Dave uk blue mica

its the hub bolts on mine ron

RON

So are we to believe that it's a faulty batch of bolts, or are they being over tightened, it seem strange for so many to have problems, if you think about it, a course thread means that a little turn = large torque, so could be either I guess!

RB5Caterham

I've emailed Ian to check this thread as soon as he can when he comes back from holiday on Tuesday, I believe.

Hopefully have some answers then.

So far 7 people with bolt problems.

Dave uk blue mica

mine definitely wasn't over tightened cos ian fitted the kit for me.

RON

I've had a PM confirming that, so defo faulty bolts then.
he'll be a busy chap when he gets back eh, how many people want new bolts!!

WRXCFC

It's the hub bolts. The replacement ones Ian has sent have 12.9 on them. What does this mean?

I told Ian of my bolt failures last Saturday and he said they must have been over-tightened. Didn't anybody from this thread alert him to their bolt failures previous to this?

WUZ

iTrader: (14)

12.9 is the grade of metal that the bolt was made from.

other than HT (High Tensile), 12.9 is as good as it gets, closely followed by 8.8, then 4.5? (I think!)

Russell

Blairc

Everyone who participated in the recent group buy,

I have sent out e-mails to everyone hopefuly making them aware of the potential problem with the bolts. All that I can advise is that people get in touch with ian to discuss this matter and find a possible solution.

Please accept my apopogies for this problem but it was outwith my control.

Please be aware i cannot confirm or deny any of the problems mentioned by other people on this problem and am only speaking from my personal experiences.

Chris.

ozzy

Just to confirm, the calipers are held together with proper bolts with Ian's kits. The split pins I refer to are the ones that just hold the large metal spring and secure the pads.

The garage who fitted the kit weren't impressed with the split pins. They said they just weren't quite long enough, so use some bolts. Nothing special, just logn enough to reach right through the caliper and be secured at the back with some nuts.

Stefan

RB5Caterham

Chris, I dont think you really need to apologise at all mate, like you we all needed OE front disc/pads replacing and due to the costs of AP and Brembo kits, Ian's looked damn good as an alternative. No question about that at all.

WRXCFC, within the hour of having the problem I tried to contact Ian, so did the people from the garage I used. Just my luck he went away that day.

I posted up as soon as I could, as this place is the only way I could find out whether it was only me that had the problem. With hindsight other people might have posted earlier but such is life.

Just to reiterate, I'm not having a go at Ian at all BUT we must all admit that there could have been some very serious problems, thankfully no one is hurt.

Dave uk blue mica

just thought i'd update you saying that it was definitely a bolt problem cos i stripped mine back down today to check them and the bolts are like new and they've been on the car nearly 3 weeks and i've driven the car quite hard and the original bolts didn't even last 2 days of sunday driving!!

gridgway

thanks guys for the ideas on the disks not being warped. I got them checked by a very knowledgable guy and they have about 10 thou runout verses about 1-3 thou that would be ok. No sign of any deposits around the grooves.

I'll check with Ian, although I guess he'll be busy with bolts for a few days.

Graham

ozzy

Graham,

The deposits will look like black smears across the disc surface (and not necessarily just around the grooves).

Only real method of checking the discs is to have them measured. If you've done that, then that's fine. It's just most people assume discs are warped as soon as they get some vibration and it's usually just uneven build up.

Stefan

PhilA

anyone have squeeky brakes at slow speeds?

ozzy

I do have on my DS2500's. Took the car out to my favourite private test track and did a couple of big stops. That usually fixes the low speed squaking from the pads.

Also noticed on my home on Friday that the nearside front was squealing constantly and anything below 50mph. After that it's just too fast to hear. It stopped as soon as I even touched the brake pedal.

Did another few big stops over the weekend and no more squealing. Didn't see any scoring on the discs, so don't think something was stuck between caliper and disc.

Anyway, it sounded more like the wheel needed oiling rather than a grating sound from the disc so not sure what the heck that was.

Stefan

JohnMcC

Just an update on my position.....

Had the bolts checked today and they seem ok. A different type to the ones that are seemingly having the problems (mine are black). We are hoping that these are ok, and decided to keep them in and wait for Ian's views (my bolts have done the best part of 1000 miles so it would seem they should be fine).

I am having the squeeling a little too every now and then (Ferodo pads too).

John

RB5Caterham

John, that is good news. Could it be that all the other people have classics and therefore the caliper is different? I think you said you had an 03 WRX?

You ordered the same time so should have got the same bolts?

Hmmm!

ozzy

John Felstead posted some interesting comments on 22b regarding the DS2500's on large rotors. He seemed to feel there's a problem with the pads and the high temperatures generated from the larger disc surface.

It would certainly explain the vibration I get every now and again. I think I may try some Mintex or EBC pads next time.

Does anyone know what vehicle the pads come from in Ian's kit. I seem to remember a Jag being mention, but I never took a note of the pad part#'s before they were fitted to my car

Stefan

greasemonkey

No fundamental problems running the split pins to retain the pads Sanj.

There certainly seems to be an underlying issue with the bolt quality and/or fitting instructions here. However, this really need a contribution from Ian. There may have been a change in the bolt supplier or a lack of clarity in the fitting instructions, but either way input from the man himself. Anyone know when he's back from hols?

RB5Caterham

Cheers greasemonkey.

Ian is back tomorrow.

RB5Caterham

Forgot to add, greasemonkey, you seem to be ok about the split caliper business then?

greasemonkey

No problems at all with that. The Subaru four pots are good calipers, it's just a crying shame that they designed the system for a disc that was far narrower than optimal. Spacing them out to accept a wider one is a more than acceptable compromise.

RB5Caterham

Thanks for your time, you're a good man..........

ozzy

You buttering him up for something ......

The originals are actually spilt pins IIRC. It's just that there's a wee hole at the back that accepts another thin wire spring.

Out of interest, on the back of the original pads there are some thin metal blanks (same shape as pad). What are these for and can you buy replacements?

Stefan

greasemonkey

The thin metal shims are the anti-squeal system. If the pad design Ian has used is from another car as has been mentioned, I daresay you'll be able to get anti-squeal plates to fit. However, if yours aren't noisy enough to need them, it won't be worth the hassle.

ozzy

That's OK. I get some squeal, but this is usually sorted from heavy stops so guess it's the pad surface rather than them moving around.

Just wondered if they were needed as an interface between pad and piston.

Stefan

JohnMcC

I do have a MY03 WRX, yeah.

I'm pretty certain that it is a bolt-quality issue from what I can see. 'They' had a sheared one (maybe yours??) and you could see that it wasnt right.

It must have been luck of the draw that I got some from a different batch or something. The faulty ones seem to be going straight away, virtually, which to my mind suggests that either a) they are blatantly not right for the application (which I highly doubt) or b) they are simply faulty (more likely IMO).

As GM said, we really need to wait for Ian who can will hopefully be able to shed some light on the issue.

John

ozzy

The bolts supplied by Ian are M14x30mm cap-head bolts. I'm pretty sure these are the same for the classic AND new-shapes. That's what's fitted to my classic. John are they fitted to your MY03?

The bolts are for the attachment of the brackets to the hubs and not the calipers themselves, so there's no real reason why Ian would have two different designs. It would make sense if the faulty bolts were those attaching the caliper to the bracket.

Stefan

RON

The entire kit is the same for classic or new age!
Except braided hoses if you have them!

greasemonkey

As RON says, the kit is the same. The front braking system on the "standard" Subarus has been unchanged since the MY99's. The discs, calipers, hubs and so-on are the same design.