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YACT: How hard is it to change front brake rotors on your own?

ThePresence

ThePresence

Elite Member
I've always gone to a mechanic to have it done. How hard is it to do myself? I'm a n00b when it comes to this stuff, but can I read up on it and try it myself? Or should I not attempt it. I don't have 2 left hands or anything, just never done it myself before.
 
On my dad's truck, it's a PITA that involves tearing virtually the whole hub assembly apart, on my own, it'd have been a 10 minute job (incl cleaning off the wheels while they're off) if the mechanic that replaced my ball joints didn't f' up the stud threads for the calipers. (I don't go to that shop anymore)
 
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
On my dad's truck, it's a PITA that involves tearing virtually the whole hub assembly apart, on my own, it'd have been a 10 minute job (incl cleaning off the wheels while they're off) if the mechanic that replaced my ball joints didn't f' up the stud threads for the calipers. (I don't go to that shop anymore)
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I don't even know what ball joints are or stud threads are. 😱
 
did it myself (with the help of a freind and a couple of beers). Not hard at all. But some of the bolts were rusted out and took a lot of WD40 and muscle to get those off. Air tools would definitely have helped.
 
Originally posted by: ThePresence

I don't even know what ball joints are or stud threads are. 😱
Click to expand...

for the sake of you livelyhood - take it to the mechanic 😉

we can't lose another yankee fan 😛
 
Originally posted by: ThePresence
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
On my dad's truck, it's a PITA that involves tearing virtually the whole hub assembly apart, on my own, it'd have been a 10 minute job (incl cleaning off the wheels while they're off) if the mechanic that replaced my ball joints didn't f' up the stud threads for the calipers. (I don't go to that shop anymore)
Click to expand...

I don't even know what ball joints are or stud threads are. 😱
Click to expand...

The ball joints are what allows the hub assembly to pivot on a suspension of my car's type. The studs, in my case, are the bolts that hold the caliper on. On many cars they are regular bolts, but on mine they don't have heads. I think the mechanic just did an air wrench job when they put them back on and crossthreaded the crap out of them on one side.

The shop sucked. I can start a whole different thread on why.
 
Originally posted by: ThePresence
I've always gone to a mechanic to have it done. How hard is it to do myself? I'm a n00b when it comes to this stuff, but can I read up on it and try it myself? Or should I not attempt it. I don't have 2 left hands or anything, just never done it myself before.
Click to expand...

Buy the Hanynes manual for your car. $10. It's worth it over the long term.
 
Doing anything for the first time is a pita, but brake rotors (and pads) are one of the easiest things to do. #1, get a Haynes manual. #2, forget air tools. #3, Get the parts: rotors, pads and wheelbearing seals. #4, jack the car up, put a jack stand under it, tear it apart, and put it back together, one wheel at a time. Use the other wheel/brake assy. for reference, in case you lose your way. Do this 10 or 12 times and you'll have it down pat.
 
if you know what you are doing, it will be easy, take 15 minutes and will work perfectly.

Since you don't, it will be difficult, take 2 hours, 2 sets of brakeshoes (the first set will break because you do it wrong), and it will still not work and you will DIA FC.

Its called MIDAS or MONROE... Brake Jobs for morons.
 
Originally posted by: sao123
if you know what you are doing, it will be easy, take 15 minutes and will work perfectly.

Since you don't, it will be difficult, take 2 hours, 2 sets of brakeshoes (the first set will break because you do it wrong), and it will still not work and you will DIA FC.

Its called MIDAS or MONROE... Brake Jobs for morons.
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Heh heh, "how to make a pizza with nothing but a phone and a $20 bill" 🙂
 
maxima.org

i have a 98 maxima, I had to take off the rotor to get to the stud that the lug nut goes on (guy at Sam's club tire change shop overtorqued it and the old stud snapped while taking the wheel off ot do brake work)

doing it yourself you're going to need:
jack and stands (some people do it without stands, but why risk it? kragen and pepboys have jack/stand combos for around $30 - $40)
chilton/haynes manual ($20 at your local kragen, maybe less elsewhere)
wrenches the right size, probably a ratcheting socket wrench will make things easier. When I took off the caliper, I had to use a break-bar because the caliper was bolted onto the hub really tightly.
oh, and new rotors, of course.

mechanically, It's a simple job. just make sure you put blocks behind and in front of the back wheels, you're probably going to be rocking the car a bit getting the caliper bolts off.
 
The first time I worked on my own brakes on my truck, it took the whole friggen day, a whole can of penetrating oil, a trip to Sears for a new (better) allen wrench, and a pipe to break the bolts loose.

The second time it took less than 30 minutes. Most of that time was spent jacking her up, removing the wheels, putting it all back together again, and stuff like that.
 
just had my mechanic changed front and rear rotors today. I am glad that I paid $75 to have him done for me. I was watching how he did it. the rotors were all rusted and there were more work than taking it out and putting a new one back on.
 
Originally posted by: DaWhim
just had my mechanic changed front and rear rotors today. I am glad that I paid $75 to have him done for me. I was watching how he did it. the rotors were all rusted and there were more work than taking it out and putting a new one back on.
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It takes about 2 seconds with an air hammer to get a rusted rotor off.
 
Originally posted by: m2kewl
Originally posted by: ThePresence

I don't even know what ball joints are or stud threads are. 😱
Click to expand...

for the sake of you livelyhood - take it to the mechanic 😉

we can't lose another yankee fan 😛
Click to expand...


Huh? It's one of the easiest things you can do on the car. Take off the wheel, pull the caliper off, then take the rotor off.

The only thing holding it on is the wheel and rust.
 
Originally posted by: DaWhim
just had my mechanic changed front and rear rotors today. I am glad that I paid $75 to have him done for me. I was watching how he did it. the rotors were all rusted and there were more work than taking it out and putting a new one back on.
Click to expand...


If you had to have a mechanic do it, of course it will look hard to you.
 
If you have a Maxima it's not going to be hard at all. I used to changes the brakes on my 96 Infiniti I30 (pretty much the same thing as a Maxima) and the only thing I had to do to change the rotors (if I wanted to) was slide off the old rotors and slap on the new ones. The first couple of time you mess around with the brakes and getting them back on is the hardest part, but around the 3rd or 4th brake they'll be easy to get off/on.
 
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