nickb21

I feel your pain on this. Had the same thing happen on my front caliper, ended up keeping the bracket attached to the hub and being able to hammer the caliper off the bracket/pin with a BFH. Soaked the pin with pblaster too (cleaned it well afterwards). Maybe you can try just heating that section of the bracket behind the stuck pin (where it bolts on)? Does this year have the rubber "seal" on one of the pins? Hope that doesn't melt... For me the bad part is that been always seemed to still stick afterwards, even when i greased the heck out of it... ended up with some used WRX calipers.... Good luck!! (+1 on the minor caliper/pin differences between seemingly ever year!)

Shoes look like they have enough meat on them. Have you adjusted the cable at the e-brake lever at all? Maybe it was too tight there? Can't imagine you have to use anything special for grease...

Well that sucks. You can bleed with the tires on, but it is a pain.. I suppose you could use the cap you have and then replace it once you get the new one? My dealer down here (NJ) would have to order it too.. I called a yard by me and they have one, $10. Not sure what model/year, but I doubt they've changed.. Of course over-nighting it would prob cost the same as a new cap!

Grab one from a yard? Can't imagine they would change a cap for every new models/year; but then again....

Nice, black will look good with the gunmetal, shouldn't show much dust either. Hmm, didn't know you could put them in the microwave oven to cure them! Can't find any of my un-taped pics.

Hehe, usually works that way! What color did you spray them, is that a grey/dark silver? Cool, saw that paint as well, I can't imagine rotor temp will get up over 500/600.

Both I'd say. I painted mine with some VHT "caliper" paint, probably a bit overkill, but it was on-sale/cheap. Has held up good for the past 3 months or so. Don't forget on the rears to tape off the e-brake "drum" if you paint the back! You'll also want to clean the oil/stuff off they were packed in (if yours were that way). I have some pics somewhere...

I would imagine the Whiteline links are still available somewhere.. but I remember them being pricey ($150)! I believe the part number is KLC044. I agree the rear OE links are pretty weak, mine disintegrated a while back (of course it is awfully salty up here!). I made some out of heim joints (1/2") and they seem pretty solid. I've been meaning to post completed/installed pics. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=114353 Have you tried contacting Rallitek? I wonder if they have other "straight" links that are close length wise. Could always go with the "MOOG" links from rockauto/local auto store, but they aren't exactly cheap either, but look thicker than the stock ones. On a side note, how do you like the front/rear sway bar setup, been thinking about picking up at least the rallitek rear bar. Cheers.

Interesting, the PVC is strong enough? I wonder where I could find that.. I actually was able to find a couple rod end/heim joints locally this evening. While they weren't cheap, still less than most OE/aftermarket replacements. ~11/piece x 4 pieces (I'm sure cheaper if I ordered online). I opted for the 1/2", but the sway bar hole is only ~3/8" (or whatever the closest metric is), so I would need to get a sleeve to reduce the size for those bolts. Plus some washers, a lock nut, and maybe some rubber grommets. Still seems very strong and adjustable to boot! Maybe going down a size to 3/8" would be a cleaner solution, and stil strong enough? Compared to the OE links I'm sure they'd be tons better!

I think there's the answer; both elements are located behind the glove box, one on top of the other.

I think only the higher trim levels came with an actual cabin filter installed from the factory (eg. Limited+). You can add the filter though if yours dosn't have it. On my '02 Legacy Outback you have to pull the glove box, and then pop open a section above the blower fan, been awhile since i've been under there though.

+1 on this! Very interesting... A quick google ("diy end links") shows some folks use "rod ends". Looks way stronger than stock, plus they would be adjustable... Hmm, the wheels are turning!

