I pledge never to try to improve myself again, ever

[tenders]

Stuck disc? With a proper puller you can put pressure on it until the disc breaks like a cookie, if necessary.

https://www.amazon.com/OTC-6980-Heavy-Br...004CGOGFS/

The screw trick can help but there isn't enough meat in those little screw threads to press a really stuck rotor off. And they're too close to the center of the rotor to get max leverage.

I would guess that calipers that don't quite slide on need to be de-compressed a bit farther. Usually a C-clamp will do this but some calipers need to be twisted as they're decompressed, a bit like a screw, and it's hard to do this without a tool.

I've made more than my share of mistakes but over time I'm way, way ahead on vehicle maintenance compared to the investments in tools. Brakes have an outsized share of this success. Don't give up the concept due to one pothole.

[mikebw]

I have been successful many many times replacing brake pads and rotors, but my one big failure was trying to get the caliper off on the front passenger side to take off the rotor. One of the bolts to remove the caliper housing just would NOT come off. I resorted to using an extra jack to lift the end of my cheater bar, thinking that would turn the bolt... Well it turned the head of the bolt, but the rest of it stayed in nice and tight. Sheared right off. I could put the new pads on, but the rotor could not be removed. Had to drive it (1 mile) to a shop where they had to drill out the remaining part of the bolt. This of course damaged the threads on the caliper housing so we had to replace that whole part. All in all I came out on top for the job since I supplied all the parts.

So yeah, don't give up.

[tenders]

> Well it turned the head of the bolt, but the rest of it stayed in nice and tight. Sheared right off.

Don't consider this a failure. This is a possible, but pretty rare, outcome for any bolt subjected to heat (like in brakes), moisture (like in boats), or different materials leading to galvanic corrosion (also in boats, sometimes in aluminum engines). When I encounter these kinds of problems that outstrip my skills or patience, I call a mobile mechanic and still consider myself pretty far ahead of the game.

A failure is when the car falls off the stands because you didn't secure it correctly, or you cut through a brake line or piece of trim after jacking in a dumb place, or you get the brakes reassembled and discover after driving a few feet that they aren't working because you forgot to put in the new pads.

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." -variously attributed to Will Rogers, Mark Twain, and others