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After breaking the left side brake disc in half I decided to replace discs and pads on both sides. It all seemed pretty straight forward until it was time to remove the hub and disc off the axle, it won't budge. Do I need a special tool to remove the hub spacer?

It is pretty straight forward, so can I assume you have removed the large nut and 2 washers? If so, then you may find the spline a little rusty. In this case, you may need a little persuasion tool.. big f**ken hammer. Be sure to not damage the thread, best to use a brass drift in the centre.

I was wondering what that hole was for :P. Thanks I'll give it a shot. The weather conditions here are quite poor, the main reason the disc broke is sudden frost. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing rusted into a blob.

Love to see some photos of the disc - just having trouble picturing it broken from frost .

I'll take some tomorrow. It had been crazy wind and rain (like usual) the day before. The quick frost during the night made everything solid ice. When I was reversing out of the spot the following morning it didn't move for a second and then SNAP! broken disc.

G'day I am interested seeing pictures too - wonders how did it happen and is it common specially in cold/ice?

It could be seized due build up of dried grease, dirt and rust - happened to me once but lucky it had a thread in it and used standard bolt to pull it out, I also did on other car and I used the gear puller to get it off as well.
Cheers
AP

Gear puller sounds to me the way to go, I'm gonna check at the store tomorrow how much they cost. I'm not sure how common disc breaking is but I've broken a few pads this way in the past.

NightHawk wrote:Gear puller sounds to me the way to go, I'm gonna check at the store tomorrow how much they cost.

Theres a lot of different types depending on the size of the job. I have a toolbox full of different pullers, small mediam and large legs and 2 leg bracket or 3 leg brackets and pullers etc...
This is what I have -

Cheers
AP

I too am keen to see this broken disc. Part of me is thinking of ice that's in the vented part of the disc that's snapped it down the centre there, another part of me wonders if it's just the brake pads breaking the icy bond with the disc...

Best of luck with the swap. Time to look into a garage to keep it out of the weather?

Cheers

Bennie

The pulley is the best thing to use if you have one. I have one and still prefer to knock out with a hammer. When going back together, just remember to check the taper washer and make sure there isn't any grooves or lips on it, that can fol up on the hub when doing the big nut up.

I went to the store today and damn those things are expensive :O. So I did the poor man's version, put a brick under each wheel, jacked up an extra jack supporting the other axis, put the wheel back on the hub I needed removed, released the handbrake and put it in neutral, went under and kicked the wheel and spun it until it popped off . Victory!

http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 8323_o.jpg

http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 0536_o.jpg

Here are a couple of photos.

Oooh crack just like that... ouch!
Cheers
AP

Far out !! Some crack, must have been some frost !!

NightHawk wrote:

Holy crap! That's awesome and bloody frustrating at the same time!

I hope this was an extreme event - difference in heat from one side to the other during cool down due to the hand brake holding one side of the disc?

Never seen anything like it! I hope the swap over was an easy process

Cheers

Bennie

What have you guys been using to screw in the brake cylinder? I used this multi-cube thing and it started to damage the metal. It has hardly any grip and the cylinder is so damn stiff. I had to replace the pads because they chipped after the break.

I have the cube thing but for the fronts use a larger round 'lump' with a pair of drive keys in it. Some have simply butchered a useless socket similar OD as the piston and ground/cut/filed the open end down to leave behind same pair of drive teeth - if you get what i mean.

Wow.. those discs are knackered

2 things come to mind whilst looking at these pics...

1) Discs look very thin
2) Looks like the pads are very high metal compound

I would buy some good quality discs and softer pads. Soft pads means more brake dust and wear out quicker but cheaper buying pads than discs all the time.


As for turning the piston back in. I make sure the resevoir cap is off (and the handbrake.. don't ask ) and using a pair of 'bull nose' pliers (opened so the nose fits in the top and bottom slot), turn them slowly back in using some force against the piston. Just make sure you leave the slots in the 6 and 12 o'clock position.

RSR 555 wrote:. Just make sure you leave the slots in the 6 and 12 o'clock position.

6 and 12 ? My brain is competing against your hands down winning experience and feels like you are playing with it - my brain - nothin' else ...surely in the southern hemisphere it is the 3 and 9 o'clock positions to allow for th metal blips on the back of the pad ?

Those discs do look close to minimum thickness !

when I look at the new ones I have to agree. Well it's a wake up call then to put new ones in .

I wasn't aware the position was important :P