cwjzx16

I have a 96 civic EX w/ 93K miles and original brake pads, front and back. I usually do my own brake work on my cars and I usually take off the rotors/drums and have them resurfaced by a shop I use to make sure the new pads seat properly. The only thing is that where rotor or the drum in back meets the hub, the flange is bent in instead of using a cotter pin. How do I bend this out to turn the bolt on the hub to remove the drums and rotors? I could try pliers but that will just break the tips off. is there a special tool? I've looked through a Haynes repair manual and couldn't find anything.

westcoaststyle

I just use a screwdriver, but be careful not to pry with it cause you can break then end off in there and then you're SOL.

I use a hammer and hit the back of the screwdriver until it's bent out enough to turn the nut off.

As for the drums, you don't have to remove any nut. There's 2 threaded holes near the center of the drum that are on opposite sides of the center. Use 2 bolts and tighten them inside of those holes until the drum comes off.

hih.

89civicSiR

what size bolts are those to take off the drum i seem to have a prob and my fluid drained out of the rear drivers side break

thanks

'93TurboD

Sounds like your wheel cylinder is leaking... Usually the drums and rotors are held on by screws. These like to break, strip and be a general pain in the @$$. there are many threads on this so do a search. once you have the screws out you are now ready to take the drum/rotor off. If you can't just pull the drum off then use bolts. If you can't find the bolts to take off the drum just hammer the drum until it pops off the hub and get a prybar or screwdriver and pry it from there. Oh, one good tip is when you're hammering the drum: Put your lugnuts back on the studs, not all the way, but just enough that if you miss the drum and hit a stud, the nut will prevent you from damaging the threads on the stud. Of course then you have a smashed nut but that's easier to replace than a wheel stud.

89civicSiR

yeah it was the cylinder because the tension pins broke and the wheel cylinder piston came out. it was a pain in the @ss to get everything apart but the shoes where pretty much gone so its a good thing this happened.and all i was wonderin about was what size bolts do you use to get the drum off?? i still would like to know cuz i only have 1 pin on each side and my bolts i used stripped out