Subaru Outbacks and Brakes

Ask questions about Harbor Freight trailers, or questions about building your own...

Postby KA » Mon Jul 31, 2006 8:59 pm

Hi,
Thanks for the tip about getting the brakes with the axle. I was thinking about ordering my flexiride axle from etrailers.com but I really do like the Six Robblees folks. I'll have to check them out to see if they have the axle.
I took my pattern up to my dad's house today and we rolled it out on the floor to discuss a plan of attack. He thought my plan (actually Grant from Lil Bear drew it up for me) looked good. Just need to get this chassis resolved and then I think I'll feel a whole lot more confident.
Kris :thinking:
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Postby Lobo » Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:28 pm

Hey Guys,

Looks like I'll be the fly in the soup.

My wife drives a 2002 Ouback ..... never pulled anything with it..... no hitch.
However, the front brakes have been a nightmare. We've owned the car for 19 months, and have had the front brake rotors turned twice, replaced, and turned twice more. The rotors warp so much that I won't let my wife drive over the mountain because the front end vibrates so badly. Let's see... two sets of brake pads while we're at it.

The Mountain......about 1400 feet of vertical change in 3 1/2 miles of road down into the Cheat River valley here in Preston County, West Virginia.

So far, its been about every fourth month.

Lobo in West Virginia
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Postby pgwilli » Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:22 pm

Hi Lobo,
I've heard that its best to NOT turn Subaru rotors because, once turned, they will warp very easily - not enough extra metal. On my '99, I replace them every second set of pads.

Jeanette,
We have the non turbo H4 - 173 HP, I think.
Paul, Norma & the Girls
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2006 Chevy Trailblazer
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Postby asianflava » Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:05 pm

Although I've never had a Subie, I have/had several Hondas. Hondas are notorious for warped rotors. What I've learned or been told will probably apply to the Subies.

One cause of warped rotors is uneven wheel torque. Simple fix, use a torque wrench when doing your final tightening.

I was talking to a Power Slot rep at a car show. Power Slot makes slotted rotors for high performance and racing applications. He told me that another cause is uneven heating. This is more more likely to happen to cars equipped with automatic transmissions. After you come to a complete stop, you will sit and hold the brakes while stopped. All the heat that was just generated by the rotors and pads are sitting on one spot on the rotor. The uneven heat will cause the rotors to warp.

What you can do is to get off the brakes when stopped, which is easy fo a manual shift. For an automatic, you can inch up every so often so the pad isn't at the same place on the rotor.

I'm not totally shure if these are true but ever since I started torquing my lugnuts and sitting at the traffic light with my foot off the pedal, I haven't had anymore warped rotors.
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Postby Dange » Wed Aug 09, 2006 11:03 pm

well me and my friend towed a 60-70s datsun 1600 roadster on the back of a suby forester through newmexico and it was a trooper, it also had the 2.5L horiz. opposed enigine it definatly exceeded the weight but you could barely feel it.
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Subaru Outback and Brakes

Postby Lorvamp » Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:22 am

I am in SF Bay Area, which is at sealevel. I drive a 2001 Subaru Outback with 4 cylinder 2.5L engine, manual transmssion. I tow a 2004 SoCal 4x10 teardrop which weighs about 980 lbs. I don't have trailer brakes and usually have a 100 miles of mountain driving to do in Northern California out of a 500 mile round trip. Since I flyfish, most of my trips are to the N CA mountains, usually 7500' to 8500'. No problems but I downshift into 3rd and leave plenty of space.

Loretta :pinktear:
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Postby KA » Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:35 pm

Thanks Loretta,
I just made the decision to order my axle with brakes since I'm building a 5 X 8 and plan to go up and over the Cascades a lot.
Kris :)
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Trailer brakes?

Postby John Foote » Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:31 pm

I just towed a loaded Uhaul 5X8, NO BRAKES, at least 3,000 lbs worth, clear across the country (Seattle->Atlanta) with my 2.4L 4-cyl Toyota Tacoma 5-speed.

And yes, I worried some about the brakes, initially.

But then once I got rolling, I never found a hill where I couldn't control the speed with just the transmission, all by itself, no brakes at all.

In most cases, just sticking it in fourth was a perfect braking effect. On steeper hills, I might have to stick it in third, but then I'd need to hit the gas a little to keep it from slowing down too much.

Granted, this was interstate hwy 6% grade, with nice wide turns and shoulders. But the thing towed like a power-sucking, gas-guzzling dream.

I was planning on getting trailer brakes for my tear, mainly because it's looking to be a similar 2.5-3K-lb heavyweight. But now I'm not so sure.
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Postby jimqpublic » Tue Aug 22, 2006 1:12 pm

Our trailer is about 2400 pounds loaded for a trip. We previously towed a rental that was about 1500 pounds. Tow vehicles were 1996 2.2 liter Outback with manual trans and now a 2004 Forester XT with automatic.

Either car can stop the trailer without trailer brakes. They can stop it far better with brakes though. Comfort and peace of mind are worth a lot. The price of warped rotors vs. the trailer brakes is something to consider too. For a pure cross country trip on lightly traveled interstates it probably isn't a big deal. But for LA freeway driving and mountain roads I would absolutely have brakes on any trailer that weighs even close to 1000 pounds loaded.

As important as brakes is the brake controller. We started out with an "Activator II" which is the standard old-school controller. You set the maximum amperage of current and set the time it takes to ramp up to that current. When your brake lights come on the controller starts sending power to the trailer brakes. What you get is overactive braking for gentle stops and not nearly enough for panic stops. It's jerky and unpleasant.

I then installed a Tekonsha Prodigy controller. This one uses an accelerometer to provide trailer braking proportionate to the tow vehicle's rate of deceleration. The difference was night and day. Now braking with the trailer is just as smooth as without. Definitely worth the $50 price difference from a time-delay controller to the Prodigy.
Jim
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Postby asianflava » Tue Aug 22, 2006 1:49 pm

I've heard good things about those Prodigy controllers over at the Airstream Forums.
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Postby KA » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:29 am

Thanks Jim,
I'm just about ready to go have my hitch and brake controller attached to the car. I didn't know there were differences in the controllers...so thanks for the heads up.
Kris
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