Sourcing a caliper for an "early" '05

[EZSnow]

My wife has an 05 LGT Wagon. Left front caliper piston is stuck. I was hoping it was just the slide pins, but no dice- it needs a new caliper. Stealer wants $315 for one and can't get it for a week, napa charged me $125 for the wrong one (part # 22 01323L) which I got home to find that the bracket was too small for my rotor, and the caliper was too small to fit in my (bigger, stock) bracket. Sweet.

 

When I was on with the dealer, after taking my VIN, he told me that my LGT was an "early" build '05, and that it required a different caliper than the late-05 and following cars, and that my caliper was used from 03-05.

 

My local napa says he THINKS the #22 10325L should fit, but the closest one is in dallas. (I'm in minneapolis) I get to pay the UPS charges to find out if it matches my car.

 

what gives?!? are these cars THAT hard to find calipers for??

[sleeper8406]

Contact MSprank here on the forum. I had this issue with mine not too long ago. He will help you out.

[Max Capacity]

Any auto parts store should be able to get one. Some WXR pieces may fit. I know the rear brake pads are the same a 99 2.5RS.

[EZSnow]

ANY auto parts store? Like O'Reilly? Carquest? Napa? Wish I'd thought of that!

 

...oh wait. I did.

 

I know I'm a noob here, but I'm not an idiot.

 

I'll try MSprank- thanks, sleeper!

[Max Capacity]

May be a google search will help. Some there for $56.00 & $75.00

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=brake+caliper+2005+subaru&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

 

 

Boy, that was hard

 

Some guy's talk about Rock Auto as a good place too.

[EZSnow]

again, I'm a noob, you have a high post count, so I don't meant to be contentious, but..

 

Seriously? "brake caliper 2005 subaru"? did you even read my original post?

 

"early 2005 legacy gt stuck brake caliper"? I googled that.

[Osei]

Msprank shall help.

In the meantime, the 04GT had an 11.4 rotor, the 05 was 12.3. Measure yours and you'll know which model you have.

Search is your friend. Not only google, but on this forum as well.

to start www.cars101.com

 

O.

[Max Capacity]

I bought my 2005 GT wagon in late Jun 2004. The car has 11.8" rotors on the front, if I remember right. I have not had to find a caliper yet. But I can't believe they are that hard to come by.

 

Most of us buy a rebuilt caliper when we have issues with them. If you want just the piston and the seal, they may be a bit harder to come by.

 

Your post says your looking for a caliper. I must have missed something. Sorry.

 

When I do a search on NAPA's site for a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon for the left front caliper I get a p/n CAL SE3900A Caliper w/hardware- left front, remfd

or CAL SE3900 same thing less the bracket.

 

Napa's site is a pita to use and find a price on.

 

Finally, napa at my lcoal store wants 175.29 including the 55.00 core for the CAL SE 3900A. They want 5.00 less for the other one.

 

A diferent store 12 miles away wants a 1.29 less for the same part.

 

 

Just found one on Auto Zone's site p/n C6041 same basic price.

 

Oh I see the 12.3 is the correct size. I now remember that.

 

When I bought slotter front rotors for my 05 I didn't have any problem with size.

 

 

I really can't believe it's that hard to find these.

[EZSnow]

According to M Sprank via PM:

You are very unlucky. you have one of a handful of cars labeled 2005 that have the wrong front brakes. Subaru realized very quickly and made a 2005.5 model that incorporated the correct brakes and a few ecu tweaks. Honestly only a handful of cars were delivered the way you have it.

 

This sucks. I would be very weary of auto parts stores as they will have no experience with this and will most likely keep giving you 2005.5 and up brakes. Might be easier to order the brakes from an earlier car rather than your LGT.

 

But, dealer will get you the right part.

 

My OEM catalog says my normal sale price for a 2005 OEM front caliper is (omitted) delivered to you.

 

If you send me your vin# I can make absolutely sure I have the 2005 part and not the 2005.5 part. But I believe I have what you need for a bit less than your local dealer.

 

Thanks.

 

A quick check with the tape shows 12.3 to be about right. The caliper/bracket assembly I got from napa was for a smaller diameter- as well as thinner- rotor.

 

Thanks for running down those part numbers, Max- I appreciate it. Those are different than the ones they gave me- I'll look into them tomorrow. There's a brake parts warehouse in Minneapolis that thinks they have the right one coming in tomorrow or Friday, so I'm going to check that out too. Regardless, I'll make sure to bring this to conclusion. Nothing worse than searching, finding a thread that covers the same topic but has no final answer!!

