GX lib brake upgrade

cruzingbrumby · Post by **cruzingbrumby** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 9:42 am

Hi guys, I am in the process of doing a turbo conversion to my gx lib, and want to put some good brakes on it. The front cut I used had ABS so the master cylinder is no use, and I don't have the rears to match the fronts. I also want to get rid of the hill holder.
I have found some 99 GT forester brakes that are a good price, I am under the asumption I just need the calipers, discs, and master cylinder, and the brake lines to cut the hill holder out of the circuit, is there anything I'm forgetting or that is going to surprise me ? will I need the proportioning valve as well or are these pretty standard across the suby range

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:50 am

Did you buy a front cut or just an engine? If you got a cut jsut use the brakes that came with it.

cruzingbrumby · Post by **cruzingbrumby** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:56 pm

have front cut so that takes care of the fronts, but not the rears, haven't had much luck finding them, so I thought it would be best to get a full set off something else so all the proportioning was correct and mastercylinder was the correct size

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 4:13 pm

GX rear discs are the same size as turbo ones. The only difference is that the turbo cars have ventilated rears however the GX rotors are solid.

Most people just leave the solid rotors on there, you could fit some ventilated ones if you feel like spending the cash

I have twin piston turbo brakes on the front of my GX with standard rears and its fine, pulls up much better than standard

Wilbur · Post by **Wilbur** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 4:24 pm

I'll second that. The turbo fronts are a good upgrade, especially with a turbo motor

cruzingbrumby · Post by **cruzingbrumby** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 4:44 pm

Ok this all sounds good

, what about the hill holder thingy you still got that vincentvega ? Are the rear calipers the same between GX and RS ? if i buy the vented rotors will they fit ?

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:08 pm

mines an auto - dont have the hill holder

the ventilated rotors are the same size they are just ventilated..

if you want to double check, look up in the DBA catalog and compare the dimensions for the ventilated and non ventilated rotors

Suby Wan Kenobi · Post by **Suby Wan Kenobi** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 12:50 am

The upgrade to RS front brakes on a lib is one of the best things you can do to improve your stopping power, you wont notice much of a difference swapping the rears over if any.

wildhorse · Post by **wildhorse** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:19 am

vincentvega wrote:mines an auto - dont have the hill holder

the ventilated rotors are the same size they are just ventilated..

if you want to double check, look up in the DBA catalog and compare the dimensions for the ventilated and non ventilated rotors

just thought you should know that there is possibly a thickness difference in the ventilated disc compared to the solids. The solids will be thinner. If anything like the variation in other subaru models of similar years the vented disc may not fit inside your rear caliper when your pads are new. I would suggest checking dba records too

Chris_Rogers · Post by **Chris_Rogers** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 7:46 pm

if you have the front end and harnesses USE the ABS system. the rears are readily available from wreckers (here in QLD anyway.) though the complete setup may not be cheap ($800 for the WHOLE assy with ABS sensors,stub axles,plates and brakes) turbo ones are vented and are in the DBA book (under BG5 in my case) as vented items. thickness is different and will require the bigger caliper as well.

cruzingbrumby · Post by **cruzingbrumby** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:24 pm

I have most the abs stuff, including harness, ecu, front sensors and hubs, but not sure if I really want it, the car is more an offroader than a street car and not hooning around every where, but could be good when the roos are out, will look into it some more, only need the rear hubs, sensors, and mounting brackets, are the calipers the same or not ? the thickness of the rotor is nearly doulbe in the dba catalouge

Chris_Rogers · Post by **Chris_Rogers** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:30 pm

need calipers as well.