I think my brakes have seized

[kPATm]

Hello.Just recently I have had a squeeling sound coming from both my rear wheels a low speed so I took both wheels of a rotated the disk manually and indeed there is a squeeling sound.The pads on both are fine.Should the wheels rotate freely as they are quite stiff to move?If they should what should I do.Could it be the handbrake is maybe to tight.In the car the hand brake seems fine not to tight or loose?Thanks

[warrior]

Well.. since our cars are AWD, and even in neutral they won't rotate freely because they're still turning the rear diff and parts inside the tranny.

A good way to tell if your calipers are seized it to simply take them off, and see if the slider pins move freely. If you got your tire off, then two bolts on the back of each caliper to remove and you can check.

If the slide bolts do not move freely, back and fourth, then you can take them out.. clean them up with a wire brush and if rusty, use some light grit sandpaper then grease them up with brake grease or any other high temperature grease.. wheel bearing grease works too. Doing this is called "servicing" your brakes and should be done more so than most people do it.. it never hurt.

The squealing can be natural as depending on your pad manufacturing; there might be a hard spot in the pad. Slider pins will tell you for sure or if you see a lot of brake dust on the rims, thats another sign of seized brakes :)

[kPATm]

Well I had a look at the front caliper earlier today and whilst removing the slider bolts I sheered BOTH of them off(what a tit) so I have just ordered replacement bolts from my local main stealer.After the little mishap I inspected the calipers and the seals also seem to be in bad condition so I was thinking of getting a refurb kit like this

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Subaru-Impreza-Le ... 48379e2323 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Subaru-Impreza-Legacy-brake-caliper-repair-kit-4338_W0QQitemZ310170755875QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item48379e2323)

But I have just come across these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Subaru-Impreza-le ... 3cab11719d (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Subaru-Impreza-legacy-2pot-front-calipers-NEW-L-K_W0QQitemZ260568084893QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item3cab11719d)

would they fit my car?

I really am desperate as the cars lying at my work place now as obviously I cannot drive it like it is.Thanks

[mike-tracy]

They will fit if you get the matching rotors to these calipers. Thing about just upgrading the front brakes only is that your braking system won't be in balance any more. These might make your car's front end lock up much easier, or have less pedal feel, or too much feel (hard). There are things you can do (well documented on this site) such as replacing the proportioning valve or part of the master cylinder, but ideally you should get the matching rears as well.

[Sarra]

If you seized both rear brakes, your car wouldn't move.

I'd suggest you check and make sure that there isn't anything rubbing, or you aren't hearing the squealers. How much pad do you have left in the rears? Almost nothing? You're hearing the tattlers (squealers) then. Especially if it squeals until you touch the brakes, then you know you need new pads.

As for upgrades. It depends on what you do. That rebuild kit contains parts you won't use, though, unless you plan on removing your master cylinder and rebuilding it. You also won't need to replace your caliper seals unless they are pissing everywhere.

As far as upgrading your front brakes... That's up to you. They come with brackets, so they should bolt up to your car with no issue there. As far as proportioning, I doubt that will be a huge issue. If you do have an issue with pedal feel, you can swap in a master cylinder from a car equipped with those front calipers and it should fix your issue, or you can monkey with the proportioning valve(s).

[kPATm]

would these calipers do for the rear?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... TQ:GB:1123 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160424072645&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123)

[mike-tracy]

Subaru single pot rear calipers are interchangeable (with the correct rotors), and since they come with the brackets it's a bolt on affair. You'll need to call up a car parts store to find what rotors your car & these take - it's very possible they're the same, unless the 95 WRX got vented or larger rotors (some of the earliest WRXs did).

[Sarra]

Now, I'm not sure how true that is. My 1998 LGT had the same size rear brakes as my WRX does, but it had one bolt and one pin, where as my WRX has two bolt style calipers.

I'm talking about how the Caliper bolts to the bracket.

[mike-tracy]

Right, that's what I meant - they need the bracket.

[kPATm]

Yep you are both right the calipers came with the bracket attached.Now the guy I bought them off also threw in the discs for nothing and they are the same disc that I currenly have on my GX so I presumed they will fit.BUT the bolt on the bracket(that secures it to the hub I suppose) has a smaller head diameter than the one thats on my car so I dont see how it could fit??

[Sarra]

Yep you are both right the calipers came with the bracket attached.Now the guy I bought them off also threw in the discs for nothing and they are the same disc that I currenly have on my GX so I presumed they will fit.BUT the bolt on the bracket(that secures it to the hub I suppose) has a smaller head diameter than the one thats on my car so I dont see how it could fit??

Are you talking about the head, where the socket fits, or the shaft of the bolt, where the threads are?

I can only see two (maybe three) reasons for the brackets not bolting up to the hubs easily:

1) The holes in the brackets are too small for the bolts to fit, and the new brackets have smaller bolts (IE, the threaded part is thinner)

2) The holes in the brackets are closer/further apart

If it's #1 above, then you simply use the bolts that you currently have on your stock brackets, take your new brackets, and bore out the holes where bolts go through. I suppose the brackets could be thicker, then you just get longer bolts.

Or are you talking about where the caliper bolts up to the bracket? If that's different, you need to have calipers that match the brackets... As far as I know, Subaru has used two styles. I think I can get some pics this weekend using my camera, just gotta make sure it's okay for me to pull off a rear wheel and brake caliper from our Outback.

In fact, if you can wait for the weekend, I'll get some pics of some front brake brackets, and circle the mounting points, and you can respond in thread with where you're having your problem, so we can all understand better.

THANK GOD Subaru didn't use the retarded 4 pot setup that Toyota used on some of their pickups.

[kPATm]

That would be a great help Sarra.I would get a pic up of the caliper & brackets I got yesterday but my camera is rubbish.But I could try.Give me a wee bit and I'll try and get some up

[kPATm]

Sorry but I dont have a pick of the original setup on the car as I cant get them off but I would imagine that if the head diameter is smaller then the threaded part of the bolt would be to??

[Sarra]

Oh that's an easy fix.

Pull the bolts out that won't work, go to a local store that has hardware (like bolts), and get a bolt that has a head that is large enough, that has the same thread, and make sure that it has the same ratings on the head of the bolt, if there are any. Poke it in, and go for it.

[kPATm]

Thats the thing.I recently replaced the carrier bolts on the front of the car and I couldnt find replacements ANY where.I had to get them from my "local" dealer 30 miles away.Im slightly confused on this thow.If the bolt in the picture is smaller than the one I have in the car then obviously the whole in the hub where the carrier attaches on my car will be to big for this size bolt?Wish I could get the bloody bolt out to see for my self.