97 LGT rear brake upgrade

[toyota>subaru]

I know brake upgrades have been overly discussed but...

from my understanding, the front brakes are easy to upgrade by using 02 wrx rotors and caliper brackets.

Now for the rear brakes, I read all about the H6 upgrade which uses the '00 to '04 forester rear rotors and caliper brackets.

Both of these front and rear upgrades use the stock 97 to 99 brake calipers and pads because they are the same part numbers as the forester/wrx calipers and pads.

So is there such a way to use the 2 pots from the front of an LGT on the rear to compliment the larger rotor from the forester?

[Okin DaVanh]

I know brake upgrades have been overly discussed but...

from my understanding, the front brakes are easy to upgrade by using 02 wrx rotors and caliper brackets.

Now for the rear brakes, I read all about the H6 upgrade which uses the '00 to '04 forester rear rotors and caliper brackets.

Both of these front and rear upgrades use the stock 97 to 99 brake calipers and pads because they are the same part numbers as the forester/wrx calipers and pads.

So is there such a way to use the 2 pots from the front of an LGT on the rear to compliment the larger rotor from the forester?

Anything can be done with the right amount of cash. But I'd like to know why? The split on a majority of Leggy's has been 90/10
and that's %90 front braking force, and %10 rear. So the split makes the rear almost non-existent (tho it really does make itself useful) You'd be OK to use the H6 conversion. Unless you have the calipers already (which I'm thinking you do) and have the means of fabricating parts. If you do, please post up your progress and let us know the difference. It would be a first for me.

[toyota>subaru]

No I havent gotten the calipers or anything, it was merely just a thought at this point. I would like to take this car on some extremely steep downhill corners (touge) but I certainly do not want any brake fade!! I think the larger rotor upgrades would be fine but if I could somehow make the 2 pots work in the rear i'd do that.

[StatGSR]

yea.... i wouldn't do that. your brake balance would be crap. if you don't want brake fade, get good pads and put in good fluid. if your really worried, then get 4 pots for the front and the proper 2 pots for the rear (not just taking front 2 pots and putting them on the rear, there is a big difference).

There are many good ways to increase stopping power, shuffling around random calipers is not one of them.

[Huffer]

So is there such a way to use the 2 pots from the front of an LGT on the rear to compliment the larger rotor from the forester?

No. Rear rotors are different to front ones, and the mounting points are different on the caliper bracket.

If you want to upgrade your rear brakes, just buy and install the following:

2x Loaded Calipers for 2004 Legacy
2x Rear rotors for 2004 Legacy

The loaded calipers will come with OEM type pads, and the bigger rear caliper bracket that you'll need.

Hey presto, you now have 11.3" rotors on the rear, and should run 16" wheels to clear them. Actually Subaru 15" should clear too but I'm not 100% on that.

[mike-tracy]

H6 Forester? I wish.

[toyota>subaru]

Yeah sorry I meant to say Outback. The brake balance was something I was trying to figure out with a guy off the forum but we sort of came to that conclusion too.

I tried to call around today to find some caliper brackets off the WRX and I had no luck other than the dealer which is extremely expensive. None of the salvage yards have the vehicle but one yard had a set of 04 wrx calipers and brackets. Any suggestions on finding a set of the 02 brackets?

[mike-tracy]

This is what I rely on for figuring out brake setups:

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... kemath.xls (http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru/techinfo/brakemath.xls)
(the "Brake Torque Calculator" tab at the bottom)

Where'd you read about reusing your front 2-pots with the WRX hardware?
My understanding is you use all WRX stuff on the front,
H6 Rotors & brackets with the updated style caliper (the one that bolts to the bracket with 2 bolts
instead of a bolt and a slider). My rear calipers are from a 98 Forester.

^^That's the path I went at least.

[rougeben83]

This is what I rely on for figuring out brake setups:

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... kemath.xls (http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru/techinfo/brakemath.xls)
(the "Brake Torque Calculator" tab at the bottom)

Where'd you read about reusing your front 2-pots with the WRX hardware?
My understanding is you use all WRX stuff on the front,
H6 Rotors & brackets with the updated style caliper (the one that bolts to the bracket with 2 bolts
instead of a bolt and a slider). My rear calipers are from a 98 Forester.

^^That's the path I went at least.

It depends on what year WRX you're pulling the brakes from. The early 02-03 models used the same caliper as the older BD/BG/GC and just used a bigger caliper, the later models had different caliper designs so you need both caliper and bracket from the wrx donor.

I lucked out and got 02 wrx calipers when I first did this upgrade...I just swapped brackets and didn't even need to remove the brake lines. That's pretty much the only advantage to getting an early WRX one.

[mike-tracy]

I lucked out and got 02 wrx calipers when I first did this upgrade...I just swapped brackets and didn't even need to remove the brake lines. That's pretty much the only advantage to getting an early WRX one.

Hmm, how's the performance pad selection for that year? I helped a guy swap to 4-pots/vented rears and he gave me his stock 04 WRX brackets and calipers with EBC reds, for the work. Too bad the rear pads won't fit my H6 brackets. :(

[toyota>subaru]

This is what I rely on for figuring out brake setups:

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... kemath.xls (http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru/techinfo/brakemath.xls)
(the "Brake Torque Calculator" tab at the bottom)

Where'd you read about reusing your front 2-pots with the WRX hardware?
My understanding is you use all WRX stuff on the front,
H6 Rotors & brackets with the updated style caliper (the one that bolts to the bracket with 2 bolts
instead of a bolt and a slider). My rear calipers are from a 98 Forester.

^^That's the path I went at least.

I read that on one of the threads for brake upgrades in this section. Someone was saying they didn't need to remove their brake lines at all because the 02 wrx and early 03 wrx uses the same two pot calipers as the 97 to 99 LGT, just a 294mm rotor compared to our 277mm rotor.

[Huffer]

Yep, it's the same caliper, but the caliper bracket is a bit different. Hence the "H6" upgrade stuff.

For the rears, the caliper itself mounts the caliper a bit differently, and the rear brake hose is JUST long enough to reach. The fitment is slightly off, but you can still tighten down the hose to the caliper and it still works. It's just not completely flush.

It's not difficult, if you just buy the parts I listed. It becomes hard when people mix and match too many bits and pieces.