Replacing rotors

[Manswame]

Hey all,

I'm trying to wrap my head around rebuilding the front brakes of my truck. I have an '82 K10 that I got for $500 so Im not to the point of dropping big dough on everything. Essentially Im thinking of replacing front calipers, rotors, pads and bearings. I'd like to salvage the hubs if possible. My question is, how hard is it to separate the rotor from the hub and repress it. I have access to a 2 ton shop press and both an air hammer and a 4x-10x rivet gun. Is it just knocking out the studs and repressing on the rotor. Any advice or steps I'm missing?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Frankenchevy]

I just did this job.

I sprayed a little wd40 in each stud with the rotor facing down/hub up. My studs are concave on the threaded (lugnut) side. I used a tapered punch that sat within the concave of the stud, so it wouldn’t deform the threads. Then I just whacked them out one by one.

To reinstall, lay your new rotor on the hub and drop all studs into place to aid alignment. Using a large straight punch (mine is about 5/8”, but even half inch rod from the hardware store is fine) tap each one in a bit to start it. Then it’s a matter of working your way around until fully seated. You’ll hear a different sound when it bottoms out. It’ll feel different, too.

Make sure to torque your lugs (my k30 srw calls for ~130-140ft-lb. Take a short drive and retorque. I’d check torque a couple more times. In fact, I just have my tq wrench with 7/8” on it in my truck for the first few days and make it a habit.

 

[Snoots]

I'm not going to argue with Frankenchevy but, if you have access to a press, use it.

 

[Preston]

X2

 

[Manswame]

I just did this job.

I sprayed a little wd40 in each stud with the rotor facing down/hub up. My studs are concave on the threaded (lugnut) side. I used a tapered punch that sat within the concave of the stud, so it wouldn’t deform the threads. Then I just whacked them out one by one.

To reinstall, lay your new rotor on the hub and drop all studs into place to aid alignment. Using a large straight punch (mine is about 5/8”, but even half inch rod from the hardware store is fine) tap each one in a bit to start it. Then it’s a matter of working your way around until fully seated. You’ll hear a different sound when it bottoms out. It’ll feel different, too.

Make sure to torque your lugs (my k30 srw calls for ~130-140ft-lb. Take a short drive and retorque. I’d check torque a couple more times. In fact, I just have my tq wrench with 7/8” on it in my truck for the first few days and make it a habit.

Sweet. Sounds simple. I had just peeked at a few you tubes about brake jobs in general and it seems everyone avoided doing it like the plague. I just have a thing about knowing how long I've been running certain components on my vehicles and I figured if I was in there I may as well restart the timer on everything.

Also, I just realized I posted this in the completely wrong category. I was trying to search for threads about this and apparently this is where I landed before I decided to post. My bad lol.

 

[Frankenchevy]

Absolutely, if you have access to a press, use it. Being 2am and not sleeping that much lately, I misread the original post and thought the question was “do I need a press?”

Carry on