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View Full Version : Brake Upgrade questions - WRX + H6 rears?



Sarra
04-03-2007, 12:34 AM
Okay, I've got a set of WRX front rotors and H6 rear rotors.

I might be getting a set of WRX front calipers, pads, and brackets. They're from an 05, will they fit my BK?

Where the beans does a person find H6 rear calipers, pads, and brackets?

auspex
04-03-2007, 02:05 AM
car-part.com

search for calipers. pick a yard. call 'em. get yer h6 calipers + brackets.

done.

mike

Sarra
04-03-2007, 06:32 PM
And one more question... Will a 2005+ WRX front caliper + bracket fit on my BK, or will I need a 2002/2003/2004 front caliper + bracket setup?

rougeben83
04-03-2007, 11:48 PM
Yes. Just remember to use the right pads.

Sarra
04-04-2007, 04:03 AM
Yes. Just remember to use the right pads.

Cool. If this guy has the front calipers + brackets + pads + brake lines when I get paid next, I'm gonna jump on them then. :D Otherwise, I'll be going up north to a Junkyard...

This upgrade has actually put me out of going to Subiefest, but oh well. Car's not up to that journey atm, I'm also going to be hitting up the junkyards for a new gearbox.

warrior
04-04-2007, 05:48 AM
Hey Sarra,

What year vehicle are you getting the H6 rear calipers from?? I've been contemplating if I should just get new pads/rotors or go with the WRX/H6 swap then get new pads and rotors. I could still use my 16" stock rims with the wrx calipers right?

Sarra
04-04-2007, 06:48 PM
Hey Sarra,

What year vehicle are you getting the H6 rear calipers from?? I've been contemplating if I should just get new pads/rotors or go with the WRX/H6 swap then get new pads and rotors. I could still use my 16" stock rims with the wrx calipers right?

Well, I'm getting the new brakes because, honestly, my stock calipers are gone.

The WRX before 2007 came with 16" wheels, and the outbacks have always used 15 or 16" wheels, until 2007 as well. I'm gonna get front calipers from a 2005 WRX (probably), and rear calipers from probably a 2005 or 2004 Outback. Just remember that all outbacks after like 2003 got the nifty upgraded rear brakes, not just the H6. My mom's 2003 BH Outback has the 290mm rear rotors, my Legacy has 266mm rear rotors. IIRC, 290mm is the largest you can run under 16" wheels...

If I had a set of STi 17" stock wheels, I'd just forget about WRX front's and Outback rears, I'd just get a Brembo 4 pot front and 2 bot rear setup. ;)

warrior
04-05-2007, 07:38 AM
Sweet! And these are all a direct bolt on? Last year my calipers were shot and I'm so stupid.. I spent $100/each on rebuilt ones plus OEM rotors and the shittiest pads ever made :oops:

Sarra
04-06-2007, 01:45 AM
You'll need a can of penetrating grease, wrench, breaker bar, and that should be it...

You pull a wheel, pull the caliper, pull the bracket, remove the rotor. Stick new rotor on, install new bracket, install brake line, install new caliper, and bleed the brakes. Once they're bled, you put the wheel back on and move on.

Well, the rear is more involved, since there is a parking brake back there...

deadlydave
04-06-2007, 02:04 AM
at the risk of sounding off-topic, the brakes on the '07 wrx's, that is the red ones with the white writing that says "subaru" on the sides were the brakes originally on the 22B STi. Those would be cool, but most likely pricey.

Sarra
04-07-2007, 02:18 AM
at the risk of sounding off-topic, the brakes on the '07 wrx's, that is the red ones with the white writing that says "subaru" on the sides were the brakes originally on the 22B STi. Those would be cool, but most likely pricey.