[Fat Charlie]

I went through the caliper issue in Feb. The Napa listing was a complete dud and I had to put the old brakes back on and drive to the dealership to get theirs. Napa can't claim it's a build date issue.

 

I got SS SS7983X pads, perfect match.

I got UP 880361 rotors, perfect match.

I got ATM 2201323L LF caliper, a dud.

 

The OE part numbers cross in Napa's system to those numbers, but it just ain't so. If you directly cross the OE pad and rotor numbers, you'd hope that directly crossing the caliper number would get you a caliper that fits around said pads and rotor, but it won't. A build date issue is one thing, but a part number cross is something entirely different.

 

And yes, mine's early too. I bought it in Feb 05. PM me your VIN and I'll see if I can come up with another number somewhere.

[mdd]

I had frozen pistons on both of my front calipers recently. I rebuilt the calipers using some instructions I found on .org. The procedure is well laid out and easy to follow. The rebuilt calipers function perfectly. This option may save you some headaches....

[Max Capacity]

I had frozen pistons on both of my front calipers recently. I rebuilt the calipers using some instructions I found on .org. The procedure is well laid out and easy to follow. The rebuilt calipers function perfectly. This option may save you some headaches....

 

 

Wow, I haven't rebuilt a capiler since 1974. I had 2 out of 4 pistons freeze up on my 1970 Duster 340. I worked at a service station at the time and rebuilt the caliper while I was working. It was pretty easy once I pulled the old pistons out.

 

Just clean up the bore with some light sand paper if needed, not even sure I had too. Replace the boots and slide the piston into the boots and bores. Is it still the same?

[vr4Legacy]

Regardless, I'll make sure to bring this to conclusion. Nothing worse than searching, finding a thread that covers the same topic but has no final answer!!

 

+1 Thank You!!

 

This doesn't pertain to me, but I agree. It's agrevating to hear SEARCH, SEARCH, SEARCH! So you do, then you find countless threads that start asking about a problem and either gets derailed, or just ends.

 

GL finding the correct caliper. I'm sure someone will find this thread in the future and be glad you replied back with your solution.

[mdd]

Wow, I haven't rebuilt a capiler since 1974. I had 2 out of 4 pistons freeze up on my 1970 Duster 340. I worked at a service station at the time and rebuilt the caliper while I was working. It was pretty easy once I pulled the old pistons out.

 

Just clean up the bore with some light sand paper if needed, not even sure I had too. Replace the boots and slide the piston into the boots and bores. Is it still the same?

 

I used compressed air to push the pistons out with a block of wood to absorb the impact. I didn't bother with sandpaper on the bores as there was not any staining.I cleaned up the pistons, and removed the old slide pin grease. Since I had them all apart, I took them to a local guy I know and had them powdercoated while they were apart (only $50 ftw). The only tricky part was positioning the boots correctly (which the .org post I mentioned above does a good job of showing how to do this). The rebuilt calipers work really well, and look really good. Hopefully I won't have to mess with anything but slide pin grease and pads for the rest of the time I have the car. The rebuild kit I bought didn't include the sile pin boots, so i just reused the old ones.

[EZSnow]

I used compressed air to push the pistons out with a block of wood to absorb the impact. I didn't bother with sandpaper on the bores as there was not any staining.I cleaned up the pistons, and removed the old slide pin grease. Since I had them all apart, I took them to a local guy I know and had them powdercoated while they were apart (only $50 ftw). The only tricky part was positioning the boots correctly (which the .org post I mentioned above does a good job of showing how to do this). The rebuilt calipers work really well, and look really good. Hopefully I won't have to mess with anything but slide pin grease and pads for the rest of the time I have the car. The rebuild kit I bought didn't include the sile pin boots, so i just reused the old ones.

Is yours also an early car? (mine is a 06/04 build date) What application did you buy a rebuild kit for?

[EZSnow]

local brake supply house thought they had one coming, turns out they don't, and they don't know how long until there will be one in the system. I went back to o'reilly, and they went through a couple dealers (including the one I was working with) and seem to have found one. They quoted me $89.99+ a $125 core. If the core charge means anything, I'm hoping we've got the right one, and the picture they showed me looked correct. Should be in by 2:00 this afternoon, so I'll find out on the way home from work tonight.

