How hard is it do replace the brakes?

I'm pretty braindead mechanically and I do my own brakes. I don't do them _as_right_ as some here do, but then again, I don't think my local garage would either.

You will need something to compress the piston with. A C clamp and a block of wood will do.

I basically remove the wheel (after safely jacking) then removed the lower caliper bolt, flip up the caliper assembly, pull out the brake pads, compress the piston in the caliper (since new pads will be thicker). If the old brake shims are shot, you'll need new ones...and they seem to be hard to find anywhere but the subaru dealer--may as well get a factory pad set if you don't mind the price, pop the new pads in, flip down the caliper, put the bolt back in then be sure to pump the brakes a few times when you restart it because you could have a heart attack otherwise. :-)

The part I don't do that others strongly advise is to bleed off the crufty fluid at the end of the brake line. That involves opening a bleed valve, and needing some toys to make sure you don't suck air into your brake line. Thta's really important to avoid because air is quite compressible and if there's any in your brake line, it might cause brake failure. To wit, you step on the pedal and becaus the air compresses, no fluid gets to your brake calipers to tell them to stop the car!

So, tread carefully whenever opening the brakelines for any reason. I've been too much of a wuss to do it myself yet. But then i'm risking dirty fluid and what it might do to corrode my brake system.

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.