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  #1  
Old 05-29-2009, 10:21 PM
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Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

So I pulled off one of my front calipers the other day and the boots around the pistons were starting to come apart. I was thinking of rebuilding the calipers but then checked Autozone and saw they have reman calipers that feature "100% New Boot, Seal & Bleeder Screw, New Mounting Hardware, Pistons Always Match The Oem Part, Featuring Anti-Seize Components, 100% Tested " for $64 each. Is this something to consider or should I stay away from these?
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Kool Blue air filter, 4500k HID's, airbox mod, Hella horns, WRX 6 disc stereo, Infinity Reference and Clarion Pro Audio speakers, Infinity basslink sub, ECUtune Stage 1v5, ECUtune TCU, Power mode mod, Mad muffler mod v1.3
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  #2  
Old 05-29-2009, 10:27 PM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

Well you may spend about $50 total or so for F/R rebuild kits. But it you see any pitting or rust on the outside wall of the pistons or to much rust on the inside lip of the caliper then I would go rebuilt.
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94' Barcelona Red w/ Tricoat black 2-tone AWD Ls -Sold
Mods:AWD conversion/4.44 swap by Budfreak, Custom red interior lights, Custom Satin black dash, Power mode switch, Cold air intake, Permecool tranny filter,Sony xplode 10" sub, Sony xplode 1000w amp, Blitz in-line driver, DDM Tuning 6000k HID's, New paint job/body work by me, 97' Grill, QC shift kit, 17'' MB Motoring rims, 15&20 min mod, front & rear urethane swaybar bushings, Custom fiberglass sub box, Custom red led a/c control unit, perrin lightweight crank pulley, Black wrinkle finish powdercoated intake manifold w/ clear hoses , 02' outback heated/power black leather seats
Soon to come:Fiberglass hood, upholster ALL suede to black leather
Past subies:

92' Pearl White/black top LS-L-SOLD
96' Legacy Outback-TOTALED
99' Legacy Outback Limited 30th anniversary edition-TOTALED
98' Forester L -Totaled
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99' Forester S -WRX brake upgrade, soon an 04 wrx motor swap
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  #3  
Old 05-29-2009, 10:48 PM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

I priced out the kits and it came to about $60. The pistons on the caliper I pulled off were pretty rusty on the inside. The car just turned 126k and I've never done any brake work to it since I've owned it(95k). Not sure what the previous owner had done.
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1997 Boudreaux LSi
1994 SVX LSi(SOLD)
Kool Blue air filter, 4500k HID's, airbox mod, Hella horns, WRX 6 disc stereo, Infinity Reference and Clarion Pro Audio speakers, Infinity basslink sub, ECUtune Stage 1v5, ECUtune TCU, Power mode mod, Mad muffler mod v1.3
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  #4  
Old 05-30-2009, 03:00 AM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

I got a pair of loaded front remans from Autozone for $92 plus a $95 core charge. They included ceramic pads as well. Morse part #P1960 on the AZ website.

With a set of remanufactured calipers + pads costing less than $100, it simply doesn't make sense to rebuild original 14 year old calipers with 126k miles on them, IMO. By the time you pay for all of the parts you'll need for the rebuild and a quality set of pads, you'll probably spend more than that - and still have crappy old calipers to show for it. Not to mention all the extra work it takes to rebuild rather than replace.

That said, I do wish I'd sent my new ones out to be powdercoated before installing them. They have surface rust already.
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  #5  
Old 05-30-2009, 07:18 AM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Black88GTA View Post
I got a pair of loaded front remans from Autozone for $92 plus a $95 core charge. They included ceramic pads as well. Morse part #P1960 on the AZ website.
I just checked those out and noticed the front has ceramic and the rears come with semi-metallic. Is the caliper made by Morse or Fenco?
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1997 Boudreaux LSi
1994 SVX LSi(SOLD)
Kool Blue air filter, 4500k HID's, airbox mod, Hella horns, WRX 6 disc stereo, Infinity Reference and Clarion Pro Audio speakers, Infinity basslink sub, ECUtune Stage 1v5, ECUtune TCU, Power mode mod, Mad muffler mod v1.3
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  #6  
Old 05-30-2009, 10:03 AM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

Rust on the inside of the piston will not hurt it just rust on the outside.
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94' Barcelona Red w/ Tricoat black 2-tone AWD Ls -Sold
Mods:AWD conversion/4.44 swap by Budfreak, Custom red interior lights, Custom Satin black dash, Power mode switch, Cold air intake, Permecool tranny filter,Sony xplode 10" sub, Sony xplode 1000w amp, Blitz in-line driver, DDM Tuning 6000k HID's, New paint job/body work by me, 97' Grill, QC shift kit, 17'' MB Motoring rims, 15&20 min mod, front & rear urethane swaybar bushings, Custom fiberglass sub box, Custom red led a/c control unit, perrin lightweight crank pulley, Black wrinkle finish powdercoated intake manifold w/ clear hoses , 02' outback heated/power black leather seats
Soon to come:Fiberglass hood, upholster ALL suede to black leather
Past subies:

