I did this on my 2002 XLT SCrew 4x4. I can't guarantee it will be the same on all trucks, but it should be close.

This only applies to the rear rotors as far as I know. The parking brake is what makes it all the more difficult, and different from the front. I have not removed the fronts so your on your own there.

This took me many hours to figure out, and since I'm such a nice guy, I'm gonna give the rest of you some advice, and pointers.

For starters, take off the rear tires and calipers.

Your probably looking at you rusty rotor and if you try and pull it off it won't come. If it does, then you don't need this thread.

One way to make it easier is to crawl under the truck and as you can see in the picture below there is a little hole in the splash guard around the rotor. There is a gromet in the hole you will have to remove to get in this hole. Once the gromet is out if you take a flashlight and look inside you should see a little gear. What you want to do is while lying under the truck turn the gear so it is going in the down direction until it won't go any farther. It DOES NOT matter if you are on the driver side of passenger side of the truck the gear still has to go down when you lying under the truck. (If you weren't under the truck it would be in the up direction but the rotor is in your way right now.)
The reason you are doing this is to contract the parking brake pads. (Trust me in the end you will see why I'm having you do this.)

Now that the parking brake is contracted all the way the rotor will come off easier. And note I say "easier", it will still be a real wh*** to get off. (Make sure your parking brake is off otherwise none of this will help you.) If you look in the picture below you will see my rotor off the truck. Now I understand you can't really see it, but there is a lip on the inside of the rotor where the green arrows are. You can see where the parking brake touches the inside of the rotor because it is all shiny. The rusty lip were the green arrows are is what makes it a real pain to get over the parking brake. (Obviously, the older your truck the bigger that lip is going to be.) That is why I had you contract the parking brake all the way, so it gives you the most clearance. When it came to pulling the rotor off the truck I gave it a few pulls then rotated it 1/5, then pulled again, rotated, took a sip of beer, and pulled again. Just repeat that and you will see it slowly coming off.

The picture below is from the outside with the rotor off, you can see the little gear I was talking about above and how it works.

There you have it. How to get your rear rotors off. I know people say they put anti seize all over it once they get it off so it won't be so difficult the next time. I really don't know if that will help, it's the lip on the inside of the rotor that makes it want to stay on so bad. While I had the rotor off I used sand paper to sand off some of the rust on the rotor, and the (parking brake) pads and clean it up a little bit.

If you have any question of problems, ask away, I'll check this thread whenever I have time. Good Luck, and don't drink to much doing it.

 

Ya, drink after you are done. I will disagree with the antisieze, use it alot, but not globs, alot meaning critical contact and moving parts. One good idea is to check the e brake assembly for proper function, that way it won't be so hard to come off. That piece that connects the cable/ spring on the backing plate that scissors expanding the shoes always siezes. Even cleaning it up and antisiezing the hell out of it doesn't guarantee problem solved for life. I've installed all new hardware and cleaned the whole thing up and it works great.

The sliders that the pads go on should be antisiezed well, as with the backs of the pads where they contact the caliper. In doing all this and keeping the adjuster a little loose, no probs here.

Well written instructions, good pics, but a good tip is antisieze. Now that I re-look, antisieze the studs and around the hub where the rim contacts, not alot, but coat it. I'm kinda pro- antisieze, if you didn't already guess. I'm pretty good with the brakes having had to do mine quite a few times, bad pads and high mileage use.

 

I have a question about this as something just doesn't make any sense to me and maybe someone can give an answer.
Why would the inside of the rotor (the parking brake "drum" area) have any noticeable wear if the parking brake is only used when we...uh...park?
It's not used when the truck is moving like the regular brake system. it's applied when the truck is stationary and released before it starts moving. So why would it leave a lip on the edge so you have to back the shoes off before you can remove the rotor if it has no rotational wear?
Maybe it's a stupid question, but I just can't figure this one out.

 

Because the finished portion of the rotor where the parking brake shoes apply is less susceptible to rust than the outer edges of it. It's not so much wear, it's rust.

I've always used ear plugs and a 10 lbs maul on stubborn rear rotors. Spray liberally with your favorite penetrating oil and go to town. Chances are if they're stuck enough to where they won't slide off easily, you're probably gonna have to replace them anyways once you get them off.

 

Ahhhh........now that makes perfect sense. I can see that happening. Thank you Quintin. Now I understand. But you can see where I was coming from, right?

 

didn't help mine.i changed my spider gears at about 70,000 and backed the parking brake all the way off and the rotor still wouldn't come off the pasenger side.heated it with a torch,hit it with hammers finally said to hell with it and pulled it with the axle.the c clip has always been a real bitch on that side too.driver side comes apart easy.it finally came off about 6 months ago when i replaced the outer axle seal.

 

Im with ya brother... got stuck rotors on my 99 F250LD, fronts that is!

Grrrrrrr

Tommy D