I think you'd need to run 17"s as well. I don't want to be restricted to only running 17-19" wheels, I want to keep my 16"s. eventually, I'll grab some STi gold wheels, and put summer tires on them for my BK, and run winter tires on the WRX wheels.

rougeben83
04-07-2007, 05:32 PM
at the risk of sounding off-topic, the brakes on the '07 wrx's, that is the red ones with the white writing that says "subaru" on the sides were the brakes originally on the 22B STi. Those would be cool, but most likely pricey.

I think you'd need to run 17"s as well. I don't want to be restricted to only running 17-19" wheels, I want to keep my 16"s. eventually, I'll grab some STi gold wheels, and put summer tires on them for my BK, and run winter tires on the WRX wheels.

Those are generally called "4 pots" for the front brakes and 2 pots in the rear.

They use the same size rotors as every other WRX though. Every Group N rally car also runs this setup BTW, for the following reason;

They will fit 16" RS wheels, and a bunch of other 16" rims, and even 15" rally rims. STi guys have been known sell their brembos to change to the 4pot/2pot setup so they can run smaller rims for whatever reason.

warrior
04-15-2007, 11:02 AM
So I was doing some research on cars101.com.

Our Legacy has 10.7" rotors in the fronts whereas the WRX has twin-piston caliper with 11.4" rotors. Big difference in my books.

But in the rears it says the LGT has 10.5" rotors whereas the 2005 Outback has 10.6" rotors with single piston caliper.

The rotor is almost the same size, so is it the actual caliper that has been redesigned to give it better braking? Even a better question.. why do people switch to the H6 rears? I can understand the fronts, but not sure the reason for the rears.

EDIT:

Did some more reasearching and according to cars101.com, only years from 2000 - 2004 Outbacks got the 11.3" rotors in the rear.

Sarra
04-15-2007, 10:24 PM
So I was doing some research on cars101.com.

Our Legacy has 10.7" rotors in the fronts whereas the WRX has twin-piston caliper with 11.4" rotors. Big difference in my books.

But in the rears it says the LGT has 10.5" rotors whereas the 2005 Outback has 10.6" rotors with single piston caliper.

The rotor is almost the same size, so is it the actual caliper that has been redesigned to give it better braking? Even a better question.. why do people switch to the H6 rears? I can understand the fronts, but not sure the reason for the rears.

EDIT:

Did some more reasearching and according to cars101.com, only years from 2000 - 2004 Outbacks got the 11.3" rotors in the rear.

Yeah... It's 266mm stock front/rear for the BE/BH and BD/BK GT.

I've got 290mm front and rear rotors waiting to go on the car right now.

Upgrading from 4 pot to 4 pot... I dunno, I want to just get 290mm rotors on and go with that.

warrior
05-02-2007, 08:34 AM
Hey Sarra,

I got one more question. When you swap out calipers/brackets, does the stock LGT brake line fit right into the new caliper or do you need to change that to the one of the WRX/Outback.

The reason I ask is, I want to get SS brake lines but I would like to know if I would need the WRX lines for the front and Outback ones for the rear, or Legacy ones.

I'm assuming the brake line's banjo bolt is all the same that mount into the calipers.

auspex
05-02-2007, 09:07 AM
i used all my stock lines from my BD when i installed my WRX fronts and they work fine..

mike

rougeben83
05-02-2007, 06:57 PM
Hey Sarra,

I got one more question. When you swap out calipers/brackets, does the stock LGT brake line fit right into the new caliper or do you need to change that to the one of the WRX/Outback.

The reason I ask is, I want to get SS brake lines but I would like to know if I would need the WRX lines for the front and Outback ones for the rear, or Legacy ones.

I'm assuming the brake line's banjo bolt is all the same that mount into the calipers.

WRX/Legacy/RS front lines are all the same the only difference is how they're mounted to the strut. If you use WRX lines you can just ziptie the little tab on the wrx line to the strut mounting location on your Legacy.

03-04 BE GT's got WRX's from brakes. btw

People switch to the H6 upgrade (which is standard on all BE/BH Legacy's not just the H6 outbacks) because it shifts brake bias a little to the rear.

