How to install Racing Brake One-Piece Rotors

[RustyShackleford]

yes, you can use the old shims.. and you should/can follow where you put the grease on where the subaru version shows you.

 

Thanks, unfortunately I threw away the instructions with the

Subaru pad set (for another car, actually) a long time ago.

 

I found two shims on each of the old pads, a perforated

inner one, and an outer one. I discarded the inner one

and used the outer one with my new Wagner ThermoQuiet

pads. I put grease on both sides of the shim. Seems to

be working ok.

 

There was kind of a "scratchy" sound when I first drove with

it, but it seems to have gone away. I had the rotors turned

(pedal pulsing pointing to possible warpage) beforehand,

and the surface seemed a little rough; perhaps this noise

was the rotor surface being smoothed off ?!? I've changed

pads plenty of times before (on my old '97), but never had

the rotors machined and never noticed this sound.

[Xenonk]

swtiching from one brake pad compound to the next can leave deposits from the previous pad, thus some pulsations or vibrations on the pad. You can google up "bedding processes" for some brake pads to achieve maximum performance which is more common to harsher or higher-demanding-performance such as racing level brakes. Street performance brakes may leave deposits or impressions which can lead to squealing too when there's left-over semi-metallic brake dust is still in the area or on the surface that causes to make it squeal. Use some brake cleaner as I instructed in the walkthrough in various places and use a used or old toothbrush to scrub out surface areas where there is brake dust building up.

[mckayabrown]

Thanks Xenonk for the suggestions. I've pulled it all off again and everything seems to be okay. It does feel like there is a little more play in the right caliper than the left and it seems to be from the fact that the caliper guide bolts appear to have a little more play in them on the passenger's side of the car as opposed to the driver's side. So, I'm stumped. So, my next question is, can I replace the nut and rubber housing into which the guide bolt seats? Or are these integrated into the caliper frame (not sure what that's called that it attaches to, but I'm having a great time learning).

 

I am going to take it to a local garage today to see what they'll tell me. My guess is they'll recommend a replacement that will cost around $500! Hence I'm looking for some help. Thanks.

[mckayabrown]

So, I took my Legacy to the shop today. Baffled the master of odd sounds there. We drove it, put it up on the rack, checked everything. Everything looks good and tight. He did come back and suggest that perhaps the rattling noise could be coming from a front suspension bushing. Not an expensive part from what I can see. But does that even sound reasonable? And, is this something one would attempt themselves or would it be best to spend the $100 to have these changed out in hopes of elminating the noise. I hate this mystery noise! Makes me nuts!

[Xenonk]

well, I wont know for sure what kind of noise you are having.. so I can't help you there.. check all your bushings, and take pics of them, perhaps that will help me some.. noises can generate anywhere..

 

did you leave a tool in your car while working on the brakes? it's not the first time I found wrenches in the engine bay before.

[mckayabrown]

Great news, figured out the sound today thanks to the guy behind the counter at Checker/O'Reily's. And for the benefit of anybody else that might be as new to brakes and mechanical work I'm going to embarrass myself and tell you all what the noise was. I'm certain anybody else would have avoided this problem.

 

It turns out that the caliper pins into which the caliper bolt mounts simply needed to be cleaned and greased. These are the rubber sleeve covered pins. I popped them off, cleaned, greased and reassembled and now I'm only going half nutty as I've eliminated the brake rattle! I'm still half nutty due to the stupid dash rattles (had it in twice and the fix just won't hold, any great ideas on eliminating this will are welcome, PM me).

 

So, there you have it. Thanks for the patience as I muddled through this one. You can be that I'll be greasing up the caliper mount pins (or whatever they are called) when I do brakes in the future.

[Xenonk]

oh, you pulled them out?? you didn't have to and the boot keeps the grease in them.

[Xenonk]

Any ideas on how to get a rounded hard line bolt off? Right now I'm rolling around with one SS and one oem line.

 

 

I'm sooo sorry Rurouni! I totally missed this post of yours for I dont how long..

 

replacing break lines is considered another thread.. but to be quick, you need flare-nut wrenches for that.. and if that still doesnt work, you really need to be extra safe using a very very TIGHT vise-grip pliers.

[BoozeRS05]

Subscribed, parts are ordered, just need to find the time to do this..

[Polo08816]

i'm having a lot of trouble removing the front rotors the caliper and bracket are off and the rotor will not come off. I've tried everything hammer pry bar soaked it in PBB ant thing i'm missing here?

 

Same here. Would airtools help in this regard?

[Xenonk]

Same here. Would airtools help in this regard?

 

a big hammer will do it, try a 8 lbs sledge and you just hit the edge of the rotor with increment faster swings, start slow and easy because you have a lot of force applied to the entire part of the assembly.

 

The other option is following the same format as the rears by getting a bolt and threading it through the smaller holes on the rotor hat to push itself off the hub.

[Polo08816]

a big hammer will do it, try a 8 lbs sledge and you just hit the edge of the rotor with increment faster swings, start slow and easy because you have a lot of force applied to the entire part of the assembly.

 

The other option is following the same format as the rears by getting a bolt and threading it through the smaller holes on the rotor hat to push itself off the hub.

 

I used the M8 bolt idea. Used two of them and it worked pretty well. Good thing the car is not too old and completely rusted over (2008).

