Replacing Front Rotors
 

Hi All,

I need to replace the front rotors on my 1983 911 SC. All the example's I've seen (including Wayne's book) show the rears being done.

Does anyone have instructions for doing the front?

Cheers,

Tim.

It's easy. Let's see if I can do this from memory. Jack up and securely support the front of the car. Remove the front wheels (loosen the lug nuts while the car is still on the ground). Remove the caliper retaining bolts, leaving the hydraulic line attached. Use nylon tie-wraps to secure the caliper to the strut something similar. Remove the hub by taking off the dust cap (this will be the hardest part of the job - use a muffler clamp to pry against - see archives) and removing the nut and shims. The hub/rotor will then come off the spindle. Unbolt the rotor from the hub and replace it or have it turned. When reinstalling the hub, you'll have to adjust the wheel bearing nut to just allow the thrust washer to slide back and forth with light pressure on a screwdriver (again, see the archives on this).

Chris.

This may be a good time to replace the wheel bearings. At the very least, you will need to pull and repack the bearings I am betting. This will mean fresh seals: cheap and easy to put in.

Also consider caliper rebuild/paint and brake hose replacement (see that any stainless hose meet DOT). Both jobs will require true flared wrenches, a must-have for the home shop.

The rotors will rust eventually. If you are anal about these things, get some hi-temp. paint and paint those areas that will not mate to the hub or be touched by the brake pads.

Jw

You may also want to replace the bolts and nuts that hold the rotor to the hub. When I was re-assembling the front hub/rotors on my 944 the threads on about 75% of the bolts stripped with no where near the proper torque applied. The bolts appeared to have been weakened by the heat cycling the rotors go through. The car had 120K miles and I believe they were the original rotors.

Just make sure to purchase grade 8's or better and while your at it replace the washers too. They're strange little curved peices (spring steel?).

In my area Lowe's had everything I needed at a reasonable price.

Mark and I may be talking about two different things, but I recall the torque values being quite low. That is, the (I believe four) bolts holding the rotor to the hub should be tightened to about 20 lb-ft. They need not be incredibly tight. They DO need to be tightened evenly.

As for the original question, the dust cap removal is indeed the hardest part. Rotor replacement is pretty darned easy. And I'd rebuild the calipers at the same time.