How to press rotors without taking them to a machine shop

This write up shows you how to press your rotors on your Bronco's and F150's 4x4's.

So you got a rotor you need to replace, and you don't want to spend the money for a rotor with a new hub. The difference in price is a lot. I pay $29.99 for a new rotor, then press off my hub from the old, and press on to the new. With the hub already on, your paying nearly $100 a piece for them.

You got to start with the old rotor fully off the truck (I'm sure there's a write up to show you how to get to this point).

First step is to knock out the studs. I'm using a 4lb hammer. Might be a little overkill, but not much effort is needed :toothless



In this picture, you can see the stud almost fully out.......but this rotor is equipped with a tone ring.


So once the studs are loose, they will then rest on the tone ring like this if you have ABS


Continue going around the studs and tapping them will a little bit of force and you'll pop the tone ring right off



Next step is to remove the hub from the old rotor (it wont be attached no more) and use the old rotor for a base to do the set up.


I put the hub into the old rotor upside down


Then I take the new rotor and lay it onto the hub


Next step is to place the studs back into the holes and take a punch and drive them in just enough to hold the rotor onto the hub. Then I flip the rotor and lay it onto the old rotor. Now, the raised part of the old rotor fits inside the new rotor and will keep the good surface away from being damaged while pressing the studs back in the rest of the way.

Next you'll need an open lug nut. It can not be a capped lug nut. Tighten it up to pull the stud a little bit through.


This will get the stud up enough to have enough threads to grab.

Now, You'll need to come up with a way to pull the studs all the way through so the shoulders are fully through. Using just the lugnut will not allow the shoulders to penetrate all the way through. You can purchase a Lisle 22800 Wheel Stud Installer which by the way has a bearing on the bottom so it spins with the lugnut:



This installer works marvelous....

Set it on the Stud as so:



And use an open lug nut to pull it through:



or this is what I use to use......

1 1/4" socket, 3/4" drive opening to allow the stud to go all the way through the socket. This socket is perfect to do this job.




And I place the socket onto the stud that already part way through


Next I put the open lug nut inside the socket onto the stud


Then I use my impact socket on the lug nut to pull the stud through


You want the shoulder of the stud to be all the way through like this


If it looks like this, keep pressing it through as its not fully seated


Here's what the stud should look like from the backside if fully seated


Here's what it'll look like if you need to keep pressing it through


Once they are all nice and tight, it's time to reinstall the tone ring if you have ABS. Just tap it on being careful not to use too much force.


That's it! Now they are ready to reinstall. The machine shop around my house will charge you $30 a rotor to do this simple procedure.

I hope this helps those of you that want to try this yourself. It really isn't all that hard to do and will save you a bit of money too.