BG5 caliper replacement how-to (With Pictures!)

[Phasewest]

Alright, some of you have seen that I recently used an Infrared Camera to identify which brake caliper was sticking. I thought that in the spirit of giving back to you guys (because I've learned a lot of useful stuff here) I'd do a quick write-up of how to replace a front caliper.

You'll need a caliper from a 2002 Forester to start, and the pads are the same as well. New caliper should look like this...


Once you've got the wheel off you'll be looking at something like this.


Now you'll need to remove the old caliper. Double wrench if required (I did!)


Here's the upper caliper bolt removed...


And the lower being removed a-la doubling the wrenches...



Here's a side-by-side of the two parts, note they're not exactly the same. We're about to address that soon.


Next, we partially disassemble both to make one that fits. Remove the two bolts on each that hold the hydraulic assembly to the sliders...

On the old...

And the new.


Here are some measurements for reference. The new bracket looks to be about 65mm on center for the mounting hols, and the original is 74mm or so. We're going to re-use the original mount.



By now, you should have something that looks like this...


Next, remove the slider pins from the two brackets, and clean the holes in the original one thoroughly. In the picture below, I was almost done, sorry, didn't get one when it was good enough, just almost. I can't emphasize enough, that you should be cleaning all of the old parts as you go.


Once you've got everything all cleaned up properly, swap the new hardware to the original bracket and it should start to look like this...


Then finish by putting the new hydraulic assembly on the original bracket, using the new hardware. Install your new pads and it should look similar to this.


Finally, install the re-assembled Franken-Caliper on your car, bleed the lines and put your wheel back on. If you have anti-seize for the lug-nuts I recommend it. Makes removing the wheel after a year much easier.


Finally, remember to put the old hydraulic assembly back on the new bracket and take that thing back to the parts store to get your core-charge back. There isn't anything on there anymore that you can use in the future, and it's worth about $50, so that's like beer money. When your wife asks you how you paid for the beer in the garage, you can honestly say that you were being a responsible adult and took in some "recycling".

[jdmvip]

Fantastic writeup with details pics! You are such an asset to the community and glad you've found it helpful!

PS I have never seen such a corroded and generally rotten JDM caliper of any sort before

[Phasewest]

Thanks!

I'll be putting on the factory spoiler in a couple weeks. I'll try to remember to do a similar write up for that too.

[Jessevic]

good write up, and definitely post the spoiler DIY!

I am gonna do the calipers on my bg5 soon as ive got a sticky one too, i sourced out a 2002 outback for parts and i think the calipers should work.. anyone know something i dont?
the rebuild kit listed in the other brakes thread will work for either the forester or the O/B so that makes me think the caliper would be the same

[Phasewest]

I've found a good reference is rockauto.com

Start with subaru.epc-data.com and enter your chassis number etc. Find your Subaru factory part numbers and plug them into the rockauto.com search.

Usually you can come up with something. If not, then it's back to forum searches etc. In this case, you can cross the caliper from a 2002 Forester and find that it crosses to 98-02 Forester, 98-01 Impreza, and 97-01 Legacy.

This is usually how I find my parts anyways, but mileage may vary.

As for the spoiler, look for the write up coming early next week. All of the factory fasteners just arrived from Subaru yesterday and I've got four more nights until days off.

[Phasewest]

I've found a good reference is rockauto.com

Start with subaru.epc-data.com and enter your chassis number etc. Find your Subaru factory part numbers and plug them into the rockauto.com search.

Usually you can come up with something. If not, then it's back to forum searches etc. In this case, you can cross the caliper from a 2002 Forester and find that it crosses to 98-02 Forester, 98-01 Impreza, and 97-01 Legacy.

This is usually how I find my parts anyways, but mileage may vary.

As for the spoiler, look for the write up coming early next week. All of the factory fasteners just arrived from Subaru yesterday and I've got four more nights until days off.