drums to rotors

[allwheeldriving]

i want to convert rear drums on a 2nd gen legacy wagon from drums to disk. has anyone done this? do i just need the rotor/caliper combo or is there more to it such as brake lines? if you have completed this please let me know what you need and how difficult it was.

[mike-tracy]

Not too bad, here's the writeup I used:

http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/disc/disc.html

Brake lines were the same, for my Impreza I was able to reuse my parking brake, for my Forester I had to use parking brake lines from a car with factory disc brakes.

Speaking of the brake hardware, I just changed my setup, and I have my 1996 Legacy L rear calipers, brackets, used pads and rotors for cheap. Way cheap. (just PM me if you're interested). Only thing else you'll need hardware wise is the rear hubs and potentially the parking brake lines.

-Mike

[allwheeldriving]

so all should need to do is go to the wrecker and look for a legacy model with rear disks and take whatever i can from the strut endlinks to the brake off? also the wording about the parking brake cables confuses me, do i only need to worry about this if i have an impreza? also by backing plates im guessing you mean the dust covers? thanks for the offer on the parts but there is a subaru only wrecker 30 minutes from where i am and i couldnt be bothered with shipping:P

[mike-tracy]

so all should need to do is go to the wrecker and look for a legacy model with rear disks and take whatever i can from the strut endlinks to the brake off? also the wording about the parking brake cables confuses me, do i only need to worry about this if i have an impreza? also by backing plates im guessing you mean the dust covers? thanks for the offer on the parts but there is a subaru only wrecker 30 minutes from where i am and i couldnt be bothered with shipping:P

***In this post I'm referring to 1st&2nd gen legacys & 1st gen Imprezas & Foresters ONLY. I don't know anything about newer models.

Didn't see your post. Just get the complete hub/knuckle/whatever you want to call it off a legacy or impreza, along with the calipers, brackets and rotors. The hubs will have the backing plate attached, unless your junk yard is really motivated.

Note that they all should have the same size rotors, but Legacy wagons, outbacks & GT's (both wagon and sedan) & foresters have bigger rear calipers for more brake torque. This will send braking balance more towards the rear so you should get 2-piston front calipers, brackets & rotors off an outback or GT, if there's any, to retain stock balance. Otherwise just stick to any sedan rear calipers.

Regarding your question about the parking brake line, you'll know right away because the "wrong" one won't physically fit into the new hub/knuckle. I don't know if you'll encounter this at all - I just thought I'd mention it "just in case."

And finally, I can't remember if you need to replace the rubber lines on your car with disc brake specific ones, but 11-14 year old rubber could surely use replacement. That's what I did.