rear wheel bearing - 97 Imprez

[thealleyboy]

Hey Guys:

First post to the New Gen forum, but have been wrenching on EA82's for about 15 years...no condescending newbie patroninizing please...

Finally broke down and bought a 14 year old bottom-feeder derilect special. 97 2.2 Impreza 4 door manual...Dont know why I waited so long to go EJ...I have a feeling I'm gonna love this car!!

The #1 issue right now is dealing with the rear wheel bearing. I've had some sucess with the EA82's rears, but the best results were taking the whole arm off and having the bearing pressed in. At first look, the Imprezas looks to be damn near impossible to do on the car, though a guy I know at the parts store says that there is a special tool that some foreign shops use.

Any pointers on how to proceed? Any of you had any luck doing them on the car with standard tools?

thanks, John

[davebugs]

I've found it easier to but the whole "stub" from a JY - I think I paid 50.00 delivered for the last 2. Happily the bearings in them were fine.

 

No messing with that lateral link bolt that way.

 

Basic tools. Have to bleed brakes.

[idosubaru]

hey alleyboy. you had some XT6's once right, i think we've talked before years ago.

 

the rear bearings can't be done on the car...well sort-of. the special tool is called a hub tamer and will allow you to "sort of" do the job on the car. but the problem is you still have to remove that lower enormously long and problematic lower lateral link bolt. besides that bolt everything else is really simple anyway.

 

also - pressing tends to do damage on these. unless it's done perfect you'll be doing the job again, hence the special tool.

 

soak that bolt for a long time in good penetrant like Liquid Wrench, YIELD, PB Blaster, etc. favor YIELD if you can find it if you have much rust to deal with. you'll be able to see it run through the bottom of the housing assembly if you look at it from behind, it runs through the entire length with a good portion of the bolt exposed if you look at it from back there. soak it all a few times over a couple days. having a torch handy might be nice or some cutting/drilling tools.

 

or just remove the entire lateral link from the vehicle if you're swapping in an entire used hub - sometimes that's simplest depending on parts sourcing and if that bolt is corrossion-welded into place.

 

good luck!

Edited April 15, 2011 by grossgary

[unibrook]

I used the Hub Tamer on my 2001 Forester rear bearing. Worked well enough. Another post on here said the Harbor Freight tool works just as well and is much cheaper, so you could try that route.

The lateral link bolt is either frozen welded to the bushing or it isn't. If it is, just melt the bushing out with a propane torch in 5 minutes....not hard to do. But you need to have a new bolt and bushings ready to replace, of course. I can email you step by step instrux if you want them. nwlovell at yhoo.

[edrach]

I'm with davebugs on buying a used rear portion from a junkyard. A pull a part yard is best since you'll learn how hard it is to remove that long bolt as well as deciding if the donor bearing is okay. In either event YIELD is your friend.

 

Then, after replacing the whole assembly, you can decide whether replacing the bearing is worth your while to have a spare.

[thealleyboy]

Thanks for the great replys. I'll definitely check out the Harbor Frieght tool, as I'll probably be doing more of these in the future.

Ed, your opionions on wheels and axles are usually right on the money, and I'm leaning towards your and Dave's suggestion. Do you happen to know how interchangeble those rears are on these cars?

 

Gary, yep thats me that was on here, and the xt6 board. Still have my 91, and some some spare parts, so PM me if you need any xt6 stuff.

John

[987687]

I'll second just replacing like others have said. I've done it both ways, and that's just easier.

 

I've gotten a few of those bolts out, but for the most part they come out with sawzall and air hammer. Replacement bolt from subaru is something stupid like $25.

 

If you have it, ABS connector is under the back seat.