drive car unless you spend a lot of time driving in the ditch.

Cheers,

Kelley

[timc]

Thanks for the good answers. It recomended a puller but was not specific on what type.
I am also of the oppinion that you should NEVER Strike a brake rotor that you intend on using again with any hammer.

Hence why i recommended a plastic hammer, and also knowing that you were not using those rotors but replacing them with new facncy ones. I don't know about anyone else, but everytime i intend to change the rotors i replace them with new ones! Rarely is it cheaper to turn a rotor. Either way, a whack with a plastic mallet at the amount of force i'm talking about is so small it wouldn't even scratch a rotor, let alone dent or warp one. But for any other job being done that requires removal of the rotors(other then changing the rotors with new), a different approach would be better.

[skip]

Thanks, Kelly for great explaination.
No ditch driving here, so still a puzzle. There does however appear to be a bit of surface rust on the drive flange which may be part of the problem with the sticky flange. ?? Tinworms have big teeth.

Tim, there are still lots of people who turn rotors, thinking they are saving money.
I've even had some brand new ones that needed truing up to get them trued up enough to get rid of the shimmy and shudder. Last time I bought as set of rotors for a Honda CRX (a while ago) the guy at the parts store told me that most of the "new" drums and rotors most parts stores are getting are made in China. Some are so bad out of the box that they can't true them, Junk! I hope this isn't true for Mini brake parts!!