Over the last 25 years or so, Subaru has been the top- selling all-wheel-drive car here in the Pacific Northwest. For beachcombers and skiers alike, as well as rock hounds and hikers, having all-wheel drive is a big plus.Stop-and-go commuting, and difficult mountain driving take their toll on both drivers and vehicles. Of all the different systems on a car, the brakes stand out as the most important system to be operational on a consistent basis. In this article, I’ll discuss some of the more common procedures for producing a quality brake job, and hit some highlights to avoid problems.The Legacy series, which Subaru has been carefully developing for almost 20 years, will be the focus of this article. It includes virtually the entire line of Subaru vehicles. From the Impreza to the Forrester, Baja and the Outback, this line is very similar in powertrain and features. The main differences are size, weight, performance and number of options. Even the two-wheel-drive models share most of the mechanical parts of the 4WD models. Except for the Forrester and Impreza, almost all of these cars have four-wheel disc brakes.GETTING BACK TO THE BASICS
Although brake work is pretty much a daily maintenance item for most shops, I’m still amazed at the number of “defects” in repairs that still come into our shop. Without getting specific, there are some basic procedures that a lot of techs still miss or bungle. One of the most basic faults we see, especially with shops that do the bolt-on rebuilt caliper-type of reline, is twisting the flex lines by not repositioning the inner fitting or the hose. Many times we’ve seen very dangerous results of this oversight, when the hose has been rubbed through on the wheel or tire, or kinked to the point where fluid won’t flow. This would seem to be a no-brainer, but it still happens.Caught your interest? Find the rest of this article here.