Brake swap.

[TonyAWD]

Planning on doing a WRX front brake conversion on my 94 L wagon. Here is a list of what i think i need, and i need you guys to chime in with your input.

WRX Calipers:(or an equivalent, specify if you know.)
Brackets:(This has me confused. Can i use any 02-05 bracket? Or just 02-03? Any other bracket that would work?)
SS brake lines:(suggestions on a good brand? and car to buy for, i.e. WRX ones or GC8)
Rotors
Pads
New fluid

Now the part that has given me the most trouble, and the biggest headache. Since i have a wagon, would the bias be similar as TW of the same year if i added the WRX brakes? Or would i need get a FWD SVX MC to compensate? I did read the Brake sticky, but when i was looking for a Thread to compare my plan too, the search just happens to be not working. So thats pretty much it. If you have done what i'm going to do, your input would be superduperuberlydoublerainbowohmygod awesome. =)


Thanks;
Tony

[Legacy777]

Do you currently have ABS?

If so, you have the larger 1-1/16" bore MC. If you do not have ABS, you have the smaller 1" bore MC. What I'd recommend is putting the WRX brakes on and see how the car feels. If you have too much pedal travel, then you may want to look at swapping the MC to the larger bore MC.

[TonyAWD]

My car is non-abs so i would have the smaller. I'll just have to buy the setup and see how it goes.

*scrounges for cash*

[porcupine73]

You asked about the stainless braided brake lines. I have used Stoptech and Goodridge. They both seem to be good quality. I liked the finish and hardware of the Stoptech a bit better than than the Goodrige.

[vrg3]

The master cylinder doesn't regulate bias. The proportioning valve does. And, if I remember correctly, all wagons (turbo and NA) have the less-front-bias prop valve.

Your best bet for the calipers and brackets is to buy them together. I believe sometime late in 2002 they switched caliper and bracket designs, so if you buy them from different sources you could end up with a mismatch.

[brweber352]

Definately do what vrg3 says about getting the brackets and calipers together, so nothing is mismatched. The rotor size is the same from 02-05, but around 02-03 they changed the bracket design. Some 03 WRX got some of the older brackets and some 03 WRX got the new style brackets, that's Subaru trying their best to use all the old parts. The big difference is the pad design between the two brackets. I would try to look for some 04 caliper and bracket sets. I got mine off EBAY from texwrx, wrxtex, texrx or something like that about 2.5 years ago for like $80 shipped and they're still working fine. You might be able to get them for less now, but I would definately go with wrxtex or whatever, as they always have tons of WRX parts available.

Whichever year you choose just make sure you get the right pad for the right bracket. If you do some searching over on NASIOC you can find alot of info about this. Either style will bolt up and work the same, just get the right pad. Almost any parts house will let you exchange the pads if they are the wrong fitment. I think there are some diagrams with sizes to determine which pad it is over on NASIOC. And honestly with Subaru being Subaru, there might be a couple 04 WRX with the old style setup. My 04 setup used the newer style bracket/pads.

One more thing, you don't need SS lines for these to work, the stock Legacy lines bolt right on. However, if you want SS lines I believe GC8 lines will work as long as it's for AWD & Disc brakes in the rear. Tirerack carries Goodridge SS lines for the Legacy, so just go there and get the part# and then try to cross it back and forth to different models so you know what fits what.

Good Luck, Brian

[vrg3]

Yes, first-gen Impreza lines will fit right up. 2nd-gen lines (like from the WRX the calipers come from) fit too, but they attach to the strut differently. If you're planning on eventually switching to new age struts, you might consider getting brake lines for a new age Impreza and using zipties or something to attach them to the struts for the time being.

[evolutionmovement]

I have early '02 on mine and they bolted up as easy as OEM. I don't care for the front bias on the brakes, though. Doing it over, I'd have just kept them stock and I'm still trying to figure out how I want to manage the back. If I had ABS, I might not care, but unless you weight the front before stomping down, the fronts lock up too easy without ABS (which isn't so good for an unplanned heavy stop).

[TonyAWD]

All this feedback is awesome! =)
i was planing on grabbing these brackets :https://www.subarugenuineparts.com/prod ... ts_id=1152
And i would imagine i need 02 WRX pads like it says and either a 98-01 2.5rs caliper or any WRX caliper up to 05.

In brweber352's post, he said i can use 04 calipers/brackets, so that would require a different pad than 02-03 as mentioned everywhere i have read. If that's the case i can find them used for relatively cheap i guess, and save some greens in the process. I think i might hold off as i want to get rid of the struts/springs i have. The stock brakes are OK, but i noticed on long trips (over 1-2hrs or more) that the brakes fade to an almost scary level, and they also develop this "shing-shing" noise like the rotors might be warped (on hot summer days and in traffic, this happens in about 30mins). The brake swap popped into my mind as the heat dissipation is better, and the larger rotor looks much nicer behind my WRX wheels. I'll have to think on it some more, but the info i got now is great!

