How to install Racing Brake One-Piece Rotors

These instructions are detailed to swap your OEM rotors to Racing Brake One-Piece Rotors. Racing Brake Rotors can be bought at http://www.RacingBrake.com .. if you have purchased other types of OEM brake rotors or big brake kits, you can still use this walk-through, with a few exceptions pertaining to using which tools to the bolts, caliper brackets, and calipers.

 

Basics of the simple rule of "Left Loose, Right Tight" when it comes to working on a car still applies here. Take all garage/installtion precautions, such as wearing eye protection and use your head when it comes to working around the car, especially one that is off the ground. Treat your brake lines and calipers with care as any signs of leaking brake fluid coming out of the lines or fittings, you should stop and inspect the leaks and ask for help. Here are the tools that you will need for the job for the DIRECT swap pertaining to these rotors:

 

-12mm socket ratchet

-12mm deep socket ratchet

-12mm combination wrench

-14mm combination wrench

-17mm combination wrench

-14mm offset wrench

-17mm offset wrench

-rubber mallet if needed

-Flathead screwdrivers

-Needle nose pliers

-Jackstands

-1 jack

-Paper Towels

-Latex Gloves

-Can of Liquid Wrench/PB Blaster or any other anti-seize spray

-Brake Cleaner Spray

 

and if I miss anything, then you can PM me to put it up here for a list of tools to have up here.

 

1) Jack up the car so that you can have all the wheels off the ground. This will also be easier for 4-caliper bleeding when you are done with the installation of the lines. This also helps with understanding how the lines installed if you mess something up, you'll have easy access to the other side of the car for reference.

http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/6984/img00258yb.jpg

 

2) Remove wheels off the car, clean neccessary areas with brake cleaner and spray the bolts with Liquid Wrench if necessary.. lay out the new rotors out and make sure you got everything in the package and have the slots facing in the right direction. Some write-ups opt to have the rotors washed with hot water and dishwashing liquid to remove all the oils off the surface to prevent oil burn-in. This is an option from my point of view since the rotor surface gets pretty hot and does get warn anyways. You may wipe the surface down with a towel (which I did).

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/180/img0010001sizedjf2.jpg

3. Starting with the front brakes, remove the brake calipers using a 14mm ratchet. There are two bolts that hold the caliper in place. Once you remove the caliper, make sure that the caliper is not hanging off the brake line. Use a jackstand to hold up the caliper while you continue the work.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6889/img0013001sizedxx3.jpg

 

4. Remove the brake pads and caliper bracket. The caliper bracket is held with two 17mm bolts that also have locking washers. Remember the washers and make sure they are with the same bolts. Use a offset wrench to remove the bolts if you dont have enough clearance (as shown here). If the wrench won't move, use a rubber mallet to lightly tap the wrench end to make it loose. Use a ratcheting wrench to make it easier for yourself.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/374/img0012001sizedgh1.jpg

Offset wrench shown on the bottom:

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/7491/img0011001sizedns8.jpg

 

4a. While you have your brackets out and calipers off, now is a time for anyone that wish to paint the calipers can do so now.

5. Once the caliper and caliper bracket is off, the rotor will just come right off.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4599/img0024sizedql7.jpg

 

6. Pick up the correct front rotor and make sure that the rotor you picked up is the correct one. This is the back side of the new brake rotor, fit it over the hub and just slide it into place.

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/4421/img0002002sizedyf7.jpg

7. Slide over the stock caliper bracket and screw back in the two 17mm bolts (51~65 lbs ft. of torque). During this process, make sure the brake shims are NOT rubbing or touching the rotor surface, this is an easy way to score your rotor surface as well as making that horrible squeal.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/5766/img0025sizedzk5.jpg

 

8. Install the brake pads back into the bracket, and check again for clearance. If it clears, you are good to go. Install the caliper back into place using the two OEM 14mm bolts (32~42 lbs. ft. of torque). If the pistons are out too far, use C-clamps to push them back in using one of the brake pads as a leveler to push the two pistons back in evenly.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/7069/img0029sizedrp6.jpg

9. If everything is good, install the wheel back onto the car and torque the wheel back on (70~85 lbs. ft. of torque). Now it's time for the rears so inspect and make sure you grab the correct rotor and slot rotation direction prior to installation.

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/1396/img0003002sizedpt6.jpg

 

10. Now you can work with the rears. Remove the caliper the same way as you did with the front caliper (uses 14mm bolts as well) and rest the caliper on the jackstand as posted in 2nd post of this thread. Once you get the caliper removed, you will have to find a way to get to the 17mm bolts that hold the caliper bracket. Behind the hub, there is a hole that a socket can go through, use a short 17mm socket to reach in and loosen the top one as shown here:

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/6404/img0032sizedur3.jpg

As you can see the socket passes through the hub assembly

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/8184/img0033sizedrl5.jpg

11. For the bottom bolt, because the the limited amount of space, use the 17mm offset wrench to loosen the bolt, use a light tap of the mallet if you need to.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/3152/img0031sizedxz4.jpg

 

12. Remove the brake pads off the caliper bracket and remove the caliper bracket. The only thing left to do now is to remove the rotor itself. Release the e-brake with caution if you do not have all 4 wheels off the ground. There are two ways to remove it, or even a combination of the two methods.

