Marc3.4V6

iTrader: (1)

Here's what I've normally seen and what my driver's side rear looks like:


And here's what the passenger side rear looked like:





What the hell is that?

I couldn't get my rotor off and I'm thinking this has something to do with it. I banged it with a rubber mallet, but was running low on time and decided to button everything up rather than change the pads, rotors and fix parking brake/replace shoes as planned. I couldn't figure out what was causing my parking brake to not work anyways, got new parking brake shoes and they looked identical to what's on there (didn't see any wear on stock shoes). I don't understand the adjustment procedure, there is no star screw to turn except one that holds a clip in place to the backing plate which the horse shoe shaped parking brake shoe sits on. The rubber e brake boot is also torn so I'll have to order that anyhow. Found a pair for $15. Also, one of my calipers said pbr on it, seems to be aftermarket, are they any good?

garygnu

it is rusted on,spray some jb 80 on it.use a big steel hammer with some dense wood on the rotor .use a 3M wheel to scuff up the rotors with the new pads.

Marc3.4V6

iTrader: (1)

Yea, but what is that in the middle of the hub? Is that normal? I've had 3 fbodies, they all had hubs that looked like the first pic. It does not look factory and has some weird glue smear on it.

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

Axle has been replaced.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

I'd guess it was a replacement aftermarket axle, probably due to the original axle bearing having gone bad and damaging the bearing surface on the original axle.

Oh, and I've never had much luck using a rubber mallet to free a stuck rotor. I have a 3 pound hammer to bash those things off with if the rotor won't budge lol. Of course, only do that if you're replacing the rotors...

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

I use an old king pin and a 3 lb hammer and hit it in between the studs on the face a few times.

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

The glue is where it had a sticker on it from who made the axle.

1nverted

iTrader: (23)

heres how you get it off without damaging the rotor:

apply pressure with your hand to the rotor. (pulling)
get a hammer and strike the axle on the center ring part shown in picture one.
Doesnt have to be hit hard. just enough to loosen it.
use wd40 if needed. the rotor should loosen and come off.
also make sure the e-brake isnt on. lol

this should work well. however, that "aftermarket" axle looks a bit odd. take caution if you decide to strike it.

slow ride 02

Mystery solved!

Marc3.4V6

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys, I didn't think it was a problem, just a mystery. Now it's solved. This car had a lot of owners before, but supposedly passed between friends in the same area, some owners had it a matter of months. I don't exactly love that, not knowing what's happened to it exactly. Found out the 1/4 panel was replaced when installing sound deadener, for example. Could be the cause of the air noise I haven't been able to track down that I hear above 10-15 mph. And yes I am going back to finish in a few days, I have new rotors and will start early so I'll be using a big metal sledge.

Marc3.4V6

iTrader: (1)

I finally got the rotor off, took the entire day of hitting the rotor and trying every trick I could read up on. Went thru half a can or more of WD-40. Finally I got desperate and started drilling holes in the rotor around the hub, a few times I scraped the hub a bit and drilled a little too far and marked the "disc" of the hub around the studs, I hope that doesn't hurt anything. Finally I drilled one near the top of the rotor and was able to soak a lot of the inside with WD-40 where I couldn't get to without the drilled hole. That finally did it because after that I hit it hard and it came loose.

I was able to replace the e-brake dust boot on one side, going to finish everything tomorrow. Book says 01+ e-brake is self adjusting, so I can't figure out why it's not working properly. It does say you can turn the "wheel" at the bottom where the e-brake show connects, but it doesn't really work that way, you can pull it out, but its not threaded, turning does nothing.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

The book is wrong.


The wheel behind the rotor? Turning that star wheel will slowly move the pads in/out. You'll want to make sure you are turning it the correct way and not closing it when you want to open, etc. The wheels are the same on both sides of the car, so you need to turn them opposite directions on each side to achieve the same result.

Marc3.4V6

iTrader: (1)

Oh I get it, I turn the wheel with the ebrake shoe on? Because turning it with the shoe off doesn't appear to do anything and doesn't really help me understand it's operation.



Starting to make sense now, thanks.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Correct. The star wheel is actually 2 pieces. An inner screw shaft with a "key" that engages the brake shoe and an outer threaded sleeve, which the star wheel is attached to. If the shoe is off, both parts will spin and do nothing. If the key is engaging the shoe, the threads will do their thing.

Since you imply the shoe is off... You'll definitely want to clean/rebuild this stuff before you put it back together. You should be able to take the 2 piece star wheel apart, clean it real good, and then er-assemble it with brake lube. The two parts get dirty and seize up really easy and doing the lube job on them will make your life much easier when you do the final adjustment to the rotor hat.

BTW - You know you can get new factory molded dust boots, right?

Marc3.4V6

iTrader: (1)

Yes, I installed one dust boot I got from RMS, couldn't find where I put the other so just went forward. I eventually found it when I was all done lol. I can put it on later I suppose, I need to do stainless steel lines on the brakes, found one rubber caliper brake hose stretched/cracked slightly when I bend it. The ebrake works now, but only when I pull the handle as far as it can go, seems like I need to adjust it near the handle as well, it never really have as much resistance as it should, come to think of it. I didn't end up adjusting it at all, the rotor is a tight fit with the new ebrake shoes anyhow so all the way in was preferable. I still don't understand completely because with the shoe on, it seems impossible to turn the star wheel because of the way the ebrake shoe fits perfectly aligned into the slot. Oh well, doesn't matter it works now and as I said the rotors probably wouldn't even clear if I adjusted them out.. I just need to tighten up the slack I think. Thanks for all the help. I do have some circular scraping noise with the right side that comes and goes when on and off the brakes, moreso off. I hope it goes away. I've only driven it less than 3 miles so far.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Assuming we are talking about your 2001 here...

Its out of adjustment and the brakes are too loose. You should have just 3-5 clicks on a properly adjusted brake. As-is, you may have problems holding on hills.

If one side is tight and the other is loose, that might be why you feel some tightness at the hub and have a loose handle. You have to adjust both sides independently and the only adjusters are at the brakes. (There is nothing at the handle like ricers have.)

With the ebrake off, the back lever should move just 2 mm when actuated manually at the backing plate. If you do this on both sides, you should have the proper play at the handle.

Yea, if you lube the sleeve and threads of the star wheel mechanism, it will move like butter. Otherwise, it will be really tough to turn and will probably require leverage and a big screw driver to turn it.