Was at Monro earlier for a brake job at under $25, it makes sense plus they checked the brakes out.  97 Outback was making some rear metal noises, they checked it out and said it was bad rear brakes showing me the rear cylinders, trying to say they were metal on metal, which they weren't, and one of the calipers was no good.  Estimate = $350.  So I checked out this video on youtube:  

 It made it look easy, only rotors can be a bear to get out without power tools or beefier ones than I have.....

 

So I picked up the pads at Advance Auto for around $15 with the discounts and didn't have any real problems, got the brake tool kit for the piston at Auto Zone as a rental.  A pretty easy job considering drums can be rougher.  One of the caliper pistons was a little rusty, not sure if that becomes a problem down the road.  I didn't see a tear in the rubber, not sure if that would be a huge issue if it was compromised.  

Edited May 17, 20169 yr by ThosL

The pistons are always rusty. No biggie as long as it went back in smooth.

 

The slide pins need to be cleaned and greased with silicone brake grease. They like to seize and will cause the pads to drag.

ThosL,

 

Check the master cylinder for CLEAR brake fluid. If its dark coloured it needs to be flushed out of the entire system. The old dark fluid will have water in it that can seize the pistons in the calipers.

 

Use a turkey baster to remove the old fluid from the MC, fill with new DOT3 brake fluid and then see some YouTube videos on Brake Bleeding each caliper to remove the rest of the old fluid and flush in the new.

 

Its not difficult at all. Good Luck!

Hate to break it to you but there's drum brakes inside the disc rotors at the back for the parking brake. They can make metal grinding noises, especially if the shoes get rusty and the friction material delaminates. How well does the parking brake work?

 

As far as bleeding brakes to change the fluid, it's a recommended practice, but good luck getting the bleeders open on an older New England car without the aid of a torch, hammer, and 6pt sockets. Often times it's not worth the trouble. Plus you end up changing the brake fluid when the rear brake lines rust out over the gas tank, so why do it before then?

E-brake works fine; I had one of those self destruct on my other Subaru and I lived without it when the broken metal pieces were removed.

How far should the piston retract into the caliper?  I'm doing the rear brakes and can't get over the new pads because, it seems, the piston is not fully retracted. I used a BIG pair of pliers instead of a c clamp, so I didn't get as rough trying to compress it as perhaps as I should have. There is about an 1/8" piston lip still sticking out. 

 

What say ye'all?

The pistons should go all the way flush

I hadda go to O'reilly's in Magnolia where they lent me a piston compressor and they went in easy using the proper tool. I'm on the fronts now...

All done now. Pretty easy except I couldn't figure out how the new clips worked so I used the old ones. Burned the pads in at 5 x 40-10 and 5 x 30-10, then a cool-down and all seems good. I didn't get it up to speed to see if I needed an alignment but it seemed ok. 

How does anyone live without a pair of these?

 

CNY_Dave, I use a 4-inch C-clamp...

No problems on the brakes since pad installation.

No problems on my end. All new rotors and all new pads and relatively easy installation for less than $150.

 

And, I don't have to grit my teeth before the front-end shudder that used to come when applying the brake.