It's an 11.5" non-vented rotor back there.

warrior
05-02-2007, 07:04 PM
Thanks for the info Rouge... I got another question.. why do they call WRX brakes "4 pot" when they are still dual piston?? I'm a little confused on that aspect.. well on cars101.com it says "twin piston"

I always though 4 pot was 4 pistons?!

rougeben83
05-02-2007, 09:18 PM
Thanks for the info Rouge... I got another question.. why do they call WRX brakes "4 pot" when they are still dual piston?? I'm a little confused on that aspect.. well on cars101.com it says "twin piston"

I always though 4 pot was 4 pistons?!

Because that's a different brake setup, originally used on the old STI's, then group N rallycars, now on the 06 WRX.

It's a 4 piston caliper but using the same WRX rotor. It's another step up from regular WRX brakes. It has been paired succesfully with the H6 rear, stock 10.x rears, on top of it's 2 pot rear brake counterpart.

http://www.subiegal.com/thecars/imprezamain/2006imprezars/subaru-impreza-4pot.jpg

Sarra
05-03-2007, 08:36 PM
Maybe I'll sell my H6 rears and get some BREMBO 2 pot rears... I'd have to get some STi wheels though.

Nope, right now, I'm completely broke. I'm gonna have to wait to get the rear calipers/brackets now. I even had to get my car refinanced to pay bills, but I'm also going to work many more hours.

Kraziken
05-04-2007, 01:26 AM
Maybe I'll sell my H6 rears and get some BREMBO 2 pot rears... I'd have to get some STi wheels though.

Nope, right now, I'm completely broke. I'm gonna have to wait to get the rear calipers/brackets now. I even had to get my car refinanced to pay bills, but I'm also going to work many more hours.

You can't go to the Brembo rears unless you change your rear diff to a R180.

The Brembo fronts however, will bolt right up.

warrior
05-04-2007, 02:26 PM
"I have brand new 2002 WRX caliper brackets available. These brackets will allow you to use WRX sized rotors. I am asking $130 for the pair."

$130 for a pair of brackets? Isn't that a little steep?! This is CAN currency.. which is like $110 USD

rougeben83
05-04-2007, 08:44 PM
Check some of the online prices for the brackets. I think subarugenuineparts or some others sell it for around that much.

FWIW, I got my brackets+calipers+EBC greens for $130 USD. I ended up selling the calipers for $50 because I just used my old brackets (didn't want to take the brake lines off).

Check rs25.com or nasioc. People put their stock wrx front brakes up for sale a lot of times for that price (w/ rotors, pads, calipers, etc.).

Sarra
05-05-2007, 03:15 AM
I'm going to try to pickup Front calipers, pads, and brackets for $130. Otherwise, I'll do the junkyard thing.

warrior
05-08-2007, 10:05 AM
I just picked up 2005 WRX calipers, brackets, pads.. the car only has 27k miles on it for $130 + shipping. :cool:

Sarra
05-09-2007, 07:59 PM
Good deal. Slap 'em on and enjoy better brakes.

warrior
05-17-2007, 07:02 PM
Alright.. so I picked up some 2001 Outback calipers/brackets. The calipers aren't in the greatest of shape.. a lot of rust since they were from a junk yard but I got them really cheap. $80 for everything.

The calipers look to be the same size as my stock LGT ones, so do I really need to swap out the calipers or am I ok with just changing the brackets to allow the larger size rotor to fit on?

rougeben83
05-17-2007, 07:15 PM
Alright.. so I picked up some 2001 Outback calipers/brackets. The calipers aren't in the greatest of shape.. a lot of rust since they were from a junk yard but I got them really cheap. $80 for everything.

The calipers look to be the same size as my stock LGT ones, so do I really need to swap out the calipers or am I ok with just changing the brackets to allow the larger size rotor to fit on?

