Brakes... Damn brakes....

[Black Betty]

Been keeping an eye on my wk's brakes through the rims the past little bit and the pads have looked ok until my wife came home with a "noise" from the rear.  I thought for sure it was just another stone caught in the rotor but this time I was wrong.

Pulled the rear calipers off and even though the outer pads looked ok, the inners on both sides went to metal on metal, no warning squeal or anything.

Picked up rotors and pads today ($240 later) and put the soccer mom mobile up on jack stands.

What a pita to get those rotors off!  You'd figure being an '06 they would be ok, or that maybe the factory would install tapped holes to push them out with a bolt.

Half a can of pb blaster later, and 6782 hits with a dead blow, the damn thing is off.

This is going to be a long night, good thing I got beer and a warm garage:)

[morerpmfred]

Was it a sticky caliper or the siezed slider bolts thay caused the pads to wear on one side?

[binare]

Its a conspiracy, and its why American companies are far more superior to European and Asian car companies (sales and revenue wise). Americans pre-rust every damn bolt and nut before they paint them. They also use smaller bolts then nuts and generally dont pay much attention to quality control. Not so sh_t necessarily breaks easy... Which it does, but so that even the most accomplished diyourselfer might break down and say fugg it, im gonna let some other fugger on this sh_t.

Ive learned, it dont matter how new a Jeep is... Somethings gonna snap... Either me or that motherfuggin bolt. My 30 year old dub on the otherhand... Nothin but pure love. On a cold night outside, I could do my brakes in 10 minutes flat using only my @sscheeks. Jeep? beer, beer,beer, patience, beer, beer, snap, fugg!

[mike s]

Skip the dead blow hammer, use a big hammer and if your NOT going to reuse rotors, just whale on the brake pad area side to side a few times, if your going to reuse the rotor, smash the flange area between the studs. The shock will usually pop the rotor loose. Dead blow hammers don't provide the shock needed. The only time I've used my dead blow was for hubcaps or taping pistons into a block.

You have to hit it like you mean it, maybe even two hands on the hammer, and it has to be bigger than a claw hammer. Size does matter.

[Black Betty]

Yes big Bertha did end up helping me at the end of the day.  I'm not crazy about the bfh around cast parts but I was careful and seeing it was the first time removing the rear brakes on Betty Jr, I wasn't sure what was taking the brunt underneath so I figured I'd be safe rather then sorry.  Lots of pb blaster, a small prybar and the dead blow got them off it just took time.

So after getting everything apart and cleaned up, I noticed something about the wk rear axle.  It looks like it is a full float rear end.  The axle shaft is splined on both the hub side and the diff side.  And the wheel bearing is similar to the front Dana 30 unit where it's all built into one assembly.

Pretty neat stuff, painted the backside of the rotors with anti seize though so that next time this job takes a six pack instead of a 12.

[Vinman]

A buddy of mine had a b*itch of a time removing rear drums a while back, he said he had beat and pry them off and it took forever.

I asked him if the e-brake was on and he just gave me that dumb look of realization

[Black Betty]

A buddy of mine had a b*itch of a time removing rear drums a while back, he said he had beat and pry them off and it took forever.

I asked him if the e-brake was on and he just gave me that dumb look of realization

Yeah, even before I removed the calipers I took the tension off the e brake shoes through the little inspection window.  But have seen people do that before "why the heck can't I get these.... Oh....."