Rear Brake Job

[brus brother]

On a 2000 Legacy, I've done front brake pads but now will be changing rotors. Seems straightforward... remove wheel, caliper, tap rotor with heel of shoe until loose and reverse order greasing caliper slides and placing new pads on way out. Correct?

Now the new territory for me is the rear discs. How or does the emergency brake come into play in changing pads... it is on the rear, isn't it?

I like to be certain when doing brakes as if my life depended on it... oh yeah it does.

Genuine Subaru parts best bet?

[idosubaru]

in my experience subaru brake systems seem to be fine with aftermarket stuff. i'd get good quality pads though, not the cheapest thing you can buy. i'm not a brake expert so i'll refrain from specific suggestions.

 

your process sounds about right. remove master cylinder cap and press the caliper piston back in place is all i would add. i have a large eyedropper to suck any brake fluid out that may overflow as i push the piston back in.

 

some subaru's (not sure about the later models) have set screws in the rotors. these are really annoying if you can't get them out. i usually just drill them out and don't reinstall them, many (most) cars don't have them anyway. impact screwdrivers are the cleaner method.

 

on the rears...if they're anything like the e-brake calipers i'm used to you'll need the generic 4 dollar box brake tool at the auto parts store for turning the pistons in. they have to be turned in rather than pushed in.

[mwatt]

On a 2000 Legacy, I've done front brake pads but now will be changing rotors. Seems straightforward... remove wheel, caliper, tap rotor with heel of shoe until loose and reverse order greasing caliper slides and placing new pads on way out. Correct?

Now the new territory for me is the rear discs. How or does the emergency brake come into play in changing pads... it is on the rear, isn't it?

I like to be certain when doing brakes as if my life depended on it... oh yeah it does.

Genuine Subaru parts best bet?

 

I'm sorry, I'm going to disagree with GrossGary's response (forgive me, Gary) about what brake pads you should purchase. Please consider using genuine Subaru pads (no, I don't work for Subaru) because you'll be happier with the outcome. What I mean is you'll be less likely to end up with brake squeel. If brake squeeling is not a major concern, however, go for the aftermarket pads.

The rear brake calipers use standard pistons that can be compressed gently by using a "C" clamp. As with the front brakes, the caliper bracket (what the caliper mounts to) must be removed, then the rotor slides off. If the rotor wants to "stick" to the hub you can insert a bolt (I forget the proper metric size) into the threaded holes in the rotor---that will allow you to break the rotor free of the hub....

The parking brake on these vehicles uses a separate set of brake shoes, inside the rotor. The inside of the rotor has a brake drum cast into it; the parking brake simply actuates the brake shoes, just like older cars that had rear drum brakes. So a rear brake pad and/or brake rotor replacement really does not involve the parking brake.....

[nipper]

hehe im going to be the annoying third voice. you can go aftermarket pads, but dont go cheap. do not buy the 19.99 pads, get the 35.00 pads or higher.

 

The emergency brake is in the hub of the rear disc. Use a subaru rotor, all the aftermarket ones that are the same price or cheaper seem to warp easily.

Inspect the parking brake and make sure everything is free and nothing frozen

Clean the sliders of the calipers and lubricate them.

 

Its not that bad a job to do.

 

nipper

[DerFahrer]

Assuming your parking brake is okay, it will have nothing to do with just changing the pads and rotors. However, when you go to remove the rotors, don't forget to release the parking brake so you can get them off

[gbhrps]

If you've done your fronts before, the rears are just as easy. Make sure the emergency brake is off before you start, because it will hold the rotors in place making it impossible to remove them. In fact the shorter bolts that you take out of the rear calipers can be used in the threaded holes of the rear rotor (there are two holes just between where the wheel studs are located) I believe they are the same size. Wind the bolts in a little at a time, first one then the other, and the rotor will pop off. Most times you won't have to do this at all because once the caliper is off, the rotor comes off easily with a few taps of a rubber mallet at most. Don't panic when you see the emergency brake shoes. Since you only use them when parked the actual brake shoe material is only 4 mm thick when new. Unless they are very worn down, which I've never seen, just clean them all up with a spray brake cleaner and use a high temperature grease to lube all of their pivot points. Other than that, you've done it all before. One last thing. Grossgary referred to sucking fluid out of the master cylinder. What he meant was, as you push the piston in on any of your calipers (so that you can put the new pads in) the fluid will be forced back into the master cylinder and may eventually overflow. So frequently check the fluid level in the master cylinder as you use a C clamp to push the pistons back in. You most likely know that brake fluid will strip the paint right off the car, so be careful here. Good Luck, and join the fraternity to save some money and feel good by doing it yourself.

[avk]

I follow the idea of opening the bleed ports before retracting pistons, to push the old fluid out and not back into the system.