 

I had a 94 Camry and I tried this method and it cracked the rotor into pieces right in front of the wheel bearing. Too much fail.

 

If anyone is having trouble removing the caliper bracket bolts, try turning your steering wheel all the way to one side to give yourself clearance to use a breaker bar.

[BoozeRS05]

One caliper bracket bolt was froze on my LGT at 110k miles. I bruised a rib trying to break that sucker, impact gun wouldn't budge it either. Sucked.

[Polo08816]

One caliper bracket bolt was froze on my LGT at 110k miles. I bruised a rib trying to break that sucker, impact gun wouldn't budge it either. Sucked.

 

How did you end up getting it loose? Torch?

[BoozeRS05]

Took it to my mechanic , didn't ask, just wanted done with it..

[jvento]

I have the 2-piece 316mm rotors with the racing brakes four pot up front and the stock one piston in the back with the one piece rotor with braket on the rear... I am going to do that 04 sti brake booster and MC and see how it stops then.. Cause now and then I have to bleed the brake calipers

[BAC5.2]

I have the 2-piece 316mm rotors with the racing brakes four pot up front and the stock one piston in the back with the one piece rotor with braket on the rear... I am going to do that 04 sti brake booster and MC and see how it stops then.. Cause now and then I have to bleed the brake calipers

 

 

If you have to bleed the calipers periodically, then something is installed incorrectly. You should not be getting air in the lines... ever.

[jvento]

Not feeling air in the lines it might be my front right I think something is wrong with that 4pot caliper it might need a rebuild...

[BoozeRS05]

My front left caliper had damage to the dust boot, one piston was frozen and needed replaced when I did my brakes. Found one at a junkyard nearby for $50 shipped(?) to my door.

[Polo08816]

Not feeling air in the lines it might be my front right I think something is wrong with that 4pot caliper it might need a rebuild...

 

How do you determine whether the caliper pistons need to be rebuilt?

[jvento]

I really have no idea that why I think I'm taken it to a porsche shop let them do it for me there real good people..

[hal9e3]

I just changed out rotors and pads today and had a few additional notes:

 

1) In one of the original pics the rotors are shown rotating with the outer end of the slots leading the inner end. On my DBA's it just the opposite: the outer end trails the inner end. Must not make much difference...

 

2) It will be handy if you have some sort of M12x1.25 nuts to hold the rotor securely on while you finish the reassembly process. My closed end tuner lug nuts worked fine, as would open end ones, but I'm not sure if regular lug nuts will hold the rotor tight enough.

 

3) I would recommend torquing down the wheels as much as possible to seat the rotors before dropping the car . I didn't do this and noticed that it took quite a bit of rotation to torque them down after, and in some cases actually felt/heard the tires move on the pavement. After my bedding run I went back and checked them and almost all of the lug nuts needed a bit of snugging, while one was completely loose (maybe I missed it the first time?).

[Lgtenny01rh]

just doing this today... got the passenger front on in about 10 minutes. as for the driver side, the bottom 17mm bolt on the caliper seems to be frozen on. tried soaking in wd-40 numerous times and tapping my wrench with a hammer. nothing. repeated this process until it got dark out and gave up for the night... any suggestions just in case the over night soak theory fails me? i dont have a torch or an impact wrench. Im thinking about putting a pipe on the wrench for leverage or buying a torch.

[Lgtenny01rh]

nevermind. got it off there and in case anyone was wondering, I bathed it in wd-40 overnight then slowly busted out the old pipe on the wrench trick... eased right off.

[the kev master]

Here's what I found on my 05 Legacy GT Wagon.

 

The rear bolts both on the caliper and bracket are 14mm.

 

If the car is old and has corrosion, I advise against using the offset wrench as they tend to slip, potentially stripping the bolt's head.

 

In place of that method, I recommend using a 14mm with an impact gun but using it very slowly. Basically, the goal is to achieve the same action as using a hammer and knocking on it but with an impact you get to hammer it and turn it all at the same time without too much complication of space and the sort.

 

The caveat here is to have different extension bars as the impact has different point it can fit on the bottom and the rear. I also used a swivel head for the top bracket bolt, so the extensions and a swivel head are incredibly useful. If you go ahead and whack the nuts at full force on a car that has lived in the snow for many years, I could easily see the bolts snapping especially on higher mileage cars that have seen a lot more snow. Mine has 90,000 on the clock.

 

I wouldn't skip the bathing in PB Blaster part but I did that just for good measure so I've got no idea if doing that is necessary or not but personally I wouldn't skip it.

 

I had to use the M8x1.25 bolt trick with no problems, I alternated turning them so the force will be more evenly distributed.

 

The torque specs according to the Subaru dealer who was kind enough to fax me the service page for the rears are:

 

Bracket to knuckle - 39.1 ft lbs

Caliper bolts to bracket:

Ventilated - 27.2 ft lb (Legacy GT)

Solid rotors - 19.9 ft (Presumably the base 2.5i)

 

Just in case I've got to do this all over again in a few years, I've put anti seize on every nut and bolt as well as hubs and lugs.

 

LASTLY, BEFORE YOU DROP YOUR CAR ON TO THE GROUND, MAKE SURE THE PARKING BRAKE IS PULLED BACK UP. Mine almost ran away from me when I dropped it.