Thank you all! =)

[vrg3]

...or any WRX caliper up to 05.

No, only 2002 and early 2003 calipers (i.e. from a car built before late 2002)!

Yes, you can use 04 calipers with 04 brackets and 04 pads.

Your brakes shouldn't be fading just from driving for an extended period of time. Sounds like one or more of your calipers are sticking and overheating.

[brweber352]

Holy shat! $112 for just the 2 brackets, insane. Scope out Ebay for some low mileage caliper/bracket combos for less than $100. Good salvagers will always include the brackets with the calipers, if they don't come with the brackets then don't buy them, they'll probably be overpriced for calipers only.

[TonyAWD]

Find these online a few mins ago: http://slidegood.com/index.php/04-subar ... r1235.html

I guess all i would now need is rotors/pads.(They have pads in them, but of questionable life)
11.4" WRX rotors are what i get right?

[vrg3]

Wow, painted red. Cool. Yeah, those'll do. Yep, the 11.4" WRX rotors are what you need.

[brweber352]

Here's a couple sets I just found on Ebay. I don't know about the sellers and some don't state the exact year, SO DO RESEARCH FIRST, BEFORE YOU BUY!. These are the Ebay Item Numbers.

Item number: 370248028755
Item number: 110563075791
Item number: 170511843062
Item number: 230492177145
Item number: 290451662534

Contact http://www.wrx-tx.com/[url] and tell them what you want and they'll probably have it in stock. This is a great outfit that does tons of used Subaru parts business.

Brian

[evolutionmovement]

I agree with Vikash that is sounds like you have some other brake problem—probably dragging calipers. Honestly, unless you're really trying to get your license revoked or you track the car, your brakes shouldn't be fading much. I was very happy with the stock setup with cryogenically frozen rotors and performance pads. The only time I had fade problems was on a 120+ run down this winding descent on the NV/CA border (and that was with shittier pads). The reason I upsized years later was because I needed new rotors and pads anyway and it seemed like a cheap enough option.

[brweber352]

just saw what you found, get em!

[TonyAWD]

i hopped on the calipers and got some rotors/pads from Brake Performance. My dad has used this place to buy rotors and pads for his 07 Sable and his previous 03 V6 altima. Premium rotors w/ free pads and free shipping is pretty boss.


Thank you all for your insight. If anyone knows a thing or two about the whole suspension thing, check my Post in Suspension and give me a hand with that too. =)

[evolutionmovement]

It will cost you a few $, but I highly recommend getting the rotors cryo treated. I went from pulsing rotors every 4-6 months to replacing them in 4 years because they were worn through very nearly to the vents.

[TonyAWD]

Gah i forgot about cryo-treated rotors. I saw the free pads/shipping thing on the site that i posted and ordered them. I'll definitely keep those in mind when i need new rotors, or if happen to upgrade to 4/2 pots down the road. Thanks for reminding me tho. =)

[evolutionmovement]

You can send them to places and have it done when you get them, but you might have to weigh the cost of shipping and such. I did the stock set that way and it cost about the same as the WRX ones I ordered already treated from a different place, but that was also 10 years ago and 5 years ago respectively.

[TonyAWD]

Shipping is gonna be costly cause they don't have anything like that around me. The best place i can find is 300below.com, and its in IL. I'm also trying to save for struts/springs, so that's another reason. Where did you send yours to?

[evolutionmovement]

Don't remember the one I sent them to, but I think frozenrotor.com was the one I bough the rotors direct from, FWIW. Suspension is more important anyway.

[brweber352]

+1 on Cryo treatment. These damn EBC sport rotors start pulsing about every 6 months and then I shave a lil off, got maybe one more shaving left on them before I need new ones. I think these rotors just use sub-casting procedures and shitty iron. My next set will probably be Cryo-Slots or DBA (DBA rotors are awesome castings/quality iron + plus they come with heat tabs so you can see how hot they're getting). Also, just a few slots on rotors goes a long way in reducing/eliminating brake fade, gives the gases an escape route. Avoid drilled rotors as they tend to crack around the holes, dimpled is okay but not needed.

Brian

[Legacy777]

I'll third cryo-treating.

Steve,

Regarding your overly front brake bias, upgrade the rears to the H6 sized rotors and calipers. That will help bring the bias back to what it was before you swapped on the WRX stuff.

[evolutionmovement]

Do they just swap in under 16" wheels?