Front Wheel Bearing -- DIY Walkthrough

Honesty in reporting of how long it took to do a repair - I commend you sir.

 

I am at about 24 hours, just got the slide hammer thingy from AutoZone - pray for me that hub does not fall apart.

So, here in the real world, it took me two sessions of about 3 hours each, on successive days - plus a trip to AutoZone and another tomorrow - to accomplish this task. I'd advise anyone undertaking the task to take the claims of an hour or less with a grain of salt. Possibly, if you run into *none* of the following glitches:

1. The axle nut is too tight to get off with a breaker bar, and you don't have a pneumatic impact wrench and impact-grade 32mm (or 1-1/4") socket handy ...

2. The end of the half-axle is seized in the hub splines ...

3. The bolts that hold the hub ass'y to the steering knuckle are frozen ...

4. The hub ass'y itself is seized to the steering knuckle even if you had no problems with any of the above ...

And if you're very focused on the task, your phone never rings, your wife or other companion never requires any attention units, and all of your tools are at hand. And you don't clean any of the parts before re-assembling ...

... you might be able to do it in an hour.

A couple of hints I'd add. I'd agree with the guy that someone here quoted, who said to just use an air chisel to deal with #4 above. With just the impact slide hammer thingy, I don't think I would have been able to get the hub loose. A cold chisel worked pretty well, although I'd managed to create a little gap by beating with a hammer and with lots of liquid wrench. The chisel approach has the advantage that you can't be defeated by the hub ass'y coming apart, as many here have reported. And I imagine it puts less impact stress on the nearby suspension parts.

However, however you get it off (in the real world), odds are pretty good you're gonna do some violence to the brake backing-plate. As someone here mentioned, nothing you can't fix with a hammer; but in doing so I compromised one of the bolt holes enough that I needed take a drill to it to make it usable. For $20 or so, you might want to add a new backing plate to your parts order for the hub ass'y and axle nut. If you do that, you could even imagine just demolishing the old backing plate, so you can have at it from the back on the hub on all sides (not just the side where the brake caliper was removed) and not need any tools other than a hammer.

So I have a front wheel bearing going bad. Called SOA and they gave me a record locator number and said they'd probably help me on "good will". Pushing a little harder, "WILL they help me ?" the guy said they would probably cover it partially. But I have to make an app't with dealer to confirm the diagnosis and get a quote. Over the phone, dealer said about $450; I said "well, dealer invoice on hub is $150 or so, how much labor can it be ?" And they said 3 hours; seems pretty crazy, given how easy the job sounds in the writeups here.

 

So I'm thinking I get the part from one of our favorite discount OEM parts places for $130 or so, do it myself, and I probably spend a lot less that what I'll end up paying the dealer - say, if SOA picks up 50% of the quoted $450 cost. Plus I avoid the aggravation of dealing with the dealer twice - once for the diagnosis and quote, once for the repair - and dealing with the SOA folks as well. Make sense ?

Well, turns out I'm getting the best of both worlds. I replaced it myself AND SOA is going to reimburse me for the new hub. I called and referenced the case-number established above and explained that I decided to do it myself. They mainly wanted to know that I'd used a genuine Subaru part. So I emailed 'em the receipt from subarupartsforyou and they say I'll have a check in 7-14 days. I'm pretty happy.

Hey Rusty, did you use PB Blaster ?

That stuff works great. just let it sit for a few minutes to eat into the rust.

It's good to hear that you DIY. now you have more confidence to do other things.

Hey Rusty, did you use PB Blaster ?

 

That stuff works great. just let it sit for a few minutes to eat into the rust.

 

It's good to hear that you DIY. now you have more confidence to do other things.

PBB is nice, but I HIGHLY recommend looking into picking up some Aero Kroil. In my experience it works better than PBB and it smells better. It's also good to toss some silicone on the hub surface before you put the hub assembly back on

Hey Rusty, did you use PB Blaster ? That stuff works great. just let it sit for a few minutes to eat into the rust.

Nope, never heard of it. Wish I had !

It's good to hear that you DIY. now you have more confidence to do other things.

Oh, I actually DIY quite a bit. I just wanted to make sure it really was a wheel bearing - which my mechanic (who I use for stuff like timing belts) verified. I was also tempted to get Subaru to do it, since sounded like they might pay for it, at least partially, on "goodwill". When I realized how much more expensive it was going to be at dealer (they mumbled something about $400), I was just like "screw it, I'll do it myself". But then SOA reimbursed me for the part !

But yeah, I do wonder if I have confidence to do timing belt (due in a year or so). I'm sure I can get it right, I'm just thinking I'll want to be slow and deliberate, probably not doing it all in one day. Guess I'll wait 'til the GF moves in.

It's also good to toss some silicone on the hub surface before you put the hub assembly back on

Well damn, I better not have to replace this bearing *again* before this car goes to the great beyond. My last Outback was pushing 200K (before my friend waited too long on the timing belt) and I never touched a wheel bearing.

PBB is nice, but I HIGHLY recommend looking into picking up some Aero Kroil. In my experience it works better than PBB and it smells better. It's also good to toss some silicone on the hub surface before you put the hub assembly back on

Nope, never heard of it. Wish I had !

