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06-04-2008, 02:09 AM | #1 |
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Notes on Brake Interchangeability
Is interchangeability a word? I guess so since there's no squiggly red line under it. Anyhoo, while I touched on this stuff in the compiled brake information thread, I thought maybe it couldn't hurt to have it all laid out a little more clearly.
Basically, most Subaru brakes will interchange onto other Subarus. That's very convenient when you want to put bigger brakes on your non-STi Subaru without spending a lot of money. To be extra clear, almost any front caliper will bolt onto any other Subaru. The rear brakes are where things get complicated. When talking about physically bolting the brakes up to another Subaru, there are a few things to be concerned about: 1. Wheel Clearance 2. Rotor bolt pattern 3. Caliper mounting 4. Rear parking brake diameter #1 is pretty simple. If you're putting brembos on your 93 Impreza L, obviously the the tiny stock steelies aren't going to fit. #2 is something you have to be concerned with when installing brembos. The 05+ STi has a 5x114.3 bolt pattern. So while you can bolt the calipers right up other cars, you'll need to use rotors drilled in 5x100, such as those on the 04 sti. The Tribeca and SVX also have a 5x114.3 bolt pattern, while all the other Subarus since 1990 or so are 5x100 (well, except the Justy). #3 comes into play when installing STi brembos or the Subaru 2-pots in the REAR. Any FRONT caliper/bracket will bolt up to the front of any other modern Subaru (except the SVX), but in the rear there are different backing plates. The backing plate is attached to the rear spindles, and is what the calipers bolt to. There are a few different backing plates, and brakes will not interchange between them. The solution is to either switch backing plates or use an adapter bracket. The way to divide up the backing plates is as follows: -Drums -Sliding 1-pot calipers -Fixed 2-pot calipers -new cars - 08+ impreza, 09+ forester, '10+ legacy, which do not have a backing plate. drums Obviously you can't bolt discs up to a drum backing plate since there's nowhere for the caliper to attach. To swap from drums you'll need to remove the brakes, press out the hub, remove the backing plates, and install disc backing plates, parking brakes (also the cables), the hubs (and likely new bearings), and then rotors and calipers. Generally it's easier to find some disc spindles and swap the whole things over. 1-pots For the sliding calipers, almost everything used to be interchangeable. For example, a really popular and worthwhile upgrade for an older WRX is to take the caliper brackets and rotors from an 00-04 Legacy which gets you a 290mm rotor vs 266. This is called the "H6" upgrade. If you have a really old Legacy or Impreza it's also not a bad idea to upgrade to newer parts which gives you a better pad selection. For the 08+ Impreza, the rear suspension changed significantly, and so did the rear upright and brakes. While the not-STi still uses a sliding 1-pot caliper, the spacing from where it mounts to where the rotor is changed. This means you can't really retrofit older brakes onto them. This isn't that terrible because the 08+ rotor is a fairly good size at 286mm, so you basically already have the "H6" upgrade. There is also now a bracket to use the older 2-pots or brembos with the 08+ hubs. 2-pots To bolt a 2-pot rear caliper to a 1-pot car, you'll need to install either the 2-pot backing plates which is the same process I mentioned for drums, or you can purchase some adapter brackets. KNSbrakes and Kartboy make conversion brackets to attach either the Subaru 2-pots or 04-07 Brembos to the rear of most any other Subaru (even the 08+). I should note that some of the older WRX 2-pot rear adapters do not work with Brembo 2-pot rear calipers even though the mounting is the same between them. If you want to swap rear brembos for the 2-pots, or vice-versa, no bracket is required. Sti brembos will bolt right up to an 06-07 WRX, and the rear 2-pots will bolt right up to an 04-07 STi. If, for some reason, you wanted some sliding calipers on your 2-pot car, you're out of luck. No bracket exists so you'll have to pull off the spindles and swap backing plates. When it comes to STi Brembos, there's another little issue that arises when switching brakes and that is the rear parking brake. The STi, along with a few