Brake Discs rusted on? here's the trick to get them off.

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Brake Discs rusted on? here's the trick to get them off.

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

Hello,

I have posted this on the CCC but some might miss it so heres the solution to rusted on brake disks that just will not budge even if you whack them from the rear with a 4lb lump hammer for about an hour.
The back of the disc was force fed during this time with WD40 and some Duck oil.

I had one of those silly Idea moments :roll: whilst trying to prize of a very rusted on Front brake disc on my sons C15 van.

I thought how about using an SDS hammer drill in hammer mode only to put some vibration through the disk hopefully releasing it from the hub it was rusted to. Only do this if you have a new brake disc to put back in its place, I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to do this to a disc and re-use the old disk once it is damaged. :roll:
At this point it may well be worth noting that the whole set of front discs and front brake pads for a
1.9D C15 were only £25.00 from a auto factors called CT AutoParts =P~

I put a wide chisel in the SDS hammer drill locked it to hammer only and got my Father to rotate the disk as I applied the heavy SDS chisel to the Front of the disc hub we then concentrated on the centre of the disk and
cut out a slot with the SDS hammer action and then put in some more WD40 through the cut out slot and then
hammered the back of the disc once more with the 4lb lump hammer and finally the disc
came away from the hub. =D>

The centre of a brake disc is thinner because it is tapered on the inside of the disc making it easier to
cut with the SDS hammer action. we won our battle finally and I thought if it works why not pass it on I am sure that someone can use this little problem solver, we did consider heating the disc up but worried about damaging the bearings or cv gaiters.

Piccy of the chizeled out Old Brake Disc Below.

Image


Regards Nigel.
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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by reblack68 »

Another way is to push the disc off by screwing the caliper/carrier bolts in from the back, I worked that one out AFTER I'd spent far too long with trying to shift the C5's NSF disc with a hammer.
Richard

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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

Richard,

to be perfectly honest it was starting to rain and I was almost ready to walk away and leave the disk soaking in Duck oil for a day or so. I have a feelling it would have still been stuck the corrosion was around the outside edge of the hub beneath the disk fortunately most of the corrosion was on the back of the brake disc a little ceratech high temperature brake lube on the surface to keep the water out in future, or copper grease would have been fine before the new discs went on.
Thats a Job where I shouldn't have said "This is a straight forward job and it won't take long"

regards Nigel.
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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Nigel

I had the "brake disc is never going to come off" experience about 18 years ago on a ford escort.
Even heating it up to a glowing red with an ocy acetyline torch and belting it with the lump hammer wouldn't shift it.

In desperation I came up with a method which worked a treat then, and I have used it several times since on various vehicles with success. Its certainly less effort than fruitlessly banging away with a hammer.

I got the hacksaw out cut four slots in the brake disc itself, and simply inserted a large cold chisel in the slot/slots as necessary and gave the chisel a sharp whack with the hammer. The disc itself just shatters and falls off the hub. The disc has always cracked right across the middle on all the occasions I have used the method to date.

kind regards

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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by RichardW »

Front discs are easy to get off...

Jack up and support both sides, remove the disc securing screws. Start engine, engage second and let the clutch in, then stand on the brake. A loud bang will greet the first disc coming free. Fit a couple of wheel bolts on the free side, then repeat and the other side will come free. Job done in 2 mins with no effort expended :lol:

Rears can be a bit more tricky.... :roll:

On a FWD car of course! Reverse is true for a RWD
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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by citroenxm »

RichardW wrote:Front discs are easy to get off...

Jack up and support both sides, remove the disc securing screws. Start engine, engage second and let the clutch in, then stand on the brake. A loud bang will greet the first disc coming free. Fit a couple of wheel bolts on the free side, then repeat and the other side will come free. Job done in 2 mins with no effort expended :lol:

Rears can be a bit more tricky.... :roll:

On a FWD car of course! Reverse is true for a RWD
Thats the one Ive used on the front.. XM's seem to like to weld their disks to the hubs..

As for rear disks, Ive had to hit them so hard the Friction section has broken from the hub section of the disk... Of course it was lucky I was dooing a disk swap anyway...
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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by falling-out-with-my-car »

RichardW wrote:Front discs are easy to get off...

Jack up and support both sides, remove the disc securing screws. Start engine, engage second and let the clutch in, then stand on the brake. A loud bang will greet the first disc coming free. Fit a couple of wheel bolts on the free side, then repeat and the other side will come free. Job done in 2 mins with no effort expended :lol:

Rears can be a bit more tricky.... :roll:

On a FWD car of course! Reverse is true for a RWD
Thats fine if you havent just replaced the front shocks and springs pulled a driveshaft in the process and emptied out all of the gear oil and with close examination,of the disc above (pictured) do you think we had a chance doing this?
It looks like its a case of whatever works for you, I don't fancey sawing through a very hard disk with a hacksaw either to be honest with the SDS drill out this took about 3 minutes in all.
Citroen Xantia S2 1.9 TD estate 189K soon to be broken for parts Jan 2017 headlamps & radiator fan assembly already spoken for & A 1987 Citroen 2CV6 special just for fun.
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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by citroenxm »

Yes, because if you have the engine running with system pressure, pull up the handbrake, then put your foot on the foot brake and pull the handbrake lever up even more, at least another 5 notch's again, then the disk will NEVER move! no matter how bad the disk is, it wont!!
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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by CitroJim »

I've once assisted disc removal using a hydraulic press :roll: A certain V6 XM I know of... Complete hub off, in the press and seven tons later...

BANG!

Off they came. Absolutely nothing else would shift them.
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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

Now you have got the discs off, I would put copper slip grease on the hub and the inside of the new disc cavity so that when you have to remove them in the future you shouldn't need to have a heated, violent discussion with them about their place in the world (or on the vehicle!).

Don't use any other grease, as it will dry out and turn to glue.
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Re: Brake Disc's rusted on? here's the trick to get them off

Post by spider »

Perhaps I've been lucky then. I've yet to have one resist a large lump hammer on the rear face after a few blows. I have had bits come off but apart from that I've not really struggled.

Obviously I'd left a couple of wheel bolts in loosely so the disc did not make a break (no pun intended) for freedom.

Is worth spending a minute or two cleaning the hub outer face too with a wire brush or suchlike after removal to ensure the new disc sits neatly.
Andy.

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Post by addo »

...rusted
What does this word mean? :P

I like the edge splitting idea.

Despite all the "nervous Nellie" type reactions I've seen about whacking stuck discs on and around the hub boss, never seen failure in a refitted disc that's been removed in this way.
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