c0r3f1ght3r Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 I just did some work on my brat over the weekend because of suspected wheel bearings being bad. A bit of history. I got this brat a few months back and replaced the axle with a reman axle from oreilly(probably first mistake). The reman axle lasted about 150 miles until the boot tore up and it started clicking, replaced the axle again, and its been riding decently for about 2k miles. I started to notice a grinding sound coming from the steering knuckle every time I take off from a stop, and if I let off the clutch quickly I could hear the grind very badly on the steering knuckle. So this weekend I got a steering knuckle from another subaru brat, and the wheel bearings seemed to be in good condition as I spun them by hand to feel for any roughness. I greased the bearings and proceeded to put the axle through the knuckle using a mallet which did not work very well using a mallet and vice grip, it was impossible to get the axle to go through the knuckles bearings so I used a press and it finally went through. Drove the car out of the shop and it was fine. Very smooth ride and handled great. ~100 miles later a loud thumping noise is now occurring at speeds 15+, and increases in its thumping cycles as you go faster. Friends say its the wheel bearing, but I have huge doubts about this because I believe the axle oreilly sold me is not a perfect fit for the brat because of how hard it is to get it into the steering knuckle compared to what I have read about others being able to get the axles out with just a couple pounds with a mallet. I think the axle is bad, and I'm buying a EMPI axle soon here, but I have some questions regarding the noise, what do u guys think it is? Its pretty loud and the thump can be felt throughout the whole car almost. When accelerating the thump is not as noticeable but that could be because the engine/trans are creating so much vibration. In the event that I need new bearings can I just get the old ones pressed out and press in new ones? I have a haynes manual but its not that helpful... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c0r3f1ght3r Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 Forgot to mention, but on the previous axle swaps from original to reman was done by putting the axle in a vice and pounding the steering knuckle on to it via wooden mallet. Which took a lot of force and effort, and ultimately may of damaged the axle and bearings but I'm not expert. After the first reman axle failed I repeated the above steps, but this last time when swapping for a 'better' steering knuckle I tried the mallet procedure and messed the first two rows of threads on the axle up so I had to grind them down to get the castle nut back on. Also when going through turns I notice the thump seems to decrease for the duration of the turn. The thump is worst between 20-50mph, on the highway I guess its thumping so fast that its not that intense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renob123 Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Forgot to mention, but on the previous axle swaps from original to reman was done by putting the axle in a vice and pounding the steering knuckle on to it via wooden mallet. Which took a lot of force and effort, and ultimately may of damaged the axle and bearings but I'm not expert. After the first reman axle failed I repeated the above steps, but this last time when swapping for a 'better' steering knuckle I tried the mallet procedure and messed the first two rows of threads on the axle up so I had to grind them down to get the castle nut back on. Also when going through turns I notice the thump seems to decrease for the duration of the turn. The thump is worst between 20-50mph, on the highway I guess its thumping so fast that its not that intense. That'll ruin the bearings. I know firsthand. It seemed fine for a while, but then they started screaming. Jacob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c0r3f1ght3r Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 That'll ruin the bearings. I know firsthand. It seemed fine for a while, but then they started screaming. Jacob Someone was trying to tell me I may need a whole new steering knuckle is this true? I mean from my understanding the whee bearings are just like any other bearings except on these subarus the bearings are pressed into the knuckle. So next time I do this job I guess I'll order the axle, bearings, take off the knuckle, press the bearings out, and the press new ones in, followed by pressing the axle through the knuckle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c0r3f1ght3r Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 How much would one think a shop would charge to do this job, if I had the parts? Because at this point I would like to get it professionally done since I've failed twice now trying to get this fixed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renob123 Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 No, you don't need a new knuckle unless you really screwed yours up with the hammer. And I mean really screwed yours up. I have no idea what labor for Subarus is like in your area, so I don't even want to speculate. Some board members on here would probably charge an hour or so for labor for that. Les Schwab in SLC may charge 6 hours plus some unnecessary/overpriced parts if they'll even do it at all. Sorry I can't guess any further than that. I suppose you could ship it to a board member or something creative like that, or you can try again, asking questions BEFORE you hit it with a hammer. You should remove the bearings, put new ones in, then draw the axle through. Last time I did it, I used two pry bars and pretty much followed the procedures on this website in the Ultimate Subaru Repair Manual. Jacob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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