non-US models (and the 08+), has a larger 190mm parking brake drum (compared to 170mm on everything else). That means if you were to pick up some rear STi brembo calipers and rotors and put them on your non-sti, the parking brake wouldn't work because there's a 10mm gap between the drum and the shoes. It also means if, for rally purposes perhaps, you wanted some Subaru 2-pots on your STi, the rotors wouldn't fit over the parking brake. Thankfully there's a solution for each situation. Subaru took care of the Brembo -> 2-pot swap because the 2-pots are (were) the group N rally-spec brakes. So they make rotors that work with the 2-pots but fit over STi parking brakes, in both 5x100 and 5x114.3. You can get them from rally shops such as Rallispec or Rocket Rally. I believe KNS brakes also offers a version of this rotor now which is less expensive than the group n parts. To make rear brembos work on a 170mm parking brake car, there are a couple of solutions. The best one is the DBA 2657 rotor. It's a brembo-sized rotor, drilled for 5x100, with a 170mm parking brake hat. This is a new thing that was produced specifically to go with the WRXBrakes Brembo adapter brackets, so be sure to thank Tom and DBASteve and Ken at WRXbrakes for getting together on that. Before then, the solution was to either swap to a bigger parking brake, get some spacers made to fit in the rotor hat, or buy some taller parking brake shoes. Godspeed in the UK makes taller shoes, and adapter brackets. Brembo also makes adapter brackets and rotors, that just use an insert in a standard sti rotor. I think you can only get the brackets with the brembo rear kit for the wrx. And that is a way more expensive option that swapping on some used stock brakes with a bracket. Can I put front brakes on the rear? No, as in not a chance. Don't try. Don't post a thread asking about it. What happens to my brake bias? If you have a 93 impreza and put on some front brembos, you might think that there would be a big increase in braking force. You would be right, and it would only be on the front wheels. That results in the front doing all the work, the rear doing nothing, and can actually increase your stopping distance. If you are swapping brakes around, take a look at this spreadsheet: http://www.main.experiencetherave.co.../brakemath.xls courtesy of Legacy777 Ideally you want to keep the bias where it was or go rearward a small amount (why the H6 upgrade is so popular). a little more about new cars For 2008, the Impreza has a whole different thing going on in the rear. While the front brakes are still the same, the rear suspension, spindles, and caliper mounting changed on regular Imprezas, the WRX, and the STi. Instead of a backing plate, the calipers mount to the spindle just like the front. Because of this, the calipers are different. The bolt spacing is actually the same as older 1-pot calipers, on both the WRX and STi. Another thing to note is that the 08 WRX has the same larger 190mm parking brake hat as the STi. So yes, it is possible to put 08 sti rear calipers on an 08+ wrx and it happens to be very easy. All you need is any set of front brembos, 08+ sti rear brembo calipers, and rotors drilled for 5x100. You can use 04 sti front rotors, but 04 sti rear rotors won't work and they have to be for an 08+ STi. Pretty much any machine shop will be able to re-drill the rotors for a nominal charge. What's even more convenient is that DBA dual drills their STi rotors in 5x100 and 5x114 and WRXbrakes does it in house to less expensive centric blank rotors. This will only work with 08+ sti rear calipers and re-drilled 08+ STi rear rotors because the mounting on the calipers changed as did the rotor hat offset. If you were to attempt to use an 04 sti rotor, it would not line up with the caliper. The DBA rotor part numbers are 4654 front and 42656 rear. Anything dual drilled will have the part number end with -10. For example, DBA42656XS-10 is the dual drilled rear rotor that would be good to use for this swap. The 09+ Forester, 2010+ Legacy, and BRZ/FT86/FRS also has the same rear upright and brake setup, so all this should apply to them as well. If you wanted to put 08 sti rear calipers on an older 1-pot cars, they would bolt to the backing plate, but there is no rotor that will currently work. The DBA rotor would not line up with the caliper. The actual difference in offset is something I don't currently know, and I'm not sure if even an 