Frank B Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 What years were the bad years? Or was it just a bad choice of bearing manufacturer form Subaru? My folks have a 2005 Forester, and love it! In fact they just made the last payment. So of course now they're hearing a noise from the rear. Started from the right side, now it's both sides, or just from the back as Mom says. ANyway, I did some checking and it seems that the Forester rear bearings are known for going bad. But was it just the Subaru bearings? If I get an SKS bearing is it better? Also, is a press needed or is there some jack-leg backyard way to do replace it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 I dont know about the Forester bearing, but a good way to take take care of the bearing is to buy the spindle and hub with the bearing from the savage yard and change it that way, around 75.00 dollars. Then you can get a low cost press and bearing seperator from Harbor Freight and play with the old one that you took off until you figure it out, then you can buy new bearing and seals for it and have a spare. I listed the basic steps for changing the bearing on a Legacy, the Forester should be close to the same. You can find these steps under the thread How to conquer the wheel bearing. What years were the bad years? Or was it just a bad choice of bearing manufacturer form Subaru?My folks have a 2005 Forester, and love it! In fact they just made the last payment. So of course now they're hearing a noise from the rear. Started from the right side, now it's both sides, or just from the back as Mom says. ANyway, I did some checking and it seems that the Forester rear bearings are known for going bad. But was it just the Subaru bearings? If I get an SKS bearing is it better? Also, is a press needed or is there some jack-leg backyard way to do replace it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted October 13, 2007 Author Share Posted October 13, 2007 I just found this; http://www.endwrench.com/current/Current6/03/WhBearRep.pdf I know at least one of you have done this without the special tools, can you describe the procedure? I would have one day, maybe two to tackle this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 Not sure about '05, but the issue in earlier imprezas and foresters iirc was that subaru used ball bearings in the rear wheels for some reason, and those just weren't up to the task, whereas the legacy and outback used tapered/roller bearings which held up much better. You can do the bearings with a hydraulic press by removing the wheel bearing housing. Subaru revised the procedure to use the slide hammer technique, I think, because too many wheel bearing housings were being deformed by the pressing process, thus resulting in