Brake swap FAQ?

[sammydafish]

is there one? What fits? I've got a 90 wagon, I need new rotors front and back. I want something bigger or at least thicker, these things fade ridicoulously fast (though the fact they they are rotted surely has something to do with that). Anyway power is going to be going up some more soon, so brakes are on the list of things to upgrade. What's the best bang for the buck brakes wise?

[Legacy777]

Pads fade....rotors just get hotter.

Either way....there's numerous threads about brake swaps. Pretty much the only thing that won't swap over is the SVX and sti brembos. Other then that...you can go to town swapping brakes from other subarus.

[sammydafish]

rotors are heatsinks, the less mass they have, the faster they will overheat, no mater how good your pad is



anyway, is there a list of what scoobs had what size rotors? will I need to swap calipers too, or just get brackets from that same year/model?

[jamal]

Better pads and fluid is the best bang for the buck, but if you want bigger, some of the better options are turbo brakes or WRX front and 00-04 Legacy rear brakes (to keep the bias about the same). They'll require 16" wheels, though. If you shop around for used parts, you should be able to find 4 wrx calipers, the correct brackets, pads, fluid, and rotors for $600 or so.

subaruwrxparts.com sells a lot of stuff, including rear legacy brackets and rotors as a package. I'll buy it eventually.

[skid542]

[quote="sammydafish"]rotors are heatsinks, the less mass they have, the faster they will overheat, no mater how good your pad is
[quote]

This is correct but a good pad keeps working at higher temperatures.

I'd suggest just upgrading to a good set of turbo rotors and aggressive pads, cryotreat the rotors if you get them new, and good fluid is a must.

[sammydafish]

I'd suggest just upgrading to a good set of turbo rotors and aggressive pads, cryotreat the rotors if you get them new, and good fluid is a must.

So the turbo rotors are different? how so, thicker, larger? If they are larger, I assume I'll need new brackets. If they are just thicker, then they should just bold right on I assume.

[sammydafish]

BTW, fresh fluid and good pads are a givin, lets not get off subject.

[Legacy777]

This is correct but a good pad keeps working at higher temperatures.

Bingo.

Sammy, unless you get to the point of glowing rotors, which I doubt you'll be able to do in your Legacy, good pads will handle the temps. There is a trade off of course.....high temp pads don't work as well at lower temps.

I'm not saying larger rotors are not beneficial, but if you're not looking to spend a lot, and have to change wheel sizes, then getting a good set of pads is the way to go.

[skid542]

Turbo rotors are vented and the turbo caliper has a larger piston area than the sedan NA (wagon's have the same size piston as the turbo but still solid rotor) so you'll get more braking force on the rear rotor. You just need the caliper and the rotor, your current bracket will work.

When I upgraded my brakes I just upgraded the rears to turbo rotors, that are cyrotreated, and calipers in conjuction with good pads. I need to upgrade the front rotors to bring my bias back forward some but as it stands now my average 60 - 0 is about 70ft, including an anticipated reaction time. I haven't experienced any brake fade and it took my best friend a while to get used to bracing himself for when I lay into the brakes.

[evolutionmovement]

You'll need 15" wheels for turbo brakes, 16" for WRX. Front turbo calipers are dual pistons.

I have WRX fronts with Hawk pads and they only fade now because I need to bleed them again. Front bias is changed, though. I need to see if the calipers are the same as the N/A wagon or just share piston size hoping that I can put some more bias rearwards.

Steve

[sammydafish]

Heat dissipation is my problem here, that's why I asked about larger/thicker rotors. I already have good pads and fresh fluid. Let’s keep this on topic here, the question was what brakes will fit, not how do brakes work. There's nothing you could tell me about how they work, but I'm sure there's plenty you could tell me about what fits, so let’s keep to the subject at hand.

Research has gotten me this information

Subaru seemed to have offered 5 different rotor sizes over the last decade and a half. I don’t know if every application uses the same caliper or not.

Anyway, looks like stock 90-99 Legacy got 10.2” front rotors.

That would list possible upgrades, in size order.
93-99 Impreza - 10.4”
RS Impreza, 2000+ L Legacy, Outback till 2000 and 02 up base Impreza – 10.7”
Turbo Legacy – 10.9”
WRX (not STi), 01+ Outback, 03+ Forrester, 04+Legacy GT – 11.4”

Note that everything up to a 10.9” requires 15” wheels and the 11.4: requires 16” wheels.

This is what I’ve gathered so far. I decided to go with WRX brakes, and snagged myself a set cheap enough with rotors, calipers, hoses brackets and pads for $75 shipped. I also picked up a set of WRX wheels for cheap too.


If anyone has anything to add on this, please do. I understand that a lot of people talk about brake bias here when talking about swaps. We’ll see how terrible it is when I put the parts on, I might have to do something about that, we’ll see. Anyway, hope this info helps someone else.

[jamal]

Here's a nice rear brakes page. I haven't ever seen something similar for front brakes, though:

http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showth ... readid=762

Like I said earlier, the biggest, least expensive upgrade seems to be WRX fronts and 00-04 Legacy rears. According to Josh's brake spreadsheet, they'll keep the bias about the same, too. 4-pot fronts are also bolt on, but from what I hear, the 2-piston Subaru rears and STi Brembos require a bit more work. Oh, 05 Legacy GT brakes are even bigger than the WRX brakes. 12.4f 11.4r

This place sells a bunch of neat stuff. I plan on buying my rear rotors and caliper brackets from here when I get around to it:
http://www.subaruwrxparts.com/wrx-braking.html

[snowboarded]

I have Power Slot vented front's for a WRX and stock WRX front calipers on mine, and my stock rear turbo setup. It has been exceptional until recent problems, which I believe to be a seized caliper or kinked line.

Yea like everyone else said, fresh fluid and good pads make a world of difference. I reccomend super blue, great fluid. And if you can get ahold of them, braided stainless steel brake lines make a difference.

[tzedek]

is the Turbo fronts 2 pot?

[BAC5.2]

the only thing that won't swap over is the SVX and sti brembos.

Half true.

05 and 06 STi Brembo's will not swap over (they have 5x114.7mm bolt spacing and the hubs are different).

The 04 STi Brembos still use a 5x100mm bolt spacing, and the rotors will work jjjuuuusssstttt fine. The caliper bracket even bolts to our hubs.

Other than that, the SVX and 05-06 Brembo's are the only brakes that won't bolt up.

And yes, Turbo front calipers are 2 piston.

[musketeerracing]

Note that everything up to a 10.9” requires 15” wheels and the 11.4: requires 16” wheels.

I don't think this is quite true. There are 15" wheels that fit the WRX rotors - production class WRXs run rally 15" tires. Anyone know which wheels will fit? Compo TH2? Minilite? etc?

ACP