92' Pearl White/black top LS-L-SOLD
96' Legacy Outback-TOTALED
99' Legacy Outback Limited 30th anniversary edition-TOTALED
98' Forester L -Totaled
Other toys:
99' Forester S -WRX brake upgrade, soon an 04 wrx motor swap
06' B9 Tribeca-Stock
1982' Yamaha xj650 Maxim
Mods:
work in progress
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  #7  
Old 05-30-2009, 10:15 AM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

Quote:
Originally Posted by svxash View Post
I just checked those out and noticed the front has ceramic and the rears come with semi-metallic. Is the caliper made by Morse or Fenco?
Mine were Morse. I took some pics...
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  #8  
Old 05-30-2009, 01:48 PM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

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Originally Posted by Black88GTA View Post
Mine were Morse. I took some pics...
I re-read your reply and noticed the pair price. For that price it's a great deal considering the ceramic pads are included.
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1997 Boudreaux LSi
1994 SVX LSi(SOLD)
Kool Blue air filter, 4500k HID's, airbox mod, Hella horns, WRX 6 disc stereo, Infinity Reference and Clarion Pro Audio speakers, Infinity basslink sub, ECUtune Stage 1v5, ECUtune TCU, Power mode mod, Mad muffler mod v1.3
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  #9  
Old 05-30-2009, 04:03 PM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

Hi,
I rebuilt the front calipers with a kit from Subaru. Cost was $35.00 for a kit for 2 front calipers from Liberty Subaru in NJ., with the SVXWN discount. It took about an hour each. Very difficult to get the external seal seated properly. I wouldn't do it again, now that I know remanufactured are available for such a reasonable price.
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  #10  
Old 06-05-2009, 09:09 PM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

is there an OEM caliper rebuilt kit offered by Subaru? Usually a kit consists of: rubber boots, snap rings (if applicable), packets of grease and various rubber seals.
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  #11  
Old 06-05-2009, 10:18 PM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

Yes Subaru sells a rebuild kit for the front and rear calipers.
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Seth
94' Barcelona Red w/ Tricoat black 2-tone AWD Ls -Sold
Mods:AWD conversion/4.44 swap by Budfreak, Custom red interior lights, Custom Satin black dash, Power mode switch, Cold air intake, Permecool tranny filter,Sony xplode 10" sub, Sony xplode 1000w amp, Blitz in-line driver, DDM Tuning 6000k HID's, New paint job/body work by me, 97' Grill, QC shift kit, 17'' MB Motoring rims, 15&20 min mod, front & rear urethane swaybar bushings, Custom fiberglass sub box, Custom red led a/c control unit, perrin lightweight crank pulley, Black wrinkle finish powdercoated intake manifold w/ clear hoses , 02' outback heated/power black leather seats
Soon to come:Fiberglass hood, upholster ALL suede to black leather
Past subies:

92' Pearl White/black top LS-L-SOLD
96' Legacy Outback-TOTALED
99' Legacy Outback Limited 30th anniversary edition-TOTALED
98' Forester L -Totaled
Other toys:
99' Forester S -WRX brake upgrade, soon an 04 wrx motor swap
06' B9 Tribeca-Stock
1982' Yamaha xj650 Maxim
Mods:
work in progress
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  #12  
Old 06-07-2009, 07:15 AM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

Well I bought the Morse ones and picked them up yesterday. I'm out of town now but will install them Mon or Tue. I'm also going to paint them silver before I install them.
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1997 Boudreaux LSi
1994 SVX LSi(SOLD)
Kool Blue air filter, 4500k HID's, airbox mod, Hella horns, WRX 6 disc stereo, Infinity Reference and Clarion Pro Audio speakers, Infinity basslink sub, ECUtune Stage 1v5, ECUtune TCU, Power mode mod, Mad muffler mod v1.3
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  #13  
Old 06-07-2009, 11:55 AM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

I've rebuilt mine a few times, but remans is the way to go. You can't go wrong, considering the time and money.
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  #14  
Old 06-08-2009, 08:09 PM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Black88GTA View Post
Mine were Morse. I took some pics...
How do you like the ceramic pads? Do they take a couple of stops to heat up?
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1997 Boudreaux LSi
1994 SVX LSi(SOLD)
Kool Blue air filter, 4500k HID's, airbox mod, Hella horns, WRX 6 disc stereo, Infinity Reference and Clarion Pro Audio speakers, Infinity basslink sub, ECUtune Stage 1v5, ECUtune TCU, Power mode mod, Mad muffler mod v1.3
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  #15  
Old 06-09-2009, 12:29 AM
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Re: Rebuild brake calipers or buy remans?

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Originally Posted by svxash View Post
How do you like the ceramic pads? Do they take a couple of stops to heat up?
I can't give any feedback on the included pads, as I used the Posi-Quiet set that I got with OT's brake kit instead. I kept the Morse pads for when the PQs wear out.

The Posi-Quiet pads seem to work pretty good right from the start - they don't seem to require heating up to get the max performance out of them. Although, I haven't stressed them much - I haven't had a chance to go out and really drive much for fun lately. It's been slow crawls to and from work for the most part.
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