I bought new rotors and pads, was trying to do it myself. Got to the taking the rotor off part, there are those 2 screws - I can not take them out. I was using the regular screwdriver and I think about to go to Sears tomorrow to buy that piece for stripped and rusted screws. Any one can tell me how you guys got them out, they dont even move (maybe I am just weak).

 

You need an impact screwdriver. The kind you hit with a hammer and the screw will loosen.

 

yea either a impact screw driver or one designed for a socket wrench. make sure its the right size too. #3 i believe (BIG size)

 

hey its funny i just took off my rotors off like 1 hour ago to get them cut. I learned that having an impact screwdriver helps bigtime good thing my neighbor is a auto mechanic. Def see if you can find one its not worth the hassel of stripping the screw head.

 

Impact screwdriver. Don't forget some anti-seize when re-installing.

 

do they have this screwdriver at like Sears?

 

Yes, that's where I got mine.

 

Get an Impact driver. They are sold at Sears and are not expensive. Make sure you have a heavy hammer to whack it. A light hammer will not do it. A hand held sledge is your best bet.

In a pinch you can drill the heads off and free the rotor. You really don't need those screws since the lug nuts are the real retainers for the rotor but of course it's best if you do use those screws.

Jerry

 

If you have already stripped the screw, you can use a cutting wheel with a dremel tool to cut a slot on the screw head and then try using a wide blade flathead screw driver. It worked on my friend's car. To get more torque, I also took a vicegrips and clamped it to the metal blade of screw driver so i could apply downforce with it as well as inward pressure to keep the screwdriver from popping out.

Make sure when you put on new (or reuse the existing) screws that you put a tiny dab of grease behind the head of the screw to cut down on the corrosion bond next time.

Oh, one last thing: do NOT buy the $15 impact screwdriver that they sell at Advance Autoparts. The screwdriver blade is made out of such low grade steel that it will bend and tear out the screw. Rather than helping, it made the screw head strip to begin with. I have a #3 screwdriver tip on a socket and i used it to remove my screws. I gave it a few bangs with a slight sledge to set it in good before trying to turn it. I also gave a few squirts of WD40 first.

 

You use an impact driver, they have them at home depot for $18, they come with the phillips head you'll need just insert the driver in the screw and hit it with a hammer and it will break the screw loose. Incidently those screws are not really neccessary, the lug nuts are what really hold the rotors. Those screws are to hold the rotors in place because the dealerships now have a machine that turns(resurfaces) the rotors on the car.

 

Thanks everybody. I got it done. So far so good. By the way I bought the rotors from ebay (seller: ccrotorwork) for $90 (front) and metalmasters from this site for $40. The rotor look like THIS

 

congrats... let us know how they perform! did u put the rear ones aswell?

 

Nope, just the fronts (no need for the back now). I've had them for 4 days now, not driving too hard yet, but the damn shaking stopped finally. I changed both the rotors and pads at the same time so they r still getting used to each other.

 

make sure u break them in correctly so they last as long as possible.