'02 OBW. Recently discovered one of my rear end links had broken apart. I'm trying to figure out what the best replacement/upgrade route is and wanted to see what folks thought. Pretty positive that in the next month or so I'll pickup a new rear (maybe front too) sway bar from Rallitek or Whiteline. I can't quite justify spending 100+ for new Whiteline links. So I'm wondering if it would worth it to go with the MOOG aftermarket OE-style end links which seem a bit sturdier, and run about $60-70. OR stick with OE ($50) or a lot less if I can find some in decent shape at a local yard. Thanks for the suggestions!

Thanks - that's what I ended up doing, no leaks yet.

So I'm swapping some front '03 (pretty sure) WRX calipers over to my '02 OBW. Upon pulling the banjo bolt I noticed the sizes are slightly different. (14mm WRX, 12mm OB). Pitch is the same, but the "newer" WRX bolts are slightly shorter... maybe 5mm-ish, the holes on the side of the WRX bolt are also dished a bit. So.. maybe they changed the size of the "banjo" piece on the end of the brake line to a narrow one hence the shorter bolt? Thoughts on which I should use, or maybe it doesn't even matter. Thanks!! Edit: Pics, Hmm, maybe they are closer to the same size than I thought.

My '02 OBW has done this for as long as I can remember, just as you described. Usually in the 2-3 or 3-4 upshift I think. I assumed it was just unburnt fuel somewhere.. but why? I didn't have any cat/exhaust/HG problems until more recently (100k+). Interested if you ever figure anything out.

Hehe. I'm sure 20 is good enough - I believe the book says either 30 or 33. Sounds right, rounded side goes into the pan.

Slightly off-topic: Definitely obnoxious that places take oil, atf, gear, brake fluid, p/s, but not coolant. I've found one or two local shops that will take coolant for a $1/container. For what it's worth.

Pretty positive I saw that style in the back of NAPA's catalog as I was flipping through at the counter, they seemed to have a few different types.

The rust is definitely pretty weird. I noticed that the flange on the back of my cat is rusted fairly bad, but the flange on the front of the pipe that goes to it looks new. Go figure. Must have something to do with the salty mess they throw on the roads up here and how it splashes and sticks to stuff. Also, I could be completely wrong, but I can't imagine those springs do all that much once they get rusted up after a few years. There seems to be a lot more give in the rubber exhaust mounts in the back half of the system.

Hehe, definitely does look thin. Probable has to do with my low-light outdoor "garage". A quick measurement in the dark says it's a tad under 1/8" i'd say maybe it's 3/32. Not quite as thin as 1/16. Definitely can not bend it by hand, in fact i put a good amount of heat into it with a torch when i punched the bolts (or what what was left of the "bolts") out.... Hmm, might have just answered my own question. Good idea on the high temp paint. On a side note, the rest of the pipe is solid, why can't the make the flanges that good?

Kinda funny that there have been a couple, recent threads related to this. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=111381 http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=110512 My question is; how little is too little? I had an exhaust leak appear at the axle back joint, I assumed that the flange was completely toast so I planned on just trimming things down and welding in a permanent one of these (so long gasket): However, after grinding/punching the bolts out there does appear to be a "decent" amount of flange left. My question is, I have no idea how this compares to the stock amount. Your thoughts on just bolting this back together, will it last a month or two, a year or two maybe? Cheers and thanks, Nick

Looks Fantastic. The gold wheels on blue is great. The 96-99 (US market) GT wagons are one of my favorites.

Good comments, thanks all. I actually emailed SOA and they were a bit confused about what I was talking about... So... google led me to this TSB 02-93-04 (below). My read is that as long as you use an updated tensioner you shouldn't need an updated bracket unless you see wear (or are annoyed by the knocking noise). So I'll see how it looks when I take things apart. Will probably just keep the existing bracket. Linky: http://www.scoobymods.com/timing-belt-tensioner-04-t4813.html

I'll go ahead and chime in; first question is what have you done as far as maintenance in the past 30k miles? T-belt? Air Filter, Fuel Filter, Plugs, Ign. Wires? That way we can rule out any of the normal wear items. Cheers.