DIY: Cross Drilled Rotor Brake Install! StepByStep

[5speedsteve]

This Ones Pretty Easy its 5 bolts per brake and 1 Spring

2 16mm (the caliper to hub)
2 Small Allen Keys (the outer caliper to inner caliper)
1 Smaller Allen Key (the front of Rotor to Hub)
1 Spring (holds in outer pad)
1 Hammer (hit the rotor with the ball side of the hammer)
4 New Zimmerman Rotors

4 New sets of Pads
2 New Brake Sensors (or you can do what I did and splice the wires together)

Car on Lift (you don't need a lift to do this)

Fronts First...Wheels Off

Take out the two 16mm Bolts There on the back of the Caliper


Pry the caliper off (feel free to hit the rotor with a hammer to help loosen things up)

Hit the rotor with a hammer a few times right where this bolt is and then loosen the bolt

Rotor comes off and clean up the hub

New Rotor Goes on and tighten the bolt (see that was easy)

Take the pads out of the caliper and slide two pieces apart (stationary section and sliding section)

Take the two Allen bolts off

Clean em up on the grinder

MMM yummy

Put the caliper on with the two 16mm bolts.


Push the piston back into the caliper (there is a special tool for this but I'm not that special.....so big wrench really does it just fine)

Now put the pads in that piece and put it in place



Now your fresh allens can go back in (theres lil black caps that cover these bolts)

MMM passenger side done!

You can see the spring that clips in and keeps the outer pad snug.

[5speedsteve]

The Driver Side is the same Procedure..!....Except theres the Sensor

You can replace it to make your light go out if its worn down really low
or you can cut off the end and splice the wires together. I didn't order one but I probably will later.

[5speedsteve]

Ill post the rear diy after i eat my pizza

[5speedsteve]

Now the rears are basically the same.

To help get the rotors off I hit them first and lossend the small allen bolt before I took the caliper off.


Now take out those 16mm bolts.

I hit my wrench with the wood part of a hammer to break them loose (proper misuse of a tool!)

After you pry off the caliper Now you can take the rotor all the way off

Clean up the hub.

the e-brake is a drum brake whatever. So you have to adjust the auto adjuster to make it small...Theres a tool to measure the diameter of the shoes then the diameter of you hub to make the right adjustments but we didn't have it so just do trial and error....the rotor is sopposed to fit over the shoes snuggly!

Snug

Clean these up again

Put on the caliper with the 16mm's

Compress that piston

Pads in Ready for the allen bolts

Hand tighten then wrench tighten

Spring on the outside and your done

Now the Passenger Side Rear has a sensor. (this sensor was not worn down so we put it back in there...it has a lil clip that keeps it in place).



Done!

[CRYPTiC]

Cool write-up. My front rotors have a lip on them like yours ... looks like I might be doing this procedure some time in the near future.

FWIW: Anyone working on their brakes should be wearing gloves. The dust is pretty nasty and *may* contain asbestos, although I haven't seen any conclusive information on this.

[choffa]

Did you take note if the new rotors were marked left or right ? The internal cooling vanes are directional (act like a compressor impeller to pull air through for cooling).

More info: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/faqs.shtml#16

[5speedsteve]

These zimmerman rotors were not marked we had checked. Asbestos is what old drum brake shoes were made out off, It is illegal to make things out of asbestos now. Its been that way for a while. Thats why no one will re-surface a drum brake. But its a good idea to where gloves - I scratched my hand on the rotor twice when I was trying to pull it off.

[VCP M3]

good write up. It took me a good amount of time to get the caliper carriers off. I tried PB, hammer, using a jack to try and lift the wrench and turn it loose *not the best of ideas... but i was getting desperate.* I got them off by using a propane torch and heating up the bolt. I was able to turn it once it was hot, but it was still hard to get off. Then i had to give the back of the old rotor a very good smack with a hammer to get it loose.... a sledge hammer.

Originally Posted by 5speedsteve

Ill post the rear diy after i eat my pizza

I also followed that step

[S.A.B.]

Nice DIY.

May I ask why you went with drilled rotors with the real risk of cracking them?