Brake pad and disc question

[Guest applegump]

I have a '90 Legacy with 130,000 miles and its time to change the rear discs, first time and pads. I need some recomendations for pads and discs? OEM? Slotted? Aftermark? Ive heard of EBC Green Stuff, any opinions?

If i go after mark, will that interfere with the parking brake? Is it difficult to change the rear pads and brakes?

 

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks in advance though for any input!

[Guest Greg Donovan]

i use the pbr delux pads on my car and love them they are great at initial feel when cold stop much shorter than the old ones and cost about 100 for a set from paul eklund at primitive motorsports:

www.get-primitive.com/

plus they are very low dust and that means less corrosion onyou wheels.

how bad are the rotors?

i wouldnt mess w/slotted or any of that unles you really like the looks or are doing serious track days.

i would also advise new high temp brake fluid and stainless steel lines before slotted rotors. as far as aftermarket interfereing w/parking brake that shouldnt be a problem if you get rotors designed for your car.

[Guest bossgvr4]

I am in the same situation w/ my 99 Forester S. Here's a list of my planned improvements:

 

- stainless lines

- brake master cyl. bracket (stiffener)

- Motul Brake Fluid

- slotted discs

 

Pads

- going to try $90 set of KVR Carbon Fiber Pads OR Hawk HPS.

Note: I have used Metal Masters on my Galant VR-4AWD Turbo and it tore up the rotors QUICKLY.

 

Speed Bleeders:

- does anyone know the correect size for 99 Foresters ? 10mm or 7mm ?

 

Thanks,

 

DaveC

[Guest Commuter]

DaveC,

 

I can give you some experience from my 97 OB.

 

The SS lines are a definite improvement. It got rid of most of the mushiness in the feel of the pedal. Highly recommended.

 

Master Cylinder stiffener - No comment. Can't hurt. Unless you are doing really hard braking, I have to wonder if you'd notice it at all. I'm not sure what it is worth, but I wouldn't put out a lot of dollars for it.

 

I put a pair of KVR cross drilled rotors on the front of my car along with the KVR Carbon Fiber pads. I probably would have been better off with the slotted rotors in hindsight. They were about 50% more than OEM rotors. For my driving (commuting, not hard at all), it's debatable if it was worth it. I didn't really notice any difference that I could attribute to the rotors. Granted, they should take more before fading.

 

The KVR pads have been fine. Still on the car. No squeals or excessive dusting, etc. Again, can't say that I really noticed any improved braking for my driving.

 

One thing that did happen though. I experienced "rotor warping" in a short order of time (30k km, or 6 mons). I had my old OEM rotors turned and put back on with the KVR pads. Within 15k km, I was getting vibration again. Around this time, I read some articles about bedding in brakes, the "myth" of warped rotors etc. I took the car out and did about 10 (near) stops from 90 kmph (55 mph). It cured the problem. And it hasn't returned in ~ 60k km now. So... the KVR pads do need proper bedding in. I have not had any wear issues with the rotors with these pads. (I can't recall... I'm not sure if there is any metallic component to them. It's the metal bits that tend to chew up the rotors.)

 

I'm also using the Motul brake fluid. Expensive. Synthetic. Low moisture absorption. High boiling points, etc. Again, it's "headroom". I can't say that it manifests itself any differently for my routine driving.

 

Of everything that I did, the SS lines was the most noticable and best bang for the buck.

 

Commuter

[Guest Legacy777]

Got several comments.

 

First here's some reading material

pub110.ezboard.com/fultim...ID=8.topic

www.stoptech.com/whitepap...s_myth.htm

 

I've tried just about all there is to do to the stock brake system, and am in the middle of pretty much completely redoing the brake system. The only thing that will be original will be the brake booster and hard lines. I'm in the process of swapping master cylinder & proportioning valve. I've already swapped WRX front brakes & rear vented turbo legacy brakes. I've got slotted and cryo-treated rotors with mintex 1155 pads

 

I've learned quite a bit throughout this process.

 

Couple points on rotors. I've run brembros, OEM, bradi, and some other various ones, as well as cross-drilled, slotted, and plain rotors. For daily driving just get normal rotors. Save some money. Cross-drilled are not worth getting. I currently have slotted rotors. The main reason I got slotted was they help keep the pad from glazing over and help allow the gasses from building up between the pad and rotor.

 

Rotor brands. Honestly, I have had the best luck with OEM rotors. They've lasted longer then the other ones, and I've had less issues.

 

Cryo-treatment, this process is excellant! I can not recommond anything better then to get this done, even on a set of OEM rotors. The process essentually changes the composition of the metal. One cryo is the cheapest place I found when I did my rotors, around 25 bucks a rotor www.onecryo.com

 

Pads, the axis ultimates are pretty good pads. They do dust, but pretty much any semi-metallic pad is going to dust to some extent.

 

I'd stay away from ebc pads, they aren't too rotor friendly.

 

 

The master cylinder brace bracket, I've heard mixed reviews about it. These guys did some measuring and a write-up www.darchartracing.com/pr...kebracket/

 

I'm going to be putting this on my car here in a little bit, and I'm going to try and see how much flex is actually there before and after, and what it does for feel.

 

Myself and a local WRX owner are working on a way to adjust pedal feel by adjusting the amount of brake vacuum asist with a regulator. If it works, it would be a very simple solution to adjust pedal feel, and essentually would do the same thing as a single stage booster swap, but with better results, adjustability, cheaper, and alot easier.

 

Motul fluid. It's good fluid, but it's extremely hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water. if you live in a humid climate, you should change fluid every 6-12 months.

 

ATE super blue or super gold is good fluid, so is the valvoline synpower brake fluid.

 

If anyone has any particular questions on anything I've mentioned, let me know and I'll try and answer them.