I have a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan with about 139,000 miles on it. This is my wife’s van. I replaced the front rotors on it about 18 months ago and now they need changed again. However, when I went to do replace them, I could not get the old ones off. I tried everything; PB blaster, a hammer, prying, heating them up; nothing. There is some rust on them and we do live on a gravel road, but I have never had this much problem getting rotors off of a car. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Since you’re replacing the rotors, take the biggest hammer you’ve got and smack the edge of the rotor with all your might. They will pop off.
Tester
You may need to buy a bigger hammer.
Get a bigger hammer, and don’t be afraid to hurt it. It won’t feel a thing. A three to four pound sledge hammer should fit the bill nicely. They will probably come off intact, having been on there only 18 months. I have actually had to remove rotors in pieces, breaking them apart with a sledge hammer, but never on a Caravan. I think both were on 4x4 Expeditions. When you put the new ones on, sand down the hub behind where they set to remove rust and scale and use some brake lube or anti-seize between the hub and rotor. This will prevent the rotor from freezing to the hub again, and prevent you from having pulsation with the new rotors.
Been there. Done that. Alternating applications of heat and PB Blaster will probably get them off eventually. I’ve taken to slathering anti-seize on the contact area between the rotors and the hubs and also the wheels and the rotors when working on the wheels/tires on our cars.
If you have another jack, you can try lifting the car an additional eighth of an inch by jacking up the rotor a bit. That will apply many hundreds of pounds of force to trying to slide the rotor across the hub and may break it loose. Don’t lift very far. You are trying to loosen the rotor, not fire it through the garage wall.
Object lesson. Apply anitseize to the critical points of the new rotor. Also get wife to learn new driving technique - coasting to stops. Also, learn the preemptive pad slap (bleeding still recommended).
Written here before: Loosen the lug nuts and drive back and forth a few times and maybe the rust will break free. Or a variation on that theme.
sheer brute force.