08 sti rotor re-drilled would line up properly (parking brake issues aside). It could end up interfering with the backing plate. This is something I always meant to try but never got around to. It would make some upgrades and swaps easier. Exceptions to the rules -If you want to put smaller brakes on an 05+ STi, you can't just take a regular wrx front rotor, re-drill it, and bolt it on. The rotor hat will not fit over the hub. Subaru make special rotors to do this. On that note, out of other Subaru brakes, ONLY the 4-pots will fit with STi hubs. The caliper bracket for a 2-pot won't clear the hat on the special rotor. -If you have an SVX, the front brakes are different and don't interchange. Rears are H-6 sized, but get that added rotor size at the upright and not from the bracket. You should be able to bolt on newer 1-pot rear brackets and calipers if you were looking for replacement parts but there isn't really an upgrade that works. NEW: stuff about the BRZ The BRZ uses the same rear suspension as the current Impreza/Legacy. The front brakes are standard 2-pot WRX, and the rears are from the 2010 LGT. So, putting Brembos on (something Greddy has already done), is the same as for the 08+ WRX- you take the STI caliper, redrill the rotor, and it bolts right up. EDIT: because of the differential bore sizes and location of the fluid crossover in the caliper, you CAN NOT put sti brembos on the front of the BRZ/FRS. Subaru 4-pots will work fine swapped left to right.
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Last edited by jamal; 03-05-2017 at 02:34 PM. |
06-04-2008, 09:17 AM | #2 |
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This is great information and helped me very much, thank you for taking the time for this!
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06-04-2008, 10:06 AM | #3 |
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Added to the supersticky.
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06-16-2008, 03:36 PM | #4 |
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Who do i contact to order a bracket to out the 2 pot brakes on the rear of my 2000 2.5 rs
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06-24-2008, 10:49 AM | #5 |
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funny that you mentioned a 93 Impreza, cause thats what I'm driving right now; I want to put larger brakes on the front, I was hoping to source the parts used from a legacy/impreza from the heavier years so I can get a decent setup for a decent price; what am I going to need? I know I'll need calipers, brackets & rotors, but what else? thanks
currently - 242x16mm front disc, non abs; i was hoping to use the 276x24mm from the 2.5rs or 294x24mm wrx front setup; I have a set of 17" wheels so clearance won't be an issue until the winter (I run the 13" steelies with studs in the winter) but I can get my hands on 16" aluminum wheels fairly easily... Last edited by Sid03SVT; 06-24-2008 at 11:02 AM. Reason: rotor sizes |
09-26-2008, 02:47 PM | #6 |
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Will '04 STi rotors have any fitment issues on an 04 wrx?
No problem w/ the hub size - both 5x100. Problem w/ the caliper clip? STi rotors are thicker - so this means that the regular WRX caliper+bracket wouldn't fit over it, right? |
09-26-2008, 02:56 PM | #7 |
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Pretty sure STI rotors won't work with WRX brake caliper or brackets. As you point out there's an 8mm difference in width of the rotor and it's taller than the WRX rotor by a fairish amount.
STI rotors are closer to Legacy GT rotors at 30mm thick. I believe the STI rotors are about 1/2" taller than the LGT rotors even. LGT rotors with LGT/Tribeca calipers and brackets are the hot ticket for front brakes. Just a little less capable than brembo's. It's a straight bolt on too. LGT brakes will kill the subaru 4 pots or standard 2 pot brakes. That's what I had on my car till...yesterday when I installed Brembo's. |
02-10-2009, 11:03 PM | #8 |
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Would the Legacy GT rear spindles/front set up be the best bet for my 2000 OBS (I have rear drums).
Sorry revive what might be an old thread. |
03-19-2009, 10:05 PM | #9 |
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does anybody know if the 06 wrx brakes will fit my 02??? of course the 06 comes with 4 pot at the front and 2 pot at the back....let me know PM me!!!
