February 11, 200422 yr Ijust replaced the shoes on my rear brakes and must say I have never seen such wonderfully simple,yet effective drum brakes.They were done in half an hour.That is from the time I pulled my Brat into the shop to the time I drove it out. Just one more reason for me to love my Sube!
February 11, 200422 yr They are simple because they are not self adjusting - and thus, a pain in the butt. Swap out to rear discs - you'll be happy you did. GD
February 11, 200422 yr Author What drum brakes are self adjusting? I've never come across any that were.But I am planning the rear disk swap when funds become available.On the same note has anyone done a disk swap as simple as the one no these older Subes.Ive never seen one
February 11, 200422 yr Lot's of drum brakes are self adjusting - all of the Ford Aerostars for example.... I happen to know because my parents own two of them. Most any newer car with rear drums are self adjusting - makes for a bigger pain when changing them. Your right about the easy disc swap - that is nice. Not sure if it was intentional or not, but I suspect that there was probably some japanese EA81 with rear discs from the factory.... GD
February 11, 200422 yr My 1962 GMC had self adjusting drum brakes on all four wheels. My dad had them on the rear of his '79 Dodge van too.
February 13, 200422 yr Author Well I guess that should teach me to open my mouth when I dont know what I'm talking about.Thanks for the free schooling everyone
February 13, 200422 yr Most modern rear drum brakes are designed to self adjust. I believe that applies to Subarus from the mid 80's? I ain't no expert, so don't The only problem is, a lot of them don't work! The adjusters get a bit worn, or the conditions that cause the adjustment action doesn't occur often enough. What makes the Subarus adjust, any way? Just so I know what to do to make sure I have brakes at all 4 corners. I am used to Toyotas, where hand brake action sets up the star wheel. That can't happen here. Has anyone tried to reroute the hand brake to the rear? I sure miss being able to do handbrake turns.
February 13, 200422 yr Subaru's did not apply the self-adjusting mechanism until the introduction of the Legacy. You adjust them by turning the small square bolt that sticks out of the backing plate. They are a very simple design that works well when adjusted properly. The only problem is you have to adjust it every time you do an oil change to keep them adjusted properly. That is just one reason so many people have gone to the rear disc set up. It eliminates the need for adjusting the brakes. It gives a higher and firmer brake pedal all the time. It allows less pressure to apply the brakes as well. And... if you really need to stop in a hurry you may bruise your forehead.
February 13, 200422 yr Turning brakes are available for the rear wheels. http://www.empius.com/h/hydraulicturnbrks.html I have the second set on the web page mounted on my SubSandRail. They are really handy on the trail when you need to rev up the RPM's with the clutch in, but don't have a third foot to work the brake (usually when the rear tires are hanging over the edge of a cliff). Just reach over with your hand and engage the brakes. In the sand they are awsome. You can't afford to slow down to make the tight turn, or you will get stuck in the soft stuff. So you keep the hammer down, reach over and yank the turning brake, and the front of the car jerks over enough to miss the stump/dune/dropoff/etc. I will wait to install one in my 83 wagon unti after I see how it handles in the sand this summer. If I had an account on the gallery I could post some closeups of the mounting bracket for the turning brakes that I put in the SubSandRail.
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now