Time to to brakes on my tow vehicle, a 2007 Dodge Dakota 4.7 HO. The problem is that my rotors are stuck fast. I have tried hammering, heating with a MAPP torch and the bolts through the brackets method and noting will unstrick them. I am open to any and all suggestions short of C4 plastique.
Try putting the wheels back on and taking a hot lap around town. That should generate some more even heat through the rotor.
Woody wrote: Try putting the wheels back on and taking a hot lap around town. That should generate some more even heat through the rotor.
Or try putting the wheels back on, but don't fully tighten the lugs, and take a slow lap around the block to see if you can wiggle them loose? 
You could also hit them with a can of Freeze Off after getting them nice & hot. If nothing else, maybe the sudden temperature change will crack them.
Will work with heat and a better hammer some more. Would rather not reassemble the brackets pads and calipers. I also don't want to drive around with loose lugs.
Sometimes theres a random threaded hole in the hub that you can thread a bolt into to pop them out.
My worst case senario i grab my 3lb engineers hammer and beat the piss out of it from the back side. One good smack, rotate 90*, another smack, rotate again, on and on until it comes off. Keep in mind though this is last resort cause you wont be able to use the rotor if it doesnt come off, never met one that hasnt though but they will out up a good fight. Just make sure the car is well supported on jack stands before you start swinging
Absolute worst case, I've cut them in half with a friction wheel. Should be able to beat them off with a large hammer, though.
If you happen to have a spare wheel, because I've bent wheels this way, bolt it part way on and take out your frustrations with a big hammer. It worked on my Forester, but IDK what kind of damage it could cause.
Long shot but try some PB BLASTER squirted into the spaces where studs come thru rotors and on back side. Sounds like they're "welded" / rusted to carrier hub. Then whop them with a BFH. All of them are stuck?
Dakota rotors do nit have the extra bolt hole, like my neon. I have been beating it with a 4lb sledge for hours
In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:
Tried that. No dice
In reply to chiodos:
Rotor is done anyway.
Just googled it. Apparently common. Found youtube vid. Run a long bolt thru brake caliper bracket. Tightenen to press against back side of rotor. Smack front center of rotor. Pops off
Apparently the constant pressure from behind coupled with the sudden jolt of smacking with hammer from opposite side will break the rust weld.
In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:
Already tried this. It will not budge. I even tightened using my heavy duty impact wrench. No luck.
While it's a lot of hassle, the quickest option might be to use cut off wheels in an angle grinder to cut the rotor in between each of the lug studs. Once cut the rotor will bust loose easily with a hammer to the back of the rotor. Add a couple of cuts towards the center in the part left on the hub, and under those slots slip or pound a chisel along the hub face under the rotor remains.
It's a hassle, but it really only takes a few minutes and is both easy and surefire.
In reply to Streetwiseguy:
How large?
In reply to oldopelguy:
Cut the hat of the rotor, correct?
Moparman wrote: In reply to Ovid_and_Flem: Already tried this. It will not budge. I even tightened using my heavy duty impact wrench. No luck.
Wow....really berkleying stuck....let us know how it turns out
In reply to oldopelguy:
My grinder only makes it so far then stops cutting
Cut through the hat from the outside between the studs' but nothing. I am hitting it so hard' pieces of the rotor are breaking off. Thinking I might have to pull the center nut and replace the hub carrier, etc.
Cut on the face of the rotor, from one stud hole to the next, to separate the rotor and most of the hat from a small disk left over in the center. I was probably not clear on that.
Does the rotor move at all? Is it just stuck in the center or around the edges? The problem with trying to replace the whole hub is that you have to get enough of the rotor removed to get to the hub bolts. I don't envy you, good luck!
In reply to oldopelguy: ok, I can do that. In fact, I have cut the rotor from stud to stud where the hat meets the rotor face. The face of the rotor hat is fused to the carrier. I have not even tried to do the passenger side, yet.
It is as if the rotor is held by the center nut.
I bought a 10lb sledge from HF when I did rotors on the Mazda3 I used to own:
In this case, bigger hammer really is the answer. Plus copius amounts of PB Blaster or equivalent.
Once the friction ring broke off, I could spray PB Blaster directly into the back of the hub flange, plus hammer the hat flange with the more compact 5lb sledge I also got for these PITA rotors.
5lb + 10lb sledge hammers. Get them.
In reply to flatlander937:
I did get the drivers side off. I cut big slots in the rotor hat, shot freeze off to where the at sits on the carrier and whacked the heck out of it with a new 3.66 lb cross peen hammer.
The passenger side won't come off that way. I can see it move a little, but there is one part where it is stuck fast.
In reply to flatlander937:
How did you hammer the hat after the disc was removed, hammer the front to jar it loose?
Giant 2 or 3 jaw puller works, but good luck finding one. My preferred method is to heat one spacebetween the lugs until the rust goes black and then some, then the adjacent one, walk the heat around the circle, the uneven expansion/contraction will usually pop it. You might combine that with a upside down can of air duster or whatever to chill too. I don't like the BFH unless it's also getting wheel bearings.
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