Are the front rotors on a 1999 Ford Explorer Sport (4.0L SOHC) a single piece that includes the hub (and studs)?
I started out thinking this would be a small and quick project after changing rotors on an F150 many times. I took off the tire, removed the calipers, pads, and caliper brace. I figured at that point all I would have to do is slide the old rotor out and put the new one on. It wouldn't budge.
I removed the hub cap and the hex nut from the axle shaft in order to get the whole unit off. I looked at the rotor/hub assembly from a bunch of different angles and it seemed to me that the whole thing was a single piece. It didn't look like you could seperate the rotor by itself. It's the original rotor that came new on the car btw, and now has 80k of use on it.
Upon further inspection, it looks nothing like what the AutoZone folks sold me as a replacement. Whereas the original rotor has two surface areas (outside and inside) seperated by a vented mold, the 'new' one is just a round thick piece of metal (with, of course, holes where the studs are supposed to go through).
So I have two ideas about the reality of this situation: 1) The 99 Sport has a single unit rotor/hub setup and I was sold the wrong set of rotors or 2) The damned rotor has rusted and seized itself to the hub so much that one cannot tell the difference between either units - and nothing short of a powerful rubber mallet will seperate the two.
Anyone have experience with this?
Thanks, Dahmer