 

Aero Kroil is about 3x the cost of PB Blaster. But yes they say the stuff is fantastic.

 

Oh, I actually DIY quite a bit. I just wanted to make sure it really was a wheel bearing - which my mechanic (who I use for stuff like timing belts) verified. I was also tempted to get Subaru to do it, since sounded like they might pay for it, at least partially, on "goodwill". When I realized how much more expensive it was going to be at dealer (they mumbled something about $400), I was just like "screw it, I'll do it myself". But then SOA reimbursed me for the part !

 

But yeah, I do wonder if I have confidence to do timing belt (due in a year or so). I'm sure I can get it right, I'm just thinking I'll want to be slow and deliberate, probably not doing it all in one day. Guess I'll wait 'til the GF moves in.

 

 

Well damn, I better not have to replace this bearing *again* before this car goes to the great beyond. My last Outback was pushing 200K (before my friend waited too long on the timing belt) and I never touched a wheel bearing.

There are DIY's on here for the timing belt. It was pretty easy once you have all the tools. I did a good thread on mine with pictures.

Is there any truth to the rumor that these bearings ought to be changed in pairs?

And, has anybody had experience with using these from ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-WHEEL-HUB-AND-BEARING-ASSEMBLY-UNIT-FITS-SUBARU-LEGACY-OUTBACK-FRONT-/180971396230?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A2006|Make%3ASubaru|Model%3ALegacy&vxp=mtr&hash=item2a22bc5c86

Is there any truth to the rumor that these bearings ought to be changed in pairs?

 

And, has anybody had experience with using these from ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-WHEEL-HUB-AND-BEARING-ASSEMBLY-UNIT-FITS-SUBARU-LEGACY-OUTBACK-FRONT-/180971396230?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A2006|Make%3ASubaru|Model%3ALegacy&vxp=mtr&hash=item2a22bc5c86

40 Bucks? I suppose it depends on how keen are you to be fetching a rotor and wheel out of the cornfield. Research here will tell you about problems with aftermarket, most people use Subaru parts.

I cant see how changing in pairs will benefit, a wheel bearing has a simple job, as long as it spins tight and doesn't make any noise its gold.

Is there any truth to the rumor that these bearings ought to be changed in pairs?

 

And, has anybody had experience with using these from ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-WHEEL-HUB-AND-BEARING-ASSEMBLY-UNIT-FITS-SUBARU-LEGACY-OUTBACK-FRONT-/180971396230?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A2006|Make%3ASubaru|Model%3ALegacy&vxp=mtr&hash=item2a22bc5c86

No benefit. They are independent of each other. I had the left front done last Jan, left rear this April, right front early this summer and the right rear this weekend.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Did you use OE for all or did you source them elsewhere?

IMO for something like wheel bearings you're better off going with OEM. YMMV of course with off brands, but I prefer to stick with OEM whenever possible.

Hi everyone-

I'm going to have to do something about my moaning front wheel bearings. I've got a 2002 Legacy L wagon.

I've worked on my friend's more recent subie which has a replaceable hub unit as described in this thread, but I don't know if my older vehicle can be as easily dealt with.

Does anyone know if I can simply replace the front hub unit on my car as described here, or will I have to use a bearing puller/press to install a new bearing?

I guess another way to put it might be "What is the difference between a front bearing replacement on my friend's newer Subaru and my older '02 model?"

Thank you for sharing your experience. Did you use OE for all or did you source them elsewhere?

I used OEM for the fronts and Moog for the rears. Seems the front are more prone to having issues with the ABS and curise control..

Hi everyone-

 

I'm going to have to do something about my moaning front wheel bearings. I've got a 2002 Legacy L wagon.

 

I've worked on my friend's more recent subie which has a replaceable hub unit as described in this thread, but I don't know if my older vehicle can be as easily dealt with.

 

Does anyone know if I can simply replace the front hub unit on my car as described here, or will I have to use a bearing puller/press to install a new bearing?

 

I guess another way to put it might be "What is the difference between a front bearing replacement on my friend's newer Subaru and my older '02 model?"

3rd gen legacy, i believe you have to press out the front. the rear is bolt on unit. 3rd gen has front suspension similar to older subies, and rear suspension similar to the 4th gen legacy.

47.9 lb/ft for each of the hub bolts. 162 lb/ft on the axle shaft nut.

This ought to be added to the first post. Great info!

Impact for axle nut and air chisel to knock the hub loose from the knuckle were priceless.

Had the hardest time with the 17mm bolts for the brake bracket until I used my 17mm open end wrench and a mallett to knock them loose.

This walkthrough is great! All said and done I was 2 hours fiddling with the brake bracket bolts, straightening out my rotor dust cover after the air chisel and threading all 4 bolts back in to the hub. Twice I had 3 in and 4th wouldn't start. If I would've gone with the new $20 dust cover I would've been done much earlier!

Twice I had 3 in and 4th wouldn't start

Haven't you learned, don't tighten them down until all are started ?

Did you use anti seize compound on the bolts and nuts ?

Thanks to a recent acquisition, this is what I'm now using.

General question I'll pose to ya'll about wheel bearing replacement:

If I have one that fails (e.g. right rear), should I replace both on that end? I just did one the other day due to grinding and wasn't sure if it was typical for the other to fail at or around the same time.