well-- i found out something new today. I am probably a day behind and a dollar short than all the rest of you, but I havent seen it mentioned in the forum so-----.
In replacing your front brake rotors---those little phillip's head screws---that seize a lot and you end up stripping the heads etc?
well once you get them out and you are through cussing etc.
Put your front rotors on but DO NOT replace the screws! They serve no purpose other than holding the assembly together during manufacturing.
Just like the rear, its the wheel that actually holds the rotor on.
Well damn---learn something every day
olddragger

 

you need something like this

http://www.huskytools.com/Product.as...601&cid=801428

to do the job right.

Its like $30 at home depot, doesn't require a compressor. You just put the phillips bit on, place against the screw, and hit the end of it with a hammer and it loosens stuck screws really easily without stripping them.

 

A drill works too

 

99 out of 100 times they strip from someone trying to use a screwdriver rather than an impact driver ...

the screw prevents the rotor from slipping on the hub so that the stud holes stay centered around the wheel studs with clearance rather than up against them

better solution; be sure to put anti-sieze on them so it never happens again

 

Good point on the anti-sieze. IMHO, it's only needed on the tapered seat, not the threads. When I've drilled the heads off stuck ones, I was able to unscrew the decapitated remains with my fingers.

When I've bought replacement rotors for other cars, sometimes they have holes for those screws and sometimes they don't.

Ken

 

I've actually stripped them on one side with an air impact wrench so I just drilled them out, now I have one screw on both sides with of course antiseeze applied. They are just a very very soft metal to begin with.

 

yep i was just cursed--you have those days if you work on a car. I had previously put anti seize on them---I soaked them 1st with PB, took a "hammer" tool 1st to them to just break it a little and then i had an impact gun. Both stripped the heads as stated --soft *** metal. I ended up drilling them out. Could not even get all of it out after that--just little posts remain. Seized up real good. The other wheel was no problem.
Those two on that wheel were the hardest seized ones I have ever seen.
Should have heard the words coming out of my mouth!
olddragger

 

When I put my slotted rotors on the front, I had the same problem with the phillips screw slots stripping. After considerable cussing, banging, liquid wrench soaking, my neighbor's ex-mechanic brother came over and had them all loosened inside of 2 minutes.

Simple solution, he brought over a nail set (the kind for sinking finish nails). He used the nail set and a hammer, punched the nail set on the side of the screw head at a 45 degree angle and tapped it a few times loosening the screw without resorting to easy outs and drilling. Hell, I have nail sets... lesson learned (I did re-install new screws with anti-seize but will have nail sets ready for the rears).