WRX Brake Upgrade
Hello! Today, you will read about how to go from 2.5RS stock 10" brakes to the 11" WRX brakes!
The 02+ WRX and the 2.5RS share the same brake mounting brackets, and these are the parts that you'll need:
![Image]()
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2 - WRX brake rotors
2 - WRX caliper brackets
17mm Wrench and Socket
14mm wrench and socket
Lubing Spray
Rust remover
Grease
Very ornate swear words
Possibly 4 new bolts: 17mm head with a thread pitch and length of 12mmx1.5
Here is a before shot of the wheel with the stock RS brakes.
![Image]()
First thing you'll want to do is to break loose your lugnuts and then lift your vehicle up in the air and remove your wheels.
You'll see here what the stock components look like.
![Image]()
![Image]()
The first thing you'll want to do is remove the caliper. There are two 14mm bolts holding the caliper onto the stock caliper bracket at the sliding pins. I couldn't get a good shot of it but they're very easily seen. Once you've done that, your car should look like this without the brackets and the brake pads. Don't lose the brake pad shims! You can reuse them!
![Image]()
After you've removed the caliper, set it aside, DO NOT LET IT HANG. SET IT AGAINST SOME OF THE SUSPENSION BITS. YOU DO NOT WANT THE BRAKE LINE TO STRETCH. The next part is probably the most annoying. Next remove the stock caliper bracket. There are two 17mm bolts holding the bracket in at the top and the bottom of the bracket behind the brakes. Here's a really crappy picture of the top bolt.
![Image]()
This is the part where the lube and the swear words are really handy. It's not common knowledge, but swearing at things is actually a lubricant. All of my power and strength and several hydraulic tools is what I needed to remove these bolts, only because these bolts had never seen the light of day and in its 8 year life span never removed.
Next is to remove the stock rotor. This will be tricky and will require even more swear words and anger should your rotors have been conjoined onto your hubs. If they are, you're going to have to use a hammer and tap away at the rotor until it loosens itself. Eventually, I had to use a floor jack pressed against the frame and the back of the rotor and tapped it with a hammer until it came loose.
Anyway, once removed, you've reached the halfway point! Hooray! Now's the time to take a quick break and clean your wounds, because you probably will have some by now.
This is the stock rotor sitting next to the WRX rotor:
![Image]()
And this is the stock bracket sitting next to the WRX bracket:
![Image]()
After you're done breaking, fit the WRX rotor over the stock hubs. If you buy your rotors from the dealership, they'll be covered in a grease. This grease is to prevent rusting. It should also have high temp paint on it. If you buy it from someone off the internet, get them turned and scrub the center and the vents free of rust and spray them with high temp black paint. 500 degrees high-temp paint should be good enough.
![Image]()
Then, remove the slide pins from the old bracket and give them a little grease and slide them into the new bracket and give them a few slides into the new bracket.
![Image]()
Set the new bracket onto the hub and bolt those 17mm back into place. Becareful not to crossthread!
![Image]()
As you can see, it's now night time, the problem was I didn't know I would have to replace the 17mm bolts, so I had to run around town looking for them as Subaru was closed.
Now you're ALMOST finished!
The RS brake pads can be reused, I still had a lot of meat left on mine, so I decided to reuse them. The WRX rotor will be thicker than the stock ones so you'll have to push your calber's pistons back into the caliper to fit the caliper back onto the assembly. Once that's done, it should look like this:
![Image]()
Go back and make sure everything is good and kosher and you haven't forgotten anything. Tighten the 14mm caliper bolts back on and that's it! Look how much of a difference the brakes have with the clearance of the RS wheels!
![Image]()
Look at how much of a difference in clearance there is!
![Image]()
Aaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd you're done.
Some good stuff if you ask me. If you have any questions just let me know!
Hello! Today, you will read about how to go from 2.5RS stock 10" brakes to the 11" WRX brakes!
The 02+ WRX and the 2.5RS share the same brake mounting brackets, and these are the parts that you'll need:
2 - WRX brake rotors
2 - WRX caliper brackets
17mm Wrench and Socket
14mm wrench and socket
Lubing Spray
Rust remover
Grease
Very ornate swear words
Possibly 4 new bolts: 17mm head with a thread pitch and length of 12mmx1.5
Here is a before shot of the wheel with the stock RS brakes.
First thing you'll want to do is to break loose your lugnuts and then lift your vehicle up in the air and remove your wheels.
You'll see here what the stock components look like.
The first thing you'll want to do is remove the caliper. There are two 14mm bolts holding the caliper onto the stock caliper bracket at the sliding pins. I couldn't get a good shot of it but they're very easily seen. Once you've done that, your car should look like this without the brackets and the brake pads. Don't lose the brake pad shims! You can reuse them!
After you've removed the caliper, set it aside, DO NOT LET IT HANG. SET IT AGAINST SOME OF THE SUSPENSION BITS. YOU DO NOT WANT THE BRAKE LINE TO STRETCH. The next part is probably the most annoying. Next remove the stock caliper bracket. There are two 17mm bolts holding the bracket in at the top and the bottom of the bracket behind the brakes. Here's a really crappy picture of the top bolt.
This is the part where the lube and the swear words are really handy. It's not common knowledge, but swearing at things is actually a lubricant. All of my power and strength and several hydraulic tools is what I needed to remove these bolts, only because these bolts had never seen the light of day and in its 8 year life span never removed.
Next is to remove the stock rotor. This will be tricky and will require even more swear words and anger should your rotors have been conjoined onto your hubs. If they are, you're going to have to use a hammer and tap away at the rotor until it loosens itself. Eventually, I had to use a floor jack pressed against the frame and the back of the rotor and tapped it with a hammer until it came loose.
Anyway, once removed, you've reached the halfway point! Hooray! Now's the time to take a quick break and clean your wounds, because you probably will have some by now.
This is the stock rotor sitting next to the WRX rotor:
And this is the stock bracket sitting next to the WRX bracket:
After you're done breaking, fit the WRX rotor over the stock hubs. If you buy your rotors from the dealership, they'll be covered in a grease. This grease is to prevent rusting. It should also have high temp paint on it. If you buy it from someone off the internet, get them turned and scrub the center and the vents free of rust and spray them with high temp black paint. 500 degrees high-temp paint should be good enough.
Then, remove the slide pins from the old bracket and give them a little grease and slide them into the new bracket and give them a few slides into the new bracket.
Set the new bracket onto the hub and bolt those 17mm back into place. Becareful not to crossthread!
As you can see, it's now night time, the problem was I didn't know I would have to replace the 17mm bolts, so I had to run around town looking for them as Subaru was closed.
Now you're ALMOST finished!
The RS brake pads can be reused, I still had a lot of meat left on mine, so I decided to reuse them. The WRX rotor will be thicker than the stock ones so you'll have to push your calber's pistons back into the caliper to fit the caliper back onto the assembly. Once that's done, it should look like this:
Go back and make sure everything is good and kosher and you haven't forgotten anything. Tighten the 14mm caliper bolts back on and that's it! Look how much of a difference the brakes have with the clearance of the RS wheels!
Look at how much of a difference in clearance there is!
Aaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd you're done.
Some good stuff if you ask me. If you have any questions just let me know!
