Anyone have an opinion on replacement brake pads? My son's high mile bugeye needs the front rotors turned and new pads. I thought we would try to do it ourselves, but there are lots of choices: do we want ceramic, semi-metallic or OEM subaru pads? And why? Did a search on this, but didn't find much. Any advice would be appreciated :) .

i've heard good things about ebc brake pads, otherwise can't go wrong with oem.

As with most things, kinda depends on what you do with the car. If it's just a daily driver and the brakes have been adequate, OEM would work.

This thread may help a little, at least the first post and it's link.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=368072

Other locals have likely dabbled with different pad types, I haven't because OEM seem to last quite a while.

As far as the rotors go, I have a set of 2003 wrx front rotors I'd give you if you were in town to pick up.

Brakes are a good do-it-yourself. Few swear words, little blood loss. :)

Thanks, guys. That's what I like about this board, always get useful info, and quickly.

AKOBS: if the rotors turn out to be bad, which is very possible, given the symptoms, I'll be talking to you soon.

o yeah, oem pads also come with all the right grease + a complete shim kit, including the pad slides. this makes them worth a little more.

As far as the rotors go, I have a set of 2003 wrx front rotors I'd give you if you were in town to pick up.

Brakes are a good do-it-yourself. Few swear words, little blood loss. :)
AKOBS - thanks again for the rotor offer. It turned out that the existing rotors "turned out" OK... :p I had the local Midas shop turn them for me and they cleaned up well, cost me $23/ea, here in Soldotna. I ended up going with some good quality Raybestos ceramic pads from Schuck's, and reusing the clips, shims, etc. Everything worked out well and the vibration/wobble on braking is completely gone. Like you said, this job wasn't too bad, even for the wrench challenged.

Glad it worked out for you. :)