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03-19-2009, 10:15 PM | #10 |
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03-20-2009, 10:35 AM | #11 |
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you're exactly right I'm not....so if you know it just tell me don't waste your time replying with a smart ass comment
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03-20-2009, 10:47 AM | #12 | |
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03-20-2009, 03:26 PM | #13 |
Street's closed, pizza boy
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You're too nice.
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03-25-2009, 01:36 PM | #14 |
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if i buy all the calipers off a 06 sti, besides 5x100 rotors what else do i need as far as geting them to bolt up to my 04 wrx i know about the parking brake but how do they bolt up will the stock caliper "bracket" hold the new ones.
please PM me. |
03-25-2009, 02:02 PM | #15 | |
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03-27-2009, 04:01 PM | #16 |
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so just to make it clear. i have 04 brambos pads and rotors going on my 06 wrx. Everything is straight swap over since i am 06? including the ebrake?
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03-27-2009, 06:06 PM | #17 |
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Oh, so I took a closer look at the rear of an 08 sti today and compared it to a 1-pot rear caliper bracket I have. The bolt holes have the same spacing so it's looking like it might be possible to just bolt an 08 sti brembo right up to the rear of an older 1-pot car. Not sure if the radial spacing and rotor hat offset are the same but I would expect them to be.
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04-30-2009, 06:41 AM | #18 |
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Thanks for the effort you put into this thread, I read thru, there is no info about 2000 STI with original subaru calipers. I own a JDM STI V7 wagon, the brakes are not brembo, I dont know why. I want to get V8 brembo kit for it. Can I fit it into my ride? BTW, my front rotor size is 24 x 294mm, rear is 10 x 266mm. Thanks.
Last edited by STIJDM; 04-30-2009 at 06:49 AM. |
04-30-2009, 06:53 AM | #19 |
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The sti wagons didn't get brembos. But the rules listed above still apply. Sure your rear rotors are 266x10? I'd expect you to have the subaru 4/2-pots.
Last edited by jamal; 04-30-2009 at 07:20 AM. |
04-30-2009, 09:38 PM | #20 | |
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Quote:
It should be 2 pots, right? |
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05-04-2009, 11:54 AM | #21 |
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im trying to buy a wilwood brake kit for my 98rs, the kit is for an 03 wrx, and i was pretty sure that they are direct swap correct? just curious if i would need anything other than the rotors, calipers, pads, and brake lines. such as new mounting brackets or e-brake for rear? Also would I be able to fit these under the stock 2.5rs rims? I tried searching with no definitive results......any help greatly appreciated.( The kit is 4pot front and rears)
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05-05-2009, 01:28 AM | #22 | |
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Quote:
I ordered the big brake kit from subaruparts.com for my 00 RS and specifically requested 4 fronts and 2 rears. Instead, I got the 4 fronts and sliders in the back. By the time I made it back in town, my shop had the car all put together and I needed a car. /rant |
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07-15-2009, 06:18 PM | #23 | |
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Quote:
http://offroadingsubarus.com/rear_disc_conversion.html that says all I'd need is the backing plate, not the hub assembly. Now if the 08s don't have a backing plate, then what do I need? The spindle? Would that require buying less parts than the hub assembly (they're not one and the same are they)? There's finally an 08 Wagon in the part-out section right now, but if there are only a few parts I need that I can get from the dealership (like the caliper brackets) then I'll just do that. So if somebody could help me understand asap I'd really appreciate it. |
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07-15-2009, 08:55 PM | #24 |
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the spindle/upright/knuckle is the big cast piece that all the suspension links bolt to. The hub is the part that the wheel actually bolts to. And of course there's a wheel bearing and axle in there too.
To put rear discs on your 08, I would expect you need to swap the uprights entirely. I haven't been under a rear drum 08 but I'm assuming that it doesn't have the provisions to bolt up a caliper. |
07-15-2009, 09:33 PM | #25 |
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I haven't looked back to see if the mounting holes and what not are there, but would you say I'm better off getting the uprights from the dealership or off a part-out?
Thanks BTW. |
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