@Bing, the correct bolt was used. Same ones worked on the rear rotors and I checked them on the new rotors. #@%&* rust messed up the threads
I live in the rust belt of Western NY. The bolt holes always work for me when the rotors won’t come off. I keep a couple of bolts in my “brake kit” for just such use. I also wire brush the hubs VERY well once the rotors are off and then paint a very light coating of never seize on the face of the hub. The next time I have to do brakes the rotors fall right off or come off with a couple of taps from “The Persuader” (five pound sledge).
I will say that a couple of times, when doing rotors for the first time on a vehicle, they have been quite stubborn. But I put a ton of miles on my vehicles so the rotors rarely last more than three or four years. That helps prevent the worst of the rust and corrosion from causing trouble.
There’s no way to drill and tap new holes without damaging the hub, I’d think. As others have recommended I’d take a power wire brush to the area around the center hub, use penetrating oil, I’d also try some heat.
May not need to drill. I’d try the next size larger bottoming tap or intermediate tap to get it started. The hole may already be large enough. Might be better to go SAE that is slightly larger. A 3/8" would be a little smaller than a 10mm.
Keep in mind you may have damaged the bearings by whacking the rotor with a BF Hammer. Had this problem with a truck. Took PB Blaster, a torch and hammers. Got the rotor off but failed the unit-bearing not long after.
For my VW Rabbit with stuck rotors heat was the key. It didn’t seem like it was going to work at at first though. It takes quite a while for the heat to distribute. I didn’t apply much torch to the hub area actually, concerned about heating up the hub too much. So I applied the torch to the rotor about 2-3 inches away from the hub, and out from that. Then just waited. It took close to half an hour for it to work, once I stopped applying heat.
Similar to BK above, after that lesson I’ve always applied a thin layer of moly lube to the rust-sticking prone areas and never had a problem removing rotors since.
I got a rusty rotor off by putting a bolt through the caliper bracket. You then thread a nut on, and tighten it, towards the head of the nut. This then acts as a jackscrew on the rotor, allowing a tremendous mechanical advantage.
When the rotor finally gave way, I saw sparks(!) come off of the hub. I had to cut the bolt in half to remove, as the force had significantly mushroomed the bolt end.
I got them off! Thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions. I soaked the drivers side with PB blaster Tues night,Wed am Wed noon and then started to heat and beat. After an hour it had not budged. I tried meanjoe’s idea and in short order it popped off. I got it back together and then started on the passenger side, it was not budging so I did not waste any time and put two large bolts/washers and nuts on the caliper bracket and after several turns of the wrench it popped off also. Thanks mean joe, what a great idea, I would have never thought of it, yet after doing it is almost obvious to do it that way. I used some anti seize when I put everything back together, do not want to face this again.
Great, congratulations! So that I can do it: you removed the caliper, then used one of the bracket’s mounting holes for the bolt and nut?
Yes, with the caliper off, I used both mounting holes and once they were snug I turned each nut about 1/2 turn each to keep similar pressure on both. I had the bolts but needed nuts and washers, cost me 48 cents at Tractor Supply.
That’s a neat trick!
See! Even old dogs can learn new tricks!
Tester
Congrats OP, and good for you for sticking with it!
Yep, quite a pop when it lets loose:
Well congrats and thanks for the idea and video guys. Like my Dad used to say, that’s using your head for more than a hat rack.
Thanks, SteveCBT. Just glad it worked out in the end. Yeah, when I saw how it was done, it was one of those moments where I just stopped and said, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Beats the heck out of what I was beginning to do; use a cutoff wheel to cut the disc into quarters…