Leitah Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 What is a good price for repairing brakes on my 1999 Subaru Outback? That's probably a silly question. It seems I may need to replace the pads on all four tires and perhaps the rotors too. Just one more thing to deal with. Any suggestions on shops in Wenatchee Washington. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Takes me less than an hr to put pads on all 4 corners in a parking lot.. With a Subaru, all you need is a single wrench, brake grease and a heavy duty caulk gun to do the brakes.. You can use a c clamp or a brake piston compressor if you wanna get fancy. But a caulk gun works fine 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Takes me less than an hr to put pads on all 4 corners in a parking lot.. With a Subaru, all you need is a single wrench, brake grease and a heavy duty caulk gun to do the brakes.. You can use a c clamp or a brake piston compressor if you wanna get fancy. But a caulk gun works fine How do you operate a caulk gun to compress the piston?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Flip it upside down over top where the line connection is on the back, and then the plunger will ride on an old pad. Its not the best way but it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Flip it upside down over top where the line connection is on the back, and then the plunger will ride on an old pad. Its not the best way but it works. Yea, I can see how that can work. I use a large C-clamp to get the job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montana tom Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 If it is just the pads, it's fast and cheap. If you need rotors also it's still fast, maybe 1.5 hrs. What you need to know is, if you will need calipers. This adds lots of extra $ to the job, still should be in the 2 hrs range. What should it cost??? well shop time varies from $30-$90 an hour or more. Call a local parts store and ask them prices on just pads, then add rotors, see how much that is. Then ask how much "loaded calipers " cost , you will not need pads if you buy loaded calipers. Add rotor cost to the loaded calipers. Now you know apx. parts cost. Find out what the hourly charge is where you want to have your work done and see what their time & parts estimate is. Try to locate a mechanic who knows subarus, stay away from big name shops , they tend to replace everything even when it is still usable (liability issues if you ask them) cost will be astronomical . Same at a subi dealer... usually good work but massively overpriced on parts and labor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somick Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 She asked you about the shops that can do the brakes and not about the procedures. Leitah. Any shop can do it. Make sure you see the pads and rotors yourself since all shops will be happy to charge you for replacing parts, even if there is no need to do it. Good luck, Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirtokesalot Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 i never heard of using a caulking gun to do brakes. ive used c clamps and have been known to just push them in by hand on a few cars ive done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 i never heard of using a caulking gun to do brakes. ive used c clamps and have been known to just push them in by hand on a few cars ive done. I hadn't either until a post on facebook. And then one day I was without a c clamp but had a caulk gun, so I proved yep it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyhorse001 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Takes me less than an hr to put pads on all 4 corners in a parking lot.. With a Subaru, all you need is a single wrench, brake grease and a heavy duty caulk gun to do the brakes.. You can use a c clamp or a brake piston compressor if you wanna get fancy. But a caulk gun works fine SMOKIN IDEA! Id never have thought of that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 I've used a brake pad a a lever to push the piston in. I've used a c-clamp, even my thumbs on my old Honda, and I've used large waterpump/channellock pliers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forester2002s Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Thanks for the tip about a caulking gun as a clamp. It never occurred to me to use one for other than caulking. I am going to try it out next time I have to glue wood or plywood together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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