Front Wheel Bearing -- DIY Walkthrough

Diagnosis:
So, last week while driving to work I heard a humming type noise from the front of my car from 40MPH and got louder as the speed increased. Being a Technician, I immediately assumed it was a wheel bearing and decided after work to put my car on the lift, have a co-worker drive my car to 50 MPH and I put a stethoscope on each steering knuckle near the axle on each wheel and confirmed the Right Front was faulty.

Cost:
I picked up a front wheel bearing (complete hub assembly) from Subaru with a new Axle Nut for about $140 after tax.

Replacement (took me about 20 minutes with a lift and air tools):
Raise the vehicle, remove your front wheel (5- 19MM nuts), take a screwdriver and softly pry between your brake pad and your rotor to compress your brake caliper to the point of where it can easily slide off. Remove your brake caliper (2- 14MM bolts), remove your caliper bracket (2- 17MM bolts) and remove your rotor. You can use two M8 bolts in your OEM rotors to "press" your rusty rotor off the hub. Once your rotor is off, look behind and you'll see a sensor going through the spindle near the axle, that's your wheel speed sensor and you should remove it so you don't damage it when replacing the wheel bearing (1- 10MM bolt). Once your wheel speed sensor is off, remove your axle nut (1- 32MM nut) and push the axle in just so it isn't "seized" in your hub. Once that's loose, look behind the wheel where your axle slides in the hub and you'll see 4- 14MM bolts in a tapered square pattern; those bolts hold your hub on the steering knuckle (remove them). Once they're removed, chances are you'll notice it should come off, but it doesn't. I took a small ball peen hammer and smacked the back of the hub until I was able to wiggle it off. Once it's off, you'll have to swap over your backing plate (sits between the hub and the spindle) Clean all the rust and dirt inside where the bearing race sits, use a silicon lubricant to coat the surface and evenly tighten the hub bolts. Reinstall everything, triple check your work, and don't forget to pump your brakes before you start driving!

good write/contrib, dealer invoice for this is criminal.

Thanks, I should've taken pictures of the actual install, but I forgot to bring my camera to work

Good write-up, thanks. I had a '97 Jetta that ate front bearings like crazy. That car was a PITA to change. You basically had to rip the entire spindle off and press them in/out. So the Suby's are basically a bolt on deal, no pressing involved, huh? That's good to know.
I'd assume that the rears are basically the same procedure?
I'm getting a loud humming at around 60-70 that definitely doesn't seem like it'd be the tires. I'm gonna jack it up and check for play in the next few days. I bought the car two months ago with 30,600 miles on it, and have about 32,800 right now. The bearings should be covered under the warranty, right?
One more question, do I need to call Subaru to get the warranty transferred to me, or is it basically automatic?

Thanks

Originally Posted by welby

Good write-up, thanks. I had a '97 Jetta that ate front bearings like crazy. That car was a PITA to change. You basically had to rip the entire spindle off and press them in/out. So the Suby's are basically a bolt on deal, no pressing involved, huh? That's good to know.
I'd assume that the rears are basically the same procedure?
I'm getting a loud humming at around 60-70 that definitely doesn't seem like it'd be the tires. I'm gonna jack it up and check for play in the next few days. I bought the car two months ago with 30,600 miles on it, and have about 32,800 right now. The bearings should be covered under the warranty, right?
One more question, do I need to call Subaru to get the warranty transferred to me, or is it basically automatic?

Thanks

Yea, the procedure on your Jetta is the same as a Mercedes-Benz, doing those a few times a month, it's cake . I don't know if the rear wheel bearings are the same as the front but I'll assume it is. As far as your noise, I would rotate the tires first to see if the noise moves to the front.

Hub bearings (Wheel bearing with an axle going through it) normally don't contain "play" when they're faulty.. You're thinking of a standard wheel bearing found on front and rear wheel drive cars (on the axle that isn't being driven) which are adjustable with the nut on the spindle.

Originally Posted by derffred

Hub bearings (Wheel bearing with an axle going through it) normally don't contain "play" when they're faulty.. You're thinking of a standard wheel bearing found on front and rear wheel drive cars (on the axle that isn't being driven) which are adjustable with the nut on the spindle.

I checked them yesterday, and like you said, there was no play anywhere. The one's on my Jetta definitely had play in them when they got bad. Thanks for the info. I will say that I don't think it's normal that my LGT is hummin almost as loud as the '00 Jeep TJ I had on 36" Super Swampers .

Gonna call the dealer next week sometime

I need to pull the rear hubs this weekend in order to replace the trailing arms. What's the best way to remove the axle nut lock? Last time I had it in the air I tried prying back the dent/lock on the nut and it wasn't going anywhere.

My best guess was take off the wheel centercap with the car still on the ground (parking brake set) and use a breaker bar & cheater pipe to break the nut loose, then lift the car, remove the wheel, and fully remove the nut.

Yea, if you don't have access to an impact gun, the breaker bar is pretty much the only way to go

I do have a corded Milwaukee Impact (300ftlb), but no 32mm 1/2" drive impact socket. :*(

I'd lend you mine if you're in the area.. North Jersey..

If not, you can pick one up for a few bucks at any tool or parts store. You're going to need one regardless.

I suspect that the axle nut will laugh at any electric impact.

Nice write-up

Thanks.

It should be fine, his main problem is that he doesn't have a socket lol.

that will definately make it hard. Most auto parts places have those csockets pretty cheap.

I have seen those things go both ways - wither they spin off with your hand or you need a huge breaker bar or real impact.

Yeah, I have a 1 1/4" (31.75mm) socket which fits fine, but is not impact rated. Since the electric impact would most likely not work anyway (couldn't budge the lower rear shock bolt), I will try to use the 1-1/4 with the breaker bar. I would normally be hesitant to use the english equivalent rather than the proper metric socket, but in this case it should be okay since it is slightly smaller than 32mm.

Now my only fear is snapping the breaker bar, it is a cheapie craftsman POS.

Went to Sears yesterday and replaced the 18" 1/2"-drive breaker bar (the pivot pin kept falling out) and picked up a 32mm socket and 6" extension. Hopefully combined with a cheater pipe, that should do the trick.

I was ready to drop some coin on a 18" 3/4"-drive breaker bar and socket, but they weren't in stock. I will continue to shop around until Sunday... then it's on!