outbackusjunkus Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Doing front brakes on 97 Outback...209,000 miles. Funny thing is...the inner pads are worn more toward the back then the front...about 3/16" to 1/4". About the same on the left and right sides of the car. Since this is a dual piston caliper...shouldn't they wear more evenly...or is this normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 if they brakes are warn evenly from side to side and worked well and didn't wear quickly (from last brake change), i would leave the calipers. are the piston boots torn or wet at all? i've seen some uneven front to back wear on a single pad before, i'd be interested to hear what causes that, but it's definitely not a reason to replace the caliper, i never have. my only guess is that it's a function of the pad just getting old...but that's a complete guess because i've seen it on single piston calipers before as well. how old were your pads, did they still have life or were they close to the end? be sure to grease the slides with brake caliper grease only. and flush the brake fluid. that may help as well. and...if you want to replace the calipers, just rebuild your existing ones. it's very easy and they are very cheap. new piston seal, boot and clip and you're done. very simple to do and doesn't cost much at all....waaaay cheaper than new calipers. if you're changing your own pads, you can rebuild the calipers. as an added tip, if you want to do this at your next brake change, buy a used set of calipers to rebuild and have them ready to go when you go to do the brakes so you reduce your down time. not a bad idea for your first time anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outbackusjunkus Posted June 5, 2007 Author Share Posted June 5, 2007 The pads were toast. I don't know the car's history...just got it running Saturday (another 2.5 to 2.2 conversion). None of the boots are torn and there are no leaks anywhere, so I'll just clean up/grease the slides and hope for the best. Good Idea for the rebuild, if they give me any trouble I'll go that route. Where did you get your parts for that? Also...I didn't know they made brake caliper grease...I've always used wheel bearing type. Will check on that too...thanks for the quick response... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 It's probably just the slide pins. Brake grease is good for higher temps than a standard wheel bearing grease too. The red Mobil 1 synthetic stuff is good for something like 250 degrees F, where as CRC synthetic caliper grease is good for 600 deg. Last weekend I melted a good portion of mine off, too. Having only the inner pads wear unevenly makes me think it's related to the pistons though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAezb Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Doing front brakes on 97 Outback...209,000 miles. Funny thing is...the inner pads are worn more toward the back then the front...about 3/16" to 1/4". About the same on the left and right sides of the car. Since this is a dual piston caliper...shouldn't they wear more evenly...or is this normal? Sounds like to me that the one or both of the caliper slides are sticking. Also check the condition of the brake shoes -if there is a lot of corrosion on the areas where the pads touch, they may have never been seated properly and allowed to wear evenly. Do the pistons compress smoothly back into cylinders with no leakage visable? Reseal kit: 26297AA021 Outback 1996 Brakes Front Calipers Hydraulic System - Overhaul Seal Kit for Front Caliper "15 Brakes - includes all rubber boots for slides and pistons - grease included I just did my front brakes 2K ago and ordered this kit from Jason of Mike Scharf Subaru (not sure of the last name, but was formally Auburn Subaru) in Washington state. I believe this kit is used in several late 90's MY of Outback and standard Legacy. Try 1stsubaruparts.com, subarupartsforyou.com or give Jason a call - 1-866-528-5282. All shoud be competitive and should run about $20 for the kit. I'll make a little plug here too for PB Blaster - great stuff for sticking calipers and any rusted parts.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 yep...i *just* now finally learned about caliper grease, i've always used wheel bearing grease in the past too. brake caliper grease won't liquify and run as much as wheel bearing grease, so it will stay on the slide and within the boots better. if you use wheel bearing grease you'll find much less of it left next time you go to do the brakes, where brake caliper grease is much easier to retain for that application. so yeah...totally brake caliper grease, i just picked up a bottle this year. i got my rebuild kits online, but i've only done older model soobs, not the newer ones. same idea though, but i actually found aftermarkets online for $8 each (and that's for a kit, which does both sides). the boots seemed a little on the weak side, but they did work fine. i'd probably go Subaru if i could, though i'm doubtful they're available (or reasonable) for an XT6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outbackusjunkus Posted June 5, 2007 Author Share Posted June 5, 2007 The driver's side caliper did have some nasty cracks in the boots, hard to see until the pistons were compressed. Replaced with a junk yard part for now and everything seems to work right. Sure is nice to have decent brakes, thanks for all the help! BTW, PAezb, I see you're also in MN, if you are close to Big Lake...Rite Away Salvage has a pile of Soob's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAezb Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 The driver's side caliper did have some nasty cracks in the boots, hard to see until the pistons were compressed. Replaced with a junk yard part for now and everything seems to work right. Sure is nice to have decent brakes, thanks for all the help! BTW, PAezb, I see you're also in MN, if you are close to Big Lake...Rite Away Salvage has a pile of Soob's... Thanks for the info. I'm looking for some items for the 96' OBW. I pass through Big Lake once in awhile when I need to drive up to St. Cloud, so I'll look for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Neo HP 800 wheel bearing grease is what some d00ds on nasioc like. It does seem to work quite well; it's a pasty PAO synthetic EP grease. Supposed to be good up to 800F. The reseal kits are pretty easy to do, it really helps if you have compressed air to get the pistons out but there are alternatives. The OEM reseal kits also include packs of the Subaru specified red niglube, which is nearly impossible to find elsewhere except from Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Neo HP 800 wheel bearing grease is what some d00ds on nasioc like. It does seem to work quite well; it's a pasty PAO synthetic EP grease. Supposed to be good up to 800F.[/img] Damn that's what I need. I have the CRC grease splattered all over my wheels (my pads are good up to 950 F). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 I really like the HP 800. I got it from stockcarproducts. I originally ordered from bakerprecision.com (I guess they're a big Neo dealer), but I never received anything and they didn't return my phone calls, though I never did get charged for it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.