A Date With Subie...

Cheryl running on a nice day. 

Cheryl "walking" on a nice day. 

It was a lovely day today...  Perfect for running and biking and other stuff.   And for that reason,  Cheryl decided to make it a "short day" for running... because pleasant runs are simply not for her.  (She is "Hardcore")  But really, she has run every day for a week and has a total of 43 miles running, and 20 miles biking.  That seems like a lot...   So  A day off  now and then seems appropriate.

Cheryl ready to enjoy the nice day.

Tire, Caliper, Bracket, and Rotor off
Time to replace the Parking Brake!

But what should I do on this wonderful day?  Well,  they predicted a chance of rain sometime during the day.  A little vague on the exact times.. but that is Iowa for you. I had thought I would pass off on my Subaru Brake Job that I had been planning and preparing for since winter...  But Alas!   The Sun made an appearance!  And I Love working on Subie!

The groove that causes the Noise.
Not very groovy.
Gotta get a new Groove....

Finally!  The Old Rotor is off!

There were still lots of clouds, and a hint that it could rain at any time... But I decided that I would take my chances.   At the very least, I could swap out the rear brake shoes and have working brakes until I had a better opportunity.   You see,  there is a Constant "Humming" sound that comes from the passenger side rear brakes.  I theorized that it was a rim that had worn away on the edge of the brake rotor.  My plan was not only to replace the brakes, the Rotor, AND the parking brake pads...  Which I'm sure have not seen daylight since they were initially installed.  It was an Ambitious undertaking!

Old and New Rotor. 

Removing the factory grease from the
New Rotor.

There were a few "known Problems" I knew about before beginning.   The Caliper Bracket screws were "Really On There".   The last time I dealt with a stubborn bolt, I ended up wasting my entire afternoon cutting one bolt off!  I had to take things apart and get under there to see exactly what I was dealing with...  A stubborn Bolt, Rusty Bolt, Broken Bolt, or any combination of the three.

Turns out,  I was dealing with "Missing Bolt!"   That is right,  the bottom bolt that holds on the caliper was MISSING!   The NAPA guy theorized that it possibly vibrated out at some point.  I ended up making two trips to NAPA on my bike to guy 4 sets of bolts and an Extension for my socket set.   Time lost!

Removing the Old springs. 

Slide on and off with Screwdriver.

Finally,  With LOTS of WD40 and a cheater bar, I was able to get the Bracket off.  With the bracket off, the Rotor came off easy...  On to the Parking Brake!

I feared that the springs and holding pins would fall out on my lap completely rusted through.   I was thankfully mistaken!  Even though everything looked functional, I had already purchased the parts and decided to replace them anyway.   Thank goodness for YouTube and their excellent Subaru Brake Replacement Advice.

Old and New Springs and Parking
Brake Parts.

Old and New Parking brake 

I linked up the Old parts and matched them with the new one.  It was a little more challenging that the "Experts" show  in real life.  But in the end,  I managed to slide the last spring off with my screwdriver.   Just like the guy in the video!

Retaining washer. 

Old pads looks like they have seen
better days. 

From there,  reassembly was a snap.  The new brakes fit perfectly and, according to the old shoes,  it looks like they were going to need attention sooner than expected.   I patched things up and took it out for a test drive.   My Brother-In-Law, Andy,  would be proud!  At least I hope so.  ( He is the honest to goodness official Subaru Mechanic.   He works on Subaru's for a living and he helped keep Misty Dawn alive for years for us.  Not that Misty Dawn was a bad car... More like I was a Bad Car Owner..)

Passenger Side FINISHED!
So Shiny! 

New Shoes in Place! 

In the end, I only had time to do the one side.  However,  The annoying humm is now gone!  If tomorrow is nice, I would like ot finish up the drivers side rear brakes.   I'm hoping it will go better this time, now that I have extra bolts to replace the old ones with.  I also WD40-ed the crap out of them so they may be easier to loosen this time.  And No more Trips to Napa for Small Parts!

Cheryl loves Misery... Especially
Ethan's Misery...

Hope everyone is doing well.   Rain is predicted later in the week... so Cheryl should have a ball running in that junk.  She will most likely drag me out along side her so I can be miserable as well.   Misery loves company... And Cheryl loves to be miserable.

Thanks for stopping in!