josh greene

Im trying to replace the front break rotors on my 87 N/A 4 Lug and i cant get the rotor off it wont budge i got the caliper bracket off and the two philips head screws off but the rotor wont budge!!! ANY POINTERS>???????
Thanks

toiletfetussushi

hit it with a hammer.

josh greene

lol iv beed hitting it for 30 mins......is there anything else?????

josh greene

no im working on the front and i thought that the rotor just slides over the wheel hub, there seperate.

chumma7

yeah front rotors easily get bonded to the aluminum hubs...it's almost as if they are welded together.
try applying a little bit of heat to the rotors and then smacking them off with a hammer

josh greene

i have the new rotors and they just slide over the hub. am i right or wrong?????

KompressorLOgic

iTrader: (6)

you dont have to remove the nut or pin or cap for the wheel hub, to get the the rotors on the front of the 87 n/a 4 lug. ive replaced both mine and never had to. chumma is right it is prolly REALLY stuck on there. heating it up will probably work. or use wd40 all over the studs and around behind it. but dont try heating it after u spray it or it could ignight!. also if it takes quite alot of heat, you might want to replace the wheel bearing greese, as you you probably melted it all up, since its all off its a good time to tighten the front wheel bearings aswell.

Fitness Stain

dude... when garfinkle changed my brakes for me the front left rotor was COMPLETELY STUCK to the hub ...

we tried everything .. it took about 1 hour or so just to get the damn thing off ...

we had to use his press .... and this press mind you is one of the industrial strength ones ... i cant remember how many tons of pressure it can put down, but it took forever to get that thing off ...

heat will most likely do it for you, unless you have a press handy

josh greene

whitch part should i heat the rotor its self, the hub, or the studs????

josh greene

ok i took the pin off and the nut and slid the whole assembly off and it still looks to me like it seperates........ i heated it and hit it with a hammer and i set up 2x4's and lowered the car onto it and it didnt budge im gonna check my haynes manual tom(its at work)... This is now a huge question does the rotor seperate from the hub or are they one?????? 2 have said the seperate 1 is certin that they are one part. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!

josh greene

Mazdatrix sells the rotor/hub as one for the 1st gens but sell the rotor and hub seperate for the 2nd gens 4 bolt and 5 bolt.
http://www.mazdatrix.com/j-1brake.htm

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

I think Makenzie71 is thinking that you need to get to the wheel bearings.. you do not, correct? If you're just trying to get the break rotor off, you do NOT have to take off the bolt/cotter pin in the middle. At least, that's the way it is on my S4 5 lug.

I recommend heat like other suggested. A puller may also be used, but be careful not to damage the center bolt/nut when you use it. . I'd stick a little piece of wood between the center bolt and the puller center. Then torque that beotch off.

Good luck!

josh greene

could those be 1st gen rotors????

BlaCkPlaGUE

Man if you heat it up, most stock wheel bearings use a plastic hub with metal bearings, the hub will melt and you'll have to replace the whole bearing assembly if you heat it up. Also if the grease burns, its gonna get all jammed up and gummed up on the bearings as well, it'll just be a pain to clean.

im checking my haynes now heh..

josh greene

i think there seperate....i just cant get them apart and if i break the hub im screwed on mazdatrix there expensive!

KompressorLOgic

iTrader: (6)

on my 87 n/a base/SE 4 lug the front brakes rotor is separate from the hub.

there arnt any plastic pieces inside the hub, just bearings alot of grease and the studs, the cap is made of metal.

somethin is seriously weird on your car. did the brakes ever really seriously over heated before? or are any of your studs slightly bent?

fc3skid

The rotor is completely seperate from the hub and wheel bearings. Once you have the caliper out of the way and the 2 screws out, heat it up and hit that bitch with a hammer for 30 minutes give or take a few depending on how big a ***** your RX-7 is haha. Makenzie71 you're on crack.

josh greene

I took the whole assembly out rotor and hub, so i could hit it better,and i heated it But still no luck im gonna try and find someone with a press today!

josh greene

the guy down the was from me heated it with a torch as he pressed it, the thing didnt budge! There was PB Blaster bubbling out of where the studs go through the rotors! that damn thing wouldnt move!

BlackRocket

try spraying the back of the rotor by the hub w/ penetrating oil and let it sit for a couple minutes then w/ a heavy duty hammer smack the rotor from the back side and turn the rotor so you loosen it evenly after a few hits

josh greene

i toook it to a machine shop with a nice hydrolic press and they poped it off eventually! so the hub does seperate there just a beotch to get off!!!!! thankks for all your help everyone!!!

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

OK guys, I cleaned up the thread. I removed the misinformation posted mainly by one specific member, who has obviously never done a brake job to an FC in his life. For some odd reason, he kept insisting that the front hub/rotor assembly was one piece. Well, this is 100% wrong. The FC hub and rotor is a two piece assembly. The rotor slides over the hub. The hub contains the bearings and is bolted to the spindle.

For the love of god, if you don't know, then DON'T POST. Spreading misinformation is almost as bad as starting flame wars. Think how you would feel if someone gave you bad advice, costing you hundreds of dollars in unnecessary repairs or headaches. If I see this user spreading bad information again (I have witnessed it several times over the last few days), he will be dealt with severely.

Now, for the original poster: As mentioned above, the assembly is two piece. However, the rotors can get seriously stuck, bad enough that repeated hammer blows with a BFH will not break them apart. I've been through this. You need to heat the brake rotor to cherry red (paying attention NOT to overheat the strut or caliper) and then try hitting it with a hammer. If that doesn't work, use a cutoff wheel to cut the rotor in to "pie sections". Worst case, you need to remove the hub by taking out the nut in the center, and press it off.

I repeat: All 2nd gen RX-7s have seperate hub/rotor assemblies..

KompressorLOgic

iTrader: (6)

thank you for clearing it it up!! i was wondering what that other guy was thinkin.

Crionics

Tried a 3-leg puller on the spindle?

josh greene

nope i think im gonna try that on the right one, the machine shop did the first one for free but wants to charge me 30 bucs to do the other one and it only took them like 2 mins with the press they have.