Bad wheel bearing, extended warranty, and no dealership

I have a 2008 LGT with 48,000 miles that recently started making what sounded like a lot of road noise. I took it to the tire shop that I had put new tires on it in April of this year and they diagnosed the noise to a bad rear wheel bearing. The dealership in my town closed about a month ago and the closest is 1.5 hours away. I have a 5 year 100,000 mile warranty on the car through Subaru. My question is, has anyone had any luck getting Subaru to cover the repair at a shop other than a dealer if there isn't one around? Is it safe to make the 1.5 hour trip to get it fixed or does it need to be towed? If it needs to be towed, I doubt Subaru will pick up the bill for that. It is going to be a PITA to take time off of work to get the car to the nearest dealership so I would rather get the car fixed somewhere here if possible. What do you all think? I tried to call SOA today but they are closed weekends.

 

Thanks

From what I've read they're fairly flexible with covering this problem. I'd be inclined to get the repair done at an independent shop first and then contact Subaru. Tell them you just discovered they are covering this repair beyond the normal warranty period. If you're handy you can do the repair yourself and submit for reimbursement of parts price, that's what I did.

really? you get reimbursed even if you installed it yourself?

yeah, I just told them I didn't hear about the extended warranty until after I had already done the work. Sent in receipt for wheel bearing and they sent me a check.