No, you can reuse your calipers, that's what I did with mine. Were you looking for wrx sized front brakes though? IIRC the BH's of that year came with the same size front brakes as the older BD's.

warrior
05-17-2007, 09:27 PM
No, you can reuse your calipers, that's what I did with mine. Were you looking for wrx sized front brakes though? IIRC the BH's of that year came with the same size front brakes as the older BD's.

Yes I was, but I already picked up WRX calipers/brackets off a 2005. They should arrive in the mail tomorrow.

Since I'll be keeping my calipers but using the outback brackets.. will I be getting pads for a 2001 Outback?

rougeben83
05-18-2007, 01:40 AM
No, you can reuse your calipers, that's what I did with mine. Were you looking for wrx sized front brakes though? IIRC the BH's of that year came with the same size front brakes as the older BD's.

Yes I was, but I already picked up WRX calipers/brackets off a 2005. They should arrive in the mail tomorrow.

Since I'll be keeping my calipers but using the outback brackets.. will I be getting pads for a 2001 Outback?

No, you can reuse whatever pads fit your original caliper. You're only moving the caliper further away from the hub to accomodate the bigger rotor.

FYI, Autozone sells generic H6 rotors for like $19/ea apparently, so if you need new rotors, that's the place to get them ;).

Sarra
05-18-2007, 09:23 PM
I thought the WRX front calipers used a different mounting setup?

rougeben83
05-18-2007, 11:51 PM
Check to see which WRX caliper you get. The 02 (up to jun I think) WRX's used the same caliper, but with the different front bracket as the older cars (hence why they share the same brake pad design).

My 03 has the same caliper as the 03+ WRX's. When I got my WRX calipers/bracket assemblies, I found out the calipers were the same, (I just transferred the EBC greens from the wrx to my calipers) and I just transferred my caliper to the wrx bracket to upgrade.

The only real advantage in knowing before hand what wrx calipers and the caliper compatibility you get is it saves you the trouble of unhooking the lines and having to rebleed brake fluid.

Easiest thing to do is just compared the front brake pads that came off your car, and the pads off the wrx brakes you bought (you'll have to do both anyway, and at that point, you can decide to switch the brackets or the whole thing).

warrior
06-16-2007, 07:34 PM
So I took my wheels off to see how everything would mount together. The 2001 Outback rear brackets use a different mounting style than my '99 BD rears so I have to swap out the calipers.

My BD calipers have one bolt and a pivot pin attached to the bracket. The 2001 Outback rears have two bolts that mount the caliper to the bracket.. don't think I can change this around.

I have another question, won't the rear e-brake get effected with the larger rotor??

Sarra
06-17-2007, 12:40 AM
So I took my wheels off to see how everything would mount together. The 2001 Outback rear brackets use a different mounting style than my '99 BD rears so I have to swap out the calipers.

My BD calipers have one bolt and a pivot pin attached to the bracket. The 2001 Outback rears have two bolts that mount the caliper to the bracket.. don't think I can change this around.

I have another question, won't the rear e-brake get effected with the larger rotor??

The parking brake uses a drum. I haven't done my swap yet, so I am not sure how this works yet.

rougeben83
06-17-2007, 04:22 PM
The parking brake uses a drum that's built into the center section of the rear rotor (the hat). It should be the same...

omahasubaru
08-06-2007, 10:16 AM
But in the rears it says the LGT has 10.5" rotors whereas the 2005 Outback has 10.6" rotors with single piston caliper.

You're reading that wrong...

2004 Legacy
L: 10.7" vented front disc, dual caliper piston, 11.3" rear disc.
GT: 11.4" vented front disc, dual caliper piston, 11.3" rear disc.

1998-99 Legacy GT
Front: heavy duty vented 10.7 disc with dual caliper piston,
Rear: 10.5" disc

warrior
08-09-2007, 08:56 AM
you're two months too late on that post.. haha.. I've already got everything sorted out ;)