Used parts standards

[ThosL]

I needed a front knuckle/spindle for my 97 Subaru earlier; checked all around, was told by a Subaru specialist that 97 Outback front knuckles were hard to come by.  An online search turned up a number of them, but nothing in driving distance.  I asked one of the local junkyards what was the closest one that came up on their parts finding service, they gave me the name of one about an hour and a half away.  I called them, they said they had several.  So when I got up there they had pulled one that was very rusty, the wheel bearing looked ok, but the ball joint was torn or cut.  They said the other ones they checked out were no good.  Was there a way around having to spend $100 for a substandard front spindle?  

[ocei77]

Try car-part.com.

Lots of listings and they will ship.

 

O.

[GeneralDisorder]

Call a yard out here and have it shipped. But that's a $175 part from the dealer with no bearing, no hub, and no ball joint. So $100 used with a good bearing isn't a bad deal. And if you are buying parts from the NE then you can expect them to be rusty.

Bead blast it. Paint it. Should be fine after that. 

GD

Edited August 11, 2018 by GeneralDisorder

[lmdew]

What side do you need?  I may have one.

If you get one from Car-part.com go for a rust free state.

[ThosL]

The point of my topic was how do you make sure when you check around for used parts, the quality is acceptable?  I contacted 6-8 parts places none of them had it; this one up in Colchester said they had several.  The others were apparently crap, so they sold me this one at full price with a lot of rust and a cut ball joint boot.  What options did I have in an hour and a half drive? 

[lmdew]

With the hubs you can not verify the bearing is good or not until it's installed and you take it for a drive.

Really bad ones are easy to spot, but other than that it's a roll of the dice.

[msmithmmx]

Why do you need a knuckle? Is it cracked or warped?  Your talking about a 20 year old part that takes a beating every time the car is driven.  A used knuckle should cost $70 shipped off ebay.  Expect to rebuild the entire knuckle.  Bearing/seals/ball joint/hub.  The additional new parts will cost another $70.  Rebuild of the knuckle is one hour shop time.

[GeneralDisorder]

On 8/11/2018 at 10:52 AM, ThosL said:

The point of my topic was how do you make sure when you check around for used parts, the quality is acceptable?  I contacted 6-8 parts places none of them had it; this one up in Colchester said they had several.  The others were apparently crap, so they sold me this one at full price with a lot of rust and a cut ball joint boot.  What options did I have in an hour and a half drive? 

I look at it. And if necessary I reject it. That's how I determine acceptability. How else would one do that? 

Ask for pictures before driving.

GD

[moosens]

You’re in CT ? Rough in the western end and that hour and a half drive is kind of expected just to get to decent yards that are helpful. Eastern CT has more better yards. The guys on Rt. 85 I can’t think of - M & R or something like that just south of Colchester. They usually have plenty of older Subarus. 

 

And as mentioned , tough to say without handling the part. It’s not getting better either with older Subarus up here. We have 2-92’s and a ‘94 so most of my buying is long distance and try to deal with reputable peddlers.

Edited August 13, 2018 by moosens

[ThosL]

That was the problem, M and J had the part only it is rusted.  I guess I will find out if the bearing is ok.

The problem with putting in bearings in hubs where the bearings have failed is they can go bad a lot faster if the hubs were damaged.  It happened to me within a couple years with a shop that installed bearings and they offered no remedy at that point.

[idosubaru]

There's no simple, repeatable way to do this.  Calling rust free states is a better option but still not foolproof for a variety of reasons.  There's two options:

A. Install new bearings - don't drive it too long on bad bearing and the hub will be fine. This is recommended, ideal, and what most in the know people are doing....and for good reason.

B.  Gamble with your time and money on used knuckles and bearings.  But that comes with ambiguity and risk which you seem to frequently post about so I don't know if that's a great fit for you.

Expecting an intact ball joint after knuckle removal on a Northeast car is too much.  I would be pleasantly surprised to see an intact ball joint on a removed northeast rust bucket.  

 

 

[ThosL]

Good points, but I wonder if there is any scientific correlation between external rust on a car and the wheel bearings where you have ample grease protecting the unit.  I would think variables would be how old the knuckle is? Whether there has been abnormal wear before the vehicle broke down, ended up in a junkyard and whether it sitting there has anything to do with the viability of the bearing? Does grease inside these units degrade?  Does salt, which is less used these days, get into the units?  

I'm curious whether shoving a bunch of lithium grease into the area would do any good long term?  Too bad they don't have grease fitting any more.

[moosens]

M & J , they’re big on Subarus but as I recall it’s the typical group of knucklehead “kids” doing the work. 

Just have to try.

 

Theres always F & S in Waterbury - yard in Roxbury called Tom’s maybe you knew that. They’re pricey and rusty. 

Johnny’s in Thomaston is a good yard too , up in the sticks. Lol 

if they have Subarus he’s pretty good about you walking thru and getting your parts. Biker/mob control along the shoreline is tough. Milford Auto Recyclers isn’t too bad once you know them. Sludge pit though after any rain.

Good luck. 

[ThosL]

I called around; LeBlancs and LaJoies have shrunk their yards and crushed older cars, so no dice there; I called a lot of places, LeBlancs said there was a unit in Hartford, not sure where they were going to get it from there.  In retrospect, I should have waited for shipping to get it as the going rate looked like around $60 online.  

[ThosL]

Front knuckle still Ok, much better than replacing bearings with possibly damaged hubs..  I had two of those done on a 99 that both went bad in two years.  Estimate from shop that did the previous work replacing hub bearings that went bad: over $1500!

[Rampage]

Several years ago I had to replace the right front wheel bearing on our 95 RHD Legacy wagon (mail car). At that time I worked at an auto parts store, so I used the brand we carried. It lasted a week. I put another one in with a new hub and that one lasted about two weeks. I then got the knuckle complete from a junk yard and that one lasted just over a year.

My next step was to go to our local Subaru dealer and buy their wheel bearing and seals. The car now has 467,736 miles on it and going strong. The other 3 wheel bearings are original.

I took apart the bearings that failed. The rollers are tapered. The large end was shinny and the small end was black. I don't think the rollers or races were machined correctly.

[Mike104]

I have a drivers side knuckle with a new bearing, seals, hub and ball joint that I rebuilt.  $100 + shipping if you want it.  Has ABS tone ring and mounting for an ABS sensor.

It was from my 99 OBW so should fit your car.