At 60K miles I had the dealer check out my rear drum brakes on my 1995 Impreza and they said that they were in "rough" shape. Well, I am at 115,000 now and they kind of grind under hard braking (like when someone cuts me off on the mass pike when traffic is going at 80mph). I think it is safe to say they might need some "freshening" especially since they are original. I can replace front discs/pads by myself but for some reason drums scare the living daylights out of me (probably becuase I can't see into the drum like I can see the disc pad setup). The Chiltons manual totally stinks in this section, and webpages that I have found only tell you how to swap drums to discs. I want to keep my drums thank you very much

 

Is there a good website that documents shoe changing? Can you reline drums or would you just get a new one like you would with a disc rotor? Can anyone scan the service manual PDF's for this procedure?

 

Thanks a lot, take care guys (and gals)

 

Kevin

 

kjyoun01 at hvc.rr.com

Don't have any PDF's but what I recommend is do one side at a time. The drums can be turned, but only need to if there is obvious scarring. If it is rear disc & drum (like on a Legacy) you will need a special tool to retract the piston.

thanks for the tip! Its just rear drum. I was looking online at drums and they aren't much at all so its probably just worth replacing them. Thanks

Good to know they last that long, I am just about to hit 62k miles in my 2000 Impreza - also rear drums.

 

I plan on replacing the shoes and drums quite soon. The biggest advantage of replacing both is that you don't have the car sitting around undriveable while you wait for a machinist somewhere to resurface the drums.

Oh, and the Haynes manual is far better than Chiltons. Not sure if there is an Impreza specific Haynes, but the 1990-1998 Legacy manual will do just fine, since its all the same components.

This is a pretty good illustration for you plus detailed instructions.

 

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8080/subaru_manual_scans/1985-1996_Autozone_Subaru_Manuals/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1e/75/35/0900823d801e7535.jsp.html

Haynes manual huh? I've been unable to find one locally so I might have to turn to the internet. The Chiltons one is the manual for 1984-96 Subarus and its barely one inch thick.

 

But anyhow, this is exactly the information I was looking for! thanks a lot everyone! I am finished asking questions for now, but if anyone has any usefull tips or anything, please post them

 

Kevin