How To Replace Brake Rotors With Pictures

Jack only against a thick and sturdy metal part of the vehicle’s undercarriage (if the jack presses into thin metal or a plastic molding, it could punch through, warp/bend or crack such surfaces). Caution: Support the vehicle on heavy duty jack stands after lifted in case a jack were to slip (a hydraulic bottle jack or floor jack might lose pressure and lower unexpectedly). A scissor/accordion jack might bend or break under stress. Danger: A jack or jack stand can amazingly easily be leaned over by pushing (including by hand) on the vehicle, and it can easily fall. You could move a car sideways on purpose by jacking up on side of the car with bottle jacks and pushing until the jacks lean and fall over.

To keep track of the lug nuts (and later, other important nuts and bolts), many mechanics like to remove the vehicle’s wheel cover/hub cap and use it as a sort of “dish” to contain these small parts. But be careful not to damage the hub cap on the ground.

After the bolts and any spring clips holding the caliper in place have been removed, take the caliper off and hang it out of your way with cord or wire, taking care not to put tension on the brake hose. You may need to wedge and pry with a screwdriver or tap with a wood block and hammer to dislodge and remove the caliper from the rotor and caliper bracket. Note that if you remove the caliper from the brake line, the brakes will begin to leak fluid out and get air in the lines, and will need to be bled after the repairs to remove the air.

Also, some wheels will have rotor and hub assemblies where the axle bearing retaining nut and grease-packed bearings must be removed. These are in the center of the hub or knuckle on the axle or spindle. You may, for example, need to remove a metal dust cap, cotter pin or un-clinch a keyed flange and/or castle nut, and bearing to allow the rotor to be removed. Be careful to not get dirt in the bearing. After the rotor is removed, clean the hub surface of any corrosion or debris so the new rotor can sit flush on the hub surface.

At this point, depending on the exact construction of your wheel, you should replace the castle nut and/or cotter pin on the hub assembly. If you bent the previous cotter pin to remove it, you may need to replace it with a new one — these are very cheap.

Slowly and carefully lower the vehicle to the ground. If you’re using a jack, remove it from under the vehicle and put it away. Don’t forget to give the lug nuts an extra tightening when the wheel is on the ground. Refill the brake fluid then pump up the brakes using quarter strokes to keep from bottoming out the master cylinder shaft till the brakes are hard. Recheck fluid level and top off as needed. Bleed the brakes if any of the brake lines were opened.

Note that some types of brake calipers hold the pads in place with a small retaining pin or spring, which will need to be removed before removing the pads themselves.

You may also need to remove a rubber boot on the slide pin to be able to remove the pin from the caliper. Keep track of these pins — they will soon need to be cleaned and lubricated.

Use only lubricants made especially for brake parts — other lubricants can degrade over time or damage the brakes.

Your brake maintenance is complete — your brakes should now function like a “well-oiled machine. " You may now proceed to replace your rotor or reinstall the wheel.