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Time to replace some brake pads on my 96 OBW. Been hearing this scraping sound from the RR wheel, checked and saw some scoring in the middle of the rotor. In some threads folks mention the antirattle clip breaking. And the OEM brakes produce a warning sound when things get thin. How would those sounds differ?

 

Anyways, I've been wanting to do this job myself for some time, and Haynes shows a pretty easy procedure. Could someone who has done this provide me with a list of tools I might need? And would I just need the pad replacements, or shims, clips and antisqueal compound as well?

 

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Truk

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I have a 97 Legacy L. wagon so I have drums on the rear of mine so I dont know if rear pads are the same as front. On the front of mine I need 14 or 12mm wrench for calipers, and 17mm if taking rotors off. You will need C- clamp to push pistons back in calipers. Do not push rear ones in with C- clamp until someone else says it is O.K. some cars rear brake pistons are screwed back in and I dont know about rear disc brakes on Subaru because I have drums. If you have added brake fluild you will need to take some out of M.C. before pushing pistons back in. The rail the pads ride in dont need changing (not very often) If you get pads at Auto Zone they have brake grease that you can buy at counter in a packet about the size of a sugar packet that you can rub on back of pad. If rubber boot is cracked or ripped I wouldnt worry to much about it. I run mine without them and have not had any trouble 278,000 miles. (the intence heat here in Tx. along with being on my brakes all day del. mail the rubber boots just wont hold up.) You will not need to bleed your brakes unless you open one of the lines. Be sure and pump them when you finish before driving off.

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Rear pistons on my old Legacy went straight in, no tools just by hand!

 

12,14, and 17 mm sounds spot on. You might need an extension on the socketdriver to loosen the caliper support bracket, they can be tight. Spray some rust penetrant on them and tap them with a hammer if they won't move. Don't force the brake hose to bend too sharply.

 

I would strongly recommend replacing the discs - or having the old ones resurfaced. If you don't, you will experience problems very soon.

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Hey Truk

I just went through the exact same thing with RR on my 2000 GT Legacy. It was the wear indicator which happened to score the rotor as well as "indicate" wear. Seems like they could come up with a more subtle way of letting you know the pads need replacement other than scoring the rotor!

BTW, they said the front rotors needed to be resurfaced after 10,000 miles even though the pads were fine. Is this normal or is it related to an issue I read hear about undersized rotors on this model. Apologies for hijacking your post.

I paid the dealer $240 total for rear brakes/resurface rotor but independent quoted nearly the same price. I'll be checking back for DIY tips for the next go around.

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Setright said -

--I would strongly recommend replacing the discs - or having the old ones resurfaced. If you don't, you will experience problems very soon.

---

 

Could you elaborate a little on why problems might arise?

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Setright

I have never tried to push piston in by hand, but I will try that next pad change. I guess if you open bleed valve it would be easy.

 

Truk, that is good advise from Setright on turning or replacing rotors. I replace mine about every second pad change. The reason to do this is to keep the car from shimming when you step on brakes, also a smooth rotor will not eat your pads up as fast. The shimming is from the rotor being just a little out of round and it dont take much.

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The main cause of brake judder is uneven pad material deposits on the disc surface.

Discs and pads wear into eachother and a brand new set of pads won't mate well with used discs. Generally, discs will last two sets of pads, with a resurface inbetween.

 

Trust me on this one. You don't want your brakes vibrating in a few weeks, because you will have to dismantle everything again and you can't re-use the pads. Well, you shouldn't. At least I wouldn't, but I do have rich experience in this area. And I like my brakes to work REALLY well. Not because I drive like an idiot, but because everyone else does :D

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My pistons on my cars usually reset by hand when they don’t I use large channel locks to reset the piston, it’s easy and quick. Just make sure you use a rag in the jaws of the channel locks so you don’t mare the piston or the caliper. Works the same as the c-clamp idea, and no need to open a bleed valve.

 

I though it was interesting the RR made a scraping sound. My right rear (99obw) disappeared first and never produced a warning sound. My friends 97obw did the same thing on the RR, no warning, and scored the rotor pretty good. My fathers 00 obw was the third in a few weeks to do the same thing. RR was the first to go with no warning. I did the brakes on all three cars and the other 3 sets of pads had some life left in them and the RR was completely gone. I chalked it up to coincidence. Anybody else had similar or was it just coincidence?

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I have seen the curb side wear faster on several cars. I think this may be due to more salt, dirt, and gravel on the curb side. Perhaps the abrasive effects of these contaminants wear the pad faster.

 

We had a similar failure on the LF of the outback recently. The pad had worn to the metal backing plate, but it never made a sound until the pad material was completely gone. I get the impression that the wear indicators are worthless. From now on I will keep a better eye on the pad thickness.

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Oh, I forgot to mention that I DO NOT disassemble the caliper until I have pushed the pistons back. And the front I use a large G-clamp to push on the outside pad and the caliper housing inside. This way, you don't run them skew, because the two sliders are helping to keep things straight. Hands are enough on the rear.

 

Sometimes I dont get them far enough in, wont fit over the new pads, then it's back to the G-clamp and push directly on the piston. At this stage it is far enough back in the cylinder to avoid skew.

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