I have a 99 Outback Sport that has 15" tires on it. Last time I changed the pads and rotors, the rotors were to big when I ordered ones for 15" tires. Is it possible the car came with smaller tires and then someone put on 15's?

 

I need to know since I have to order some front calipers and I have to make sure I get the right sized ones. Thanks-

You have 1-piston front brakes with 260x24mm rotors.

 

The rotors you received were most likely for the RS, which has 2-pots and 276mm rotors.

Hm, well according to cars101.com info, it came with:

 

15" Alloy 205/60R 15

Front: 10.1" vented, rear:9.0" drum 4 channel ABS (same as other '99 Imprezas except for the ABS).

 

The only '99 Impreza with anything larger is the RS, which came with 16" Alloy, 205 / 55R 16 89HFront: 10.7" vented disc with dual caliper pistons, rear:10.5" solid disc 4 channel ABS

I have the same problem with my 01 OBS, if I tell the parts store guys I have 15" wheels the rotors don't fit. If I tell them I've got 14" (which i don't and never have) the rotors fit perfect. Just something messed up with the stores parts lists I guess.

One type of rotor is listed "For 14" and 15" wheels", and the other one "For 15" and 16" wheels", hence the confusion. Remember that on Legacy models, all 15" factory wheels were alloy. Apparently they could accommodate a larger rotor than a steel wheel could.

So if I go ahead and order calipers for 15" wheels I should be ok? Man, I'm starting to get a headache!

You can find the part numbers for remanufactured calipers at

http://endwrench.com/oepropdf/remanufactured.pdf

At least it'll tell you how many different kinds there are.

what are you trying to do, put on new pads and rotors or replace it all with something bigger?

 

The 99 Impreza has two different front brake setups, and only two. 276mm rotors with 2-pots on the RS, and 1-pots with 260mm rotors on everything else, regardless of wheel size. Also, while the RS came with 16" wheels, the brakes will fit under 15s.

I'm replacing the calipers and pads. The rotors are still in good shape. I figured everything out tonight at the parts store when I told them I needed the ones for 15" wheels and they gave me two pot calipers. The ones on my car are single pots, so according to them, the single pots are for 14" wheels.

 

Now, if I wanted to, could I get the bigger rotors (I'm assuming they're the 276mm) and and use the two pot calipers? Would that work on an OBS? How much would that benefit the pad life?

 

Thanks for the help!

to get bigger rotors and calipers, you need larger brackets as well. so yes, you could do it, but you'd need the bottom bracket for each side and the parts store won't carry those. but if you found two, yes you could easily do the swap, you have to remove the bracket anyway to remove the old rotor, so there's no extra work at all to upgrade, same work. you'll need the bracket, rotor, and caliper for each side to do the upgrade. you'll buy pads for whatever vehicle the brackets come from. i don't know that you'll get significant increases in pad life, but it should give you better braking.

 

i have all of these parts to upgrade my OBS brakes.

I have a set of RS calipers and brackets sitting in storage. I was going to put them on my car but decided to go the next step bigger, then a friend was going to put them on his rally car but that ended up not happening.

 

They're missing a few bolts, the rear slide pins, and clips and shims, but if you want to save some money on used parts you can have them cheap. It'd also put you partway towards a rear disc conversion if you have drums.

They're missing a few bolts, the rear slide pins, and clips and shims, but if you want to save some money on used parts you can have them cheap.

i may take them for my XT6 if he doesn't want them. pm or email me.

I'm just gonna stick with the single pot calipers, but thanks for the offer. Normally I would upgrade but as soon as I fix the brakes I'm selling my little subie.