HI, My rotor is rusted and stuck on the hub, I hammer the rotor at the 9 o’clock point (looking at the car) heavily for a long time. Now I got the rotor off but the new rotor contact the mounting support tightly. Did I messed up and break the hub or bearing? What can I do now? Thanks a lot in advance!
I don’t understand your question… what is the mounting support you posted?
Anf tell us what car this is.
Also, if you hammered it off, very possibly the bearing is damaged.
Thanks for your response! It is a 2010 mazda 5. The mounting support is where the caliper and break pad sitting.
If the bearing is damaged, can I still drive to garage to fix it? It seems I need to loose the mounting support to let the rotor move freely. Or did I need to tow the car?
Thanks a lot in advance!
You have to clean the rust off the hub in order for the new rotor to slip on properly and squarely.
They make this tool for that purpose.
Tester
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From what you wrote it seems like the rotor spins freely with the caliper not connected. clean the hub off like tester suggested so the rotor sits flush. grease the caliper slide pins then put everything back together. there will be some resistance when you put new brakes on making it not spin as easy as the old brakes. take it for a ride and break in the new brakes and then see if it spins easy. also, you can listen for noise and vibrations to see if you damaged the bearing.
Thank you all for the nice suggestions! Yes, the wheel still can spin freely without the mounting support. I’ll do a deep cleaning as you all suggested to see what will happen! Hopefully I didn’t damage the bearing.
You said you repeatedly whacked at the 9 o’clock position
next time you need to remove a stuck rotor, rim, tire, etc. don’t do that
“walk it off” next time . . . alternate between 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock and then noon and 6 o’clock
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I had this problem years ago on VW Rabbit. I whacked the rotor (gently) in every direction I could think of, in addition to heating it with a propane torch. Wouldn’t budge. I was laying under the car thinking what to do next, when it fell off by itself, I didn’t even touch it. The heat must have expanded and contracted the materials enough, and on the final cooling contraction it finally broke the rust bond. So next time suggest to try heating it with propane torch along with gentle hammering.
An alternate method is to try to get some rust-dissolving thread penetrant (PB Blaster or the like) into the area between the rotor and the hub & let it sit overnight. I removed a stubborn brake drum on my truck using that method recently, along with a home-brew puller. One caution, suggest to not heat anything that you’ve put rust penetrant, fumes could be toxic. One or the other.
After you get all or most of the rust removed so the rotor mates well with the hub, figure out a way to support a pencil (clamped to a chair/etc), so the tip of the pencil is very close to the rotor. then hand spin the rotor to make sure the distance from the tip of the pencil to the rotor remains constant. Otherwise something remains out of whack. Could be the wheel bearing, the hub is bent, rotor is warped, etc. Frustrating problem, Best of luck.
Remove caliper. Insert lever between caliper bracket and rotor. Use leverage.
I related an experience I had once on a Camry I owned. The rotors would not budge even with a 5lb sledge but I stopped when I realized they were not going anywhere and didn’t want to risk damaging the bearings. I broke a puller. Then I decided to cut them off. If you look, there is usually a gap somewhere in the backing plate that has clearance for a blade. Surprisingly, they cut like butter with the appropriate blade in a sawzall. Once the blade scored the “hat” portion of the rotor, the rotor cut popped open like a popcorn kernel. The rust inside the hat had so much compression force against the hub rim, it would have taken a real beating to remove. Now, I just cut them off if I run into any issues but it is rare occurrence. YMMV
Tester
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Just wanted to update you all. Yesterday I reassembled the break. The rotors still slightly touch the frame, but the wheels can move if you push hard when the car was jacked up. So I decide to do a test drive. Car can move without pressing the gas paddle and the brake system still functionable. But I can hear scratching noise some times and the brake pad only hit top half of rotor. Can anyone give more suggestions or commands? Thanks a lot in advance!
Time to take it to a pro, this is the key safety system on your car.
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+1
You have done something wrong and don’t have the experience to know what is wrong… not being negative, but if your brakes fail to stop the car in the proper distance then there is a good chance something else (another vehicle, wall, tree, person, building etc) will slow the car down for you… That could cost you and or someone else their life…
With your rotor not being seated against the hub properly then that means that the wheel/tire can/will come loose and seperate from your vehicle, a wheel off in itself is a safety concern and could end in your life or others ending in a wreck…
Yes, I recommend that you have your vehicle towed to a mechanic for correct repairs.… Saving money being a DIYer does you no good if you don’t live to talk about it later, or you have to life with someone else’s ending because of you…
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Something is wrong.
Something is wrong
Something is wrong.
Concur w/above advice, best bet is to let your well-recommended local inde shop take a look, and at least give you a diagnosis. You can always do the repairs yourself if you like.
An analogy, I went for a long bike ride on this recent holiday. Halfway through, front brake started making noise. It shouldn’t. When I got back I immediately removed the questionable brake pad. Sure enough, a thin sliver of metal was showing. It shouldn’t. So I replaced the brake pad with a new one, readjusted everything that needed to be readjusted to accommodate the thicker new pad, and voila, no more noise. Brakes are safety-critical. I don’t tolerate any sort of brake problems at all, and neither should you.
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