 

12a. You may use an M8 bolt and screw in the two holes in the rear rotor hub which will push the rotor away from the hub drum assembly. You can get a bolt from the engine compartment that holds the top radiator brackets in place. If you plan to use this method, slowly AND evenly screw in the bolts evenly as it is easy to snap the bolts. The rotor will come loose and you can then use your hands to remove the rotor.

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/1799/img0035sizedys5.jpg

 

12b. If the rotor will not budge from some tapping using the rubber mallet or that step 12a didn't work for you, you may loosen the e-brake adjuster to make the brake shoes be in less contact with the drum. Behind the dust shield of the brake rotor and hub assembly, you will see a little rubber grommet that you can remove and expose the adjuster. FOR THE DRIVER SIDE, turning the adjuster UP will loosen the adjuster. REMEMBER to re-adjust the adjuster after you are done with the installation if you plan to go this route. Use a flathead screwdriver to spin the sprocket adjuster to the correct direction.

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/8848/img0038sizedjh0.jpg

13. Once the rotor is removed, now it's time to slide on the new rotor. Reverse the procedures and bolt back everything back up. Use the same torque specs as I listed for the front brake assembly. Also follow the same procedure to replace the caliper bracket, brake pads, and caliper back onto the car. Check to ensure there is no rubbing from the brake pad retainer clips.

 

14. Install the wheel back onto the car with the correct torque specs. Once you are ready for a test drive, MAKE SURE YOU PUMP YOUR BRAKES to get the caliper pistons and brake pads come in contact. If you mess with the brake adjuster, make sure you adjust the e-brake accordingly to make the e-brake function properly.

 

15. During the test drive, you may want to bed your brakes (if needed). Follow your manufacturer's directions for pad bedding. If using stock brakes, just drag out your brakes a bit to get some of the brake pad to bite and warmed up. Your brakes should function normally.

 

16. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Reviews and such can be found here:

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26037

Thanks Keefe, the only picture missing is how they look when they're on

 

Still not sure I'd try this myself, but who knows. Let us know how they go on over time.

^the GT is really dirty.. I'll wash the car first and then take pics and post them in step #16. I will be posting up a pre-REview of the rotors vs. stock soon in the brake forums..

Good stuff. Thanks.

Might want to mention to clean the hub really well before installing new rotors to be sure they seat evenly with no dirt or rusty deposit in between.

Might want to mention to clean the hub really well before installing new rotors to be sure they seat evenly with no dirt or rusty deposit in between.

 

step 2 mentions areas that need to be cleaned. Anyone wish to paint calipers and such will have to clean the areas anyways. I didnt mention of cleaning the rear hubs because of the e-brake mechanisms.. you dont want oil or contaminants in that area of the shoe surface..

Keefe,

Why not take off the caliper/caliper bracket as one piece, keeping the pads installed? That is what I have done on other cars in the past...

 

Ted

I decided to show people the full step by step. Some people may have issues with tools since there is some limited amount of space back there for the bolts on the carriers (caliper brackets). It's also common that people just let the caliper dangle off the caliper which is a big no-no. It's just to be safe and have everything disassemble to show the involved parts. At least this way, others can also use this walk-through to change brake pads since it's "along the way" of upgrading rotors.

 

Also in some cases, you might have to push the pistons back in, might as well have everything dissassemble to do that.

what kind of rotors did you get?

what kind of rotors did you get?

 

it's posted in the first post (Racing Brake HP rotors, slotted and drilled).. I also used a set of Racing Brake HP slotted rotors with self-cleaning slotted rotors as a testing demo for track use.

 

As for today, I run on DBA 4000s slotted front and rear.. once I burn through these, I will use DBA 4000 blank rotors as there's no need for the slots other than street credit looks. At the track, the slots were designed to 'deglaze' the pad to prevent the pad from having that fading feel. The slots are known to eat away your pads faster when you drive harder and use the brakes more aggressively.

what happened to all the pics?

any way to re post?

+1 for picture re-posting.

all done, pics have been reloaded. enjoy

Thanks Keefe, looks good. You the man!!

np

Thanks for the writeup, Keefe, it was very helpful. I just finished the brakes last night and had a couple of minor additions:

 

Offset wrenches are not necessary F&R, 3/8" drive regular sockets can work.

• F hub bracket upper: standard depth 17mm + 3" extension
  
• F hub bracket lower: standard depth 17mm

For the rears, Subaru designed in pass throughs in the rear hub assembly that makes working back here pretty easy with a long extension. Now what is interesting is that my rear hub-to-bracket bolts are 14mm, not Keefe's 17mm (step #10).

• F hub bracket upper & lower: any depth 14mm + 6+" extension

Just for re-emphasis / clarification on step 12b for the drum brake adjuster:

FOR THE DRIVER SIDE, turning the adjuster UP will loosen the adjuster. REMEMBER to re-adjust the adjuster after you are done with the installation if you plan to go this route. Use a flathead screwdriver to spin the sprocket adjuster to the correct direction.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but turning the adjuster UP is loosen on the drivers side and tighten on the passenger side.

just did this today. thanks for the great write-up. it was of much help.

Doing this as soon as the rotors come in! Thanks Keefe!

^ I thought you ended up wanting to sell your car??? No??