lhrocker

Or if they rust completely, they will be red, which will also look sharp too... Just as an fyi, all rotors rust, right? Or are mine doing it because they were inexpensive (???)

Upon swapping out my steel wheels for 16" Legacy GT alloys, I just noticed that the rotors on my brakes are rusty. I'm not talking about the part that's over the caliper, but the part that the tire mounts to. Is this normal? The rotors were replaced just a month ago? They stop fine and there are no other issues other than the rust. I guess that having steels and a hubcap hides the rust, so it wasn't an issue before. Now with the alloys, they kinda look bleah. Any suggestions?

I got the wheels from a USMB member. He bought a car that had these wheels on them and upgraded them within a week after getting the car. The wheelw/tires were dirty from sitting around, but they were cleaned up before mounting. I didn't have them balanced as he said they were new when he got the car.

After driving 45 minutes to work, I didn't really notice any increased noise. Maybe it was psychological, but everything seem cool now. Thanx for all the good tire info though.

I went from 185/70R14 to 205/50R16. If the noise is tire and tread related, I can live with that until it's time to get new ones. Otherwise, I'd need to dish out about $400 for a new set, that would suck .

I just upgraded the wheels on my 97 Legacy from 14" to 16". Before the change, the road noise in the cabin was very low. Afterwards, it is now much noisier than before. The handling is very good, but I get a low rumble, like I did before I replaced my wheel bearingsa month ago. The tires are new, no-names that came with the rims. Before I spend money on new tires, does going to a larger wheel increase the road noise?

Is the paint on the lower half of an Outback actually painted on the doors, or is it a panel that fits over the door? I figure the bumpers are actually painted.

yup - 95 Legacy L wagon - AWD but no abs

My 95 Legacy L wagon had rear drums...

I have a 97 L Sedan. I think I have discs, but I wasn't there when the brakes got done (my wife was) and I've only owned the car for 3 weeks. I will remove the wheel covers or find the repair receipt. If it has 4 rotors rather than 2 rotors and 2 drums, I'll know what it is.

That answered my question: if they did, you would HAVE to get 4 bolt rims, you can't just get 5 bolt rims and "change the brakes"....it would require far more than that to change the bolt pattern on a vehicle. One last unrelated question - If my car has ABS, are all 4 brakes disc?

Gary - I just wasn't sure if the bolt pattern is different between the different size wheels. If my brakes had 4 bolts and the larger wheels have 5 bolts, then I guess my brakes would need to be changed to accomodate the extra bolt, right? Like I said, I haven't taken the hub caps off my wheels, so I don't know if there were different bolt patterns for different size wheels.

svxpert, Will the 16"'s fit on my 14 brakes with no issues? What tires are on them? Could you send pictures to LHROCKER@EARTHLINK.NET. I'm interested. Thanx, Pete

I think I have those wheels on my 03 Legacy L-SE. I figured 15's would be cheaper (tirewise), unless I can find 14" alloys.

Thanx Gary

I have a 97 Legacy that I'm interested in getting alloy wheels for it. It currently has 14" wheels and I guess I would upgrade to 15" wheels. I haven't removed the hub caps, so I don't know if the existing wheels are 4 or 5 lugs. If it is 5, which is what most aftermarket wheels seem to be, do I have to change the brakes at all? If the lugs don't match, is it a big deal to go to a 15" brake?

Can OEM legacy foglights be added to my 97 Legacy sedan, which doesn't have them? Are there aftermarkets that will fit in the legacy bumper?

I'd like to get my rear windows tinted on my 97 Legacy Sedan so my kids don't get fried in the sunlight. Can anyone who lives in Northern NJ recommend a good place? I'm in Hardyston township, but anywhere from NYC north to me would be fine. A place where I could wait would be even better. Thanx, Pete

Where can I get the paint code for my 97 and 03 Legacy's? Are all the paints the same so I can just ask for silver and green? Is the Walmart/Auto zone etc... stuff ok or should I get OEM from Subaru? I'm just touching up small bumper nicks. Thanx, Pete

The holder does come out with just a tug (albeit a hard one). Thanx again Nipper. The new radio is in a blasting!!!

How do you get the radio panel off a Legacy that doesn't have an ashtray? On my 95, when I removed the ashtray, there were screws that needed to be removed. On my 97, which has a plastic holder in place of the ashtray, how do I get it out? I assume that the screws that need to be removed are still there, but I can't seem to remove this plastic piece without breaking it. Any suggestions? Thanx, Pete

Well, I got the car into the shop and the rumblling turned out to be a bunch of things, but mostly it was the rear wheel bearings and the brakes (all 4), so I had all of that replaced along with the timing belt, water pump and all seals. I then filled the engine up with Mobil 1, so I hope that I have an almost trouble free car for the next 2+ years. Since Mobil 1 is synthetic, can I get by with longer change intervals? Thanx for all the advise, and Gary, you were dead on!!!

Thanx guys - I'll let you know how it turns out and how broke I'll be after!!!

I will try that this weekend.

My wife noticed that there is a lot of cabin noise in our 97 Legacy. It seems to be coming from the rear axel. The car drives fine, and the only thing I really notice is that the steering wheel shakes when braking at around 60. The brake pedal also pulses. This car was purchased as-is, so I'm going to have it checked out this weekend. Does anyone know what the rumbling may be? Should I try to disable the AWD to see if it goes away? Thanx, Pete