Replacing rear Brakes

usually, a piece of cake....pick up a haines book for your year...$15...look at it

then make up your mind....usually about an hour job...$30 for shoes...auto zone,,napa

your need metric sockets..an impact wrench is handy... a jack and some blocks..to lower it down on before you start tuggin a 4-6 inch clamp to compress the caliper to allow room for the new shoes a piece of wire to hang the caliper on so you don't break the brake line...

better yet...get your buddy over to do 'em

don't work on the car with just a jack!..lower it down on some good solid blocking

use you head and be careful

Don't sand the calipers...they hold the piston and press on the new shoes...ED, i think what you mean is to lightly sand the rotors. The rotor is the big shiny disc that the pads press on. If the rotors are deeply grooved then you may have to replace those.or the pads will wear out faster....aftermarked $40 a set for rotors

just be careful with that jack...lower the car down on some good blocking after removing the wheel

Is this for he '95 Legacy or your Car? I have a '95 Legacy. Went to the dealer and was told all shoes needed to be replaced. I bit the bullet and bought OEM. Cost was more but there have been no noise. I also went to do the rear and after 114K miles, they were still more than 50%. This was the second time the front have been done. Remember, the fronts do most of the work stopping the car. If you have been following the NewsGroups, as I know you have, there was another Sub Owner who went with NAPA shoes and has a lot of noise. SO, as they say, pay me now, or payme later... I did my job real easily. As has been said the Haynes Manual has a real good proceedure. Lots of good pictures. Worth the $15-20. I stripped a LUG STUD and had to buy a new Stud and Nut. Even this was no roblem. AND if the rotors need to be replaced they just pull right off. No need to mess with wheel bearings, like on my '84 Mercedes...What a pain...

Bill

Thanks for the great advice. Actually this is for my `01 Outback Wagon. The `95 Legacy is my mom's Subaru that I'm also working on when minor things come up. I definately heavily refer to these newsgroups for both vehicles. I will definately purchase me a Hayne's manual.

When it comes to the brakes, outside of looking at them, is there any official way to tell on average how much they are worn? Is there a guage to measure milimeter thickness of the rotors to know that they are worn down? Or if they are heavily grooved? I first off want to make sure they do need replacing before repacing them.

You bring up a good concern that I was about to mention regarding the NAPA shoes. I know the one subaru mechanic I trust said that certain brands of pads/shoes/rotors cause lots of brake dust and cause lost of high pitches squeaking noise when stopping. This happened on my mom's `95 Legacy several years ago when a local mechanic put a name brand pad/shoe/rotor on. Everytime I drove her car I dare not step on the brakes unless I want to have everyone in a mile radius stare at me. Although it didn't affect the quality of braking.

There are definately no pulsating brakes. First of all i want to verify that they are still good. The only thing I have remotely noticed is that sometimes on a steeper grade, I may have to press a bit harder and hold slightly longer to slow down compared to 6months ago. There is no shimming, pulsating, or vibrating coming from any brakes.

So 2 hours just for the sanding of the rotors? What grit sandpaper?

Does anyone have the ISBN # for the haynes manual for 2000 and newer Subaru Outbacks? I checked Amazon and other online outlets and the only Haynes Manual they have is the one for the 1990-1998 Subaru Legacy series.

There are no aftermarket manuals for your car. The only source is direct from Subaru. You can get the print version of the manuals but they're expensive, or you can go to the Subaru tech website at

and sign up for the 72 hoursubscription. It costs $34.95 and allows you to download whateversections of the manual you need in individual files. It is a bit of apain as there are many files and there's a 20-file-per-hour limit. Butit's a very good deal. You can also get TSBs that apply to your car. Just be sure to do this with a broadband connection, it won't work outtoo well with dialup.

Is it fairly safe to assume that the 2000-2004 Outbacks where nearly identical in regards to their service manuals? I'm not seeing but a few

2001 Service manuals (most in book form) but also `00, `02, `03, and `04 manuals as well in CD form.

Actually you can purchase a 1 year subscription to the ALLDATA manual set (very complete) at

Its great!!

DMR

snipped-for-privacy@x.files wrote:

The CDs you'll see on Ebay are unauthorized copies people are making and selling, and most of those are for the WRX. I'd suggest spending a few more $ and going to the source, you'll know it's the right manual for your car with the latest updates.

Hope this helps. Haynes site shows a listing for a joint Impreza/Legacy manual to be released this month. Have a look here:

BTW, I *think* Ed probably meant allow two hours for the whole job first time you have to do it. It's all pretty quick and easy with practice BUT safety first and make sure you understand what you read *before* you find out you didn't! (Gee we've all made some expensive mistakes learning that one haven't we???) Goes without saying that brakes are something you have to get right first time. Rotors should be fine - especially rears - unless you've been driving round on worn out noisy brake pads for a while. You'd probably know! Have fun. Cheers

One interesting note. I did a search for that ISBN # on amazon, only to turn up the Chilton manual for `00-`06 Subaru Outback/Legacy & Forrester models (paperback). Is amazon selling the same book that hasn't been published yet with the same ISBN # as another book or what?