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Quick brake question 93 Legacy L

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 4:52 pm
by monty's legacy
Last time I got my tires rotated(no real jack), my mech let me know my rear brakes were on their way out. He suggested that I would need rotors and pads, but a friends boyfriend said he would do the work gratis for me which is awesome. My question is what is the likely hood that the calipers are frozen? He has never had to deal with a frozen caliper before, how difficult are they to unfreeze? Also as far as brake parts go hows the autozone parts. The car has 150K miles on it and I figured I don't need to go expensive. Let me know your suggestions. Thanks guys.

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:56 pm
by skid542
What makes you think your calipers are frozen? They'll get stiff and stick a tad sometimes, but it's not often they complete freeze.

My suggestion would be to get the caliper rotated up out of the way, take off the rotors and just physically slide the calipers back and forth on the slide/guide pins. If the rubber boots are toast then I'd suggest getting new guide pins and seals. Or if the guide pins are decent shape - you'll have some rust/pitting - then just get the seals. I would polish up the pins though with some fine emory cloth. Otherwise, just try to pack some grease down in there and not sweat the calipers. Looking at the pad wear will give you a really good indication of the condition of your calipers. If the pads are evenly worn then you should be in fine shape.

If you haven't done brakes before, make sure you have a c-clamp to squeeze the piston back in. It's a lot easier than trying to work a wrench in there and prying.

As far as Autozone parts, if you're not going after high performance then yeah they'll work. For the most part rotors are rotors (for the most part). Pads on the other hand are a bit different and I personally would find pads elsewhere. My mom insisted I put autozone pads on her car and stepping on the brakes is almost like stepping on a couple bars of soap. However, I don't remember which pad it was. I know autozone occasionally has a quality pad though.

That's my input on the matter. Hopefully someone with more experience with autozone can chime in.

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:33 pm
by monty's legacy
I just figured for the worst when it comes to things, in case the calipers were frozen I would want to be prepared.