 

Worse comes to worse, the (other) dealer can get me one from Indianapolis by next week sometime, and with our local subie club discount, it's "only" $240... I hope not, but as a last resort, it's there.

[Max Capacity]

Glad to hear your making progress.

 

FWIW, I took my slotted rotors off my 05GT that I bought in Jun 04 and put them on the SpecB last night. I used my C clamp to push the pistons back in and installed Hawk HPS pads.

 

This stuff should be a lot easier for you. Sorry your having a hard time getting the right part.

[EZSnow]

Well, o'reilly came through!!!

 

I stopped to see if they actually had the right part on my way home last night, and to my surprise, they did! I haven't installed it yet, but I spent some time matching everything up, and I can't see a reason it wouldn't. They sourced it from a local metric auto parts warehouse under the centric brand name. Part number is: (drumroll please...)

 

Centric: 141.47042

 

It is a semi-loaded caliper, meaning it includes the caliper, bracket, slide pins and spring clips. It was only a touch under $90, but carried a whopping $125 core charge!!

[vr4Legacy]

congratulations and thanks for posting info back. I am sure someone will find that very useful.

 

Judging by the core charge, Centric has trouble sourcing castings too they wanna make sure they can get another one rebuilt and into someone elses hands.

[BigTDogg MA]

Nice work. Now I'm nervous and gonna check my build date.

[HDTurbo]

Well, o'reilly came through!!!

 

I stopped to see if they actually had the right part on my way home last night, and to my surprise, they did! I haven't installed it yet, but I spent some time matching everything up, and I can't see a reason it wouldn't. They sourced it from a local metric auto parts warehouse under the centric brand name. Part number is: (drumroll please...)

 

Centric: 141.47042

 

It is a semi-loaded caliper, meaning it includes the caliper, bracket, slide pins and spring clips. It was only a touch under $90, but carried a whopping $125 core charge!!

 

I recently replaced my front calipers (passenger side top piston was seized) with 2 reman calipers from "PartsTrain" with a $122 core charge:

 

From my order -

Brake Caliper 2005 Subaru Legacy GT 4 Cyl 2.5L A1 Cardone Brake Caliper Legacy A1 Cardone Price: $ 91.16 Qty: 1.00 Part #: A1193348

 

Brake Caliper 2005 Subaru Legacy GT 4 Cyl 2.5L A1 Cardone Brake Caliper Legacy A1 Cardone Price: $ 91.16 Qty: 1.00 Part #: A1193349

 

Had to be very specific about the car...

[Legend]

Wonder if mine is "early" 05. Doorjam says build date 07/04. Stoptech BBK here so not concerned about stock brake parts, but curious about the "early" thing.

[ObiWanToby]

I have an early 05 as well, caused headaches when I ordered pads and they didn't fit. Found the right part numbers here though!

 

So the early 05's had the "wrong brakes" and a different ECU tune? What am I missing out on?

 

Did my rotors today, bolt heat broke off, after much pain, sourcing other bolts, I got new rotors on. I think I need to lube up my slides though. One side appears to have a 3-5 mm radius in wear pattern.

 

This was my first time doing rotors ever, it was more painful than I wanted it to be Haven't done the backs yet, debating when I should attempt that. A 40 minute job into another 4 hour job sounds horrid.

 

Knowing that I could get a new caliper from Centric is nice though.

[ironchefireland]

Same prob w/ my calipers. My guy tried ordering from 4 different arts houses and all came back too small. Got so sick of hunting these things down that I went to the dealership for new fronts. 3 months later I'm getting a shimmy. At least I know its covered.

[ObiWanToby]

Like I said before, my rotors seem to be wearing uneveningly. My slides seem to move fine, but I suppose I could lubricate them. Would that even cause the issue?

 

Is this normal?

 

http://localhostr.com/files/APRTMCA/IMG_20110713_141205.jpg

 

http://localhostr.com/files/tu4KMug/IMG_20110713_141151.jpg

 

You can see the browner area for one of the rotors is much closer to the edge. This is with new Hawk HPS pads as well (used for around 1000 miles before my rotors were changed). Perhaps since they were bedded on the older rotors, the pads are uneven themselves? I was hoping my new pads alone would fix the the vibration and shimmy issue by cleaning off my rotor, but it didn't, hence why I chose to get new ones.