Stuck back rotors &/or Park/e-brake "star adjusters" access/angle

[kd1yt]

Stumped & frustrated and I'd welcome any help

Doing a total refresh on my back brakes (new pads, rotors & parking/ e-brake shoes)

Have past experience working on both disc and drum brakes, though it's been a couple of decades.

Stumped at getting rotors "all the way off"

I have the calipers and caliper mount brackets off.

I have the parking brake cable totally unhooked.

I have the rotor popped loose from the hub face, after some appropriate hammer activity.

But here's where I'm stumped.

Rotor won't come all the way off.

I live in VT, land of copious road salt and fine grit.

Hub center is clean and profusely soaked with PB Blaster and it's not the obstruction. Rotor moves outward about 3/8-1/2 inch and then won't come further, despite plenty of encouragement with a hammer and slide hammer. And yes, I've been careful to spin it and tap it gradually around the perimeter to not get it stuck at an angle & not crash into stud threads.

I'm aware that the park/e-brake pads, combined with a raised rusty ridge inside the "hat"/drum can cause the rotor to not come all the way off.

And I'm aware that there's the "star wheel adjuster" for the p/e brake shoes that I ought to be able to spin to loosen things up

I've got the rubber plug out to access the "star"

Tried using both a Lisle brake "spoon" and a small flat blade screwdriver.

Tried vertically all the way up and down. But all I "hit" is something round with no star tabs to grab.

Looked on YouTube and only find videos that show nice examples of how the star adjuster works __with the drum off__.

I think I may be trapped in some version of "blinding glare of the obvious"

At this point I'd be ready to do a pad slap, except the rotor was pretty rusty to start and now wears a lot of hammer divots.

I'd be thoroughly ready to just go "hulk" with my slide hammer until the disc is off but don't want to risk twisting up any non replaceable pieces.

Any suggestions? Is there some weird trick to the star wheel on this vehicle that I'm stumbling over? Any other ideas?

Thanks very much in advance

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[Commodus]

Stumped & frustrated and I'd welcome any help

Doing a total refresh on my back brakes (new pads, rotors & parking/ e-brake shoes)

Have past experience working on both disc and drum brakes, though it's been a couple of decades.

Stumped at getting rotors "all the way off"

I have the calipers and caliper mount brackets off.

I have the parking brake cable totally unhooked.

I have the rotor popped loose from the hub face, after some appropriate hammer activity.

But here's where I'm stumped.

Rotor won't come all the way off.

I live in VT, land of copious road salt and fine grit.

Hub center is clean and profusely soaked with PB Blaster and it's not the obstruction. Rotor moves outward about 3/8-1/2 inch and then won't come further, despite plenty of encouragement with a hammer and slide hammer. And yes, I've been careful to spin it and tap it gradually around the perimeter to not get it stuck at an angle & not crash into stud threads.

I'm aware that the park/e-brake pads, combined with a raised rusty ridge inside the "hat"/drum can cause the rotor to not come all the way off.

And I'm aware that there's the "star wheel adjuster" for the p/e brake shoes that I ought to be able to spin to loosen things up

I've got the rubber plug out to access the "star"

Tried using both a Lisle brake "spoon" and a small flat blade screwdriver.

Tried vertically all the way up and down. But all I "hit" is something round with no star tabs to grab.

Looked on YouTube and only find videos that show nice examples of how the star adjuster works __with the drum off__.

I think I may be trapped in some version of "blinding glare of the obvious"

At this point I'd be ready to do a pad slap, except the rotor was pretty rusty to start and now wears a lot of hammer divots.

I'd be thoroughly ready to just go "hulk" with my slide hammer until the disc is off but don't want to risk twisting up any non replaceable pieces.

Any suggestions? Is there some weird trick to the star wheel on this vehicle that I'm stumbling over? Any other ideas?

Thanks very much in advance

Sounds like you know all the possibilities for binding. If all else fails and you have the emergency cable unhooked you can cut the the retaining pins from the back and remove the shoes and rotor as an assembly

 

[Vtur]

Turn the star adjuster up until the rotor has some friction then turn the opersite direction 5-6 times. That should be enough to pull the rotor. If not, keeps going but it shouldn't be much more. Also, lightly taps the rod that connect to the cable.

 

[Vtur]

This might be a dumb question but you didn't mentioned. You removed the philip screw right?

 

[PuddleJumper]

Stumped & frustrated and I'd welcome any help

Doing a total refresh on my back brakes (new pads, rotors & parking/ e-brake shoes)

Have past experience working on both disc and drum brakes, though it's been a couple of decades.

Stumped at getting rotors "all the way off"

I have the calipers and caliper mount brackets off.

I have the parking brake cable totally unhooked.

I have the rotor popped loose from the hub face, after some appropriate hammer activity.

But here's where I'm stumped.

Rotor won't come all the way off.

I live in VT, land of copious road salt and fine grit.

Hub center is clean and profusely soaked with PB Blaster and it's not the obstruction. Rotor moves outward about 3/8-1/2 inch and then won't come further, despite plenty of encouragement with a hammer and slide hammer. And yes, I've been careful to spin it and tap it gradually around the perimeter to not get it stuck at an angle & not crash into stud threads.

I'm aware that the park/e-brake pads, combined with a raised rusty ridge inside the "hat"/drum can cause the rotor to not come all the way off.

And I'm aware that there's the "star wheel adjuster" for the p/e brake shoes that I ought to be able to spin to loosen things up

I've got the rubber plug out to access the "star"

Tried using both a Lisle brake "spoon" and a small flat blade screwdriver.

Tried vertically all the way up and down. But all I "hit" is something round with no star tabs to grab.

Looked on YouTube and only find videos that show nice examples of how the star adjuster works __with the drum off__.

I think I may be trapped in some version of "blinding glare of the obvious"

At this point I'd be ready to do a pad slap, except the rotor was pretty rusty to start and now wears a lot of hammer divots.

I'd be thoroughly ready to just go "hulk" with my slide hammer until the disc is off but don't want to risk twisting up any non replaceable pieces.

Any suggestions? Is there some weird trick to the star wheel on this vehicle that I'm stumbling over? Any other ideas?

Thanks very much in advance

I'm sure you've already done this. But you did remove the rotor retaining bolt right? It should be a torx or philips screw holding the rotor to the hub face.

 

[JTenn]

Rotor moves outward about 3/8-1/2 inch and then won't come further,

Sounds like he did based on this

 

[JTenn]

I swapped my axles a couple months ago so I had all that stuff apart. I'm going by memory so I'm not 100% but I believe the entire e-brake assembly is just bolted onto the end of the axle tube through the flange welded to the end of the axle. It sounds as if the inner drum is worn in and the shoes are "locked" in the groove. I don't remember the ebrake assembly being what I would consider substantial. Maybe try using a 3 foot long 4x4 and beat it hard from under the truck. Like a battering ram. The lugs will not allow the rotor to go on much of an angle so you may need to brace up the non striking side for support to keep the rotor as square as possible. There is nothing else holding the rotor on once the single retaining bolt is removed, except for locked up shoes. I don't remember the shoes being bolted in. I believe with enough force they will just roll over sideways and off thier perches. But you might try unbolting the ebrake hub from the axle to gain a different angle. I know it's not much help but at this point it sounds like brute force is the only solution.

 

[Badunit]

According to '23 service manual, moving the tool handle upward tightens the brakes. That is what Vtur meant by "turn it up".

 

[kd1yt]

Thank you all VERY much for the suggestions. Meant to circle back sooner but a family member needed some help. Yes, I had removed the Torx bolt that's kinda the 'keeper' for the rotor/ hub when the wheel is off.

Finally battled my way to a solution. Kept trying for the star adjuster and found that at least on my truck, the star wheel was actually above the little window to reach it through. It was all dry and had a bunch of grit and corrosion so was hard to move much. But finally got it at least a little bit loose so that the drum moved a bit further so that I could see a bit of the shoes, and then was able to kind of tickle and annoy the various bits to where the rotor finally wiggled over the shoes.

What I found was a very raised round ridge of solidly adhered rust on the drum, inboard of where the e-brake shoes contact. Which was interacting with the shoes to bind things up/ prevent the rotor from coming off.

Very glad to know the trick of cutting the pins.

New rotors (powerstop) have a geomet anticorrosion coating which'll hopefully at least partially avoid a rerun. Also, after going through this experience (including a semi rusted-stuck 'shoe actuator' lever assembly), I`m DEFINITELY going to at least pull rotors and hose things out with brakekleen every year or two.

I've worked on discs in the past and drums in past, but this is my first time working on the type of 'disc with a dinky hat drum e-brake". Not super fond of it even though I know the advantages of discs. If someone made a "regress option" to rear drums like out of a 1992 F150 or a 2010 Tacoma, I'd go for it (but I know it's impractical including even the master cylinder needing to be different, and I'm probably a market of one).

I'll try to add some updates and photos at some point, as I move forward, in case it helps others.

And the YouTube video from "1A Auto" showing the woman mechanic doing the full e-brake redo on a JK is super helpful. There's clearly a whole lot that's very similar from the JK e-brakes to the JT, though clearly not down to all-identical pieces.

Thanks again!

 

[Killroy Was Here]

While it's apart, it's a good idea to disassemble the shoe adjuster screw & coat the threads with never sieze. Will prevent it from rusting up in the future creating another pain in the a#* if you ever have to open it up again.

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