Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Rear brake rotor

I am getting ready to replace my rear brake rotor. Any suggestions or tips to make it eaiser? Should I get a couple of replacement bolts before I start the job just in case I mess them up? I would hate to start the job then have to wait a few weeks to obtain the bolts. Thanks for any help.

Get an air or electric impact wrench.
The ol' Rattle Gun will make short work of the job.

+1

And use blue locktite on reassembly.

I'm going to go against the grain here... I would never use any kind of impact tool on an allen head bolt, especially one with Loctite on it. They round out way too easy, IMO.

Take your time and use a breaker bar or good ratchet with a good (not worn) socket mounted allen bit and break them loose while the wheel is still mounted on the bike. Remove the wheel, remove the rotor, clean the bolts off, install the new rotor with blue Loctite on the bolts and snug them up in a criss-cross pattern, like tightening lug nuts on a car wheel, then reinstall the wheel and do your final torquing.
The only caveat is don't lay the wheel down on the rotor side during the process - you can bend it.

I even go as far as to tap out the bolt holes to remove the old Loctite from the threads, but to each his own...

Mine needs to be replaced and I was talking to the mechanic yesterday as he installed my new rear Metzeler. He said and I quote....."Do not use an impact wrench on those bolts ..to easy to strip them out" Heat em up and ease them out he said.

If your rotor's straight & > 5.5 mm (.215) thick you can have it surface ground.
I did that the other day.
$40.
Only took .006 to clean it up.
Works great.

Mine looks pretty bad. I ordered the EBC part number noted in the tech vault. MD643

I replaced my rotor today and it went eaiser than I had anticipated. I read about the different woes some had removing the bolts and was kinda of worried that they may give me a bit of trouble. The bolts were not as tight as I thought they would be and broke free fairly easy. Removing the tire, replacing the rotor and reinstalling the tire took 30 to 45 minutes. Cleaning the chain and the rim is another story that took over an hour. I must say that cleaning the rim with it off the bike is a heck of alott eaiser than with it on. Hopefully I can get the rotor turned then I would have a spare. I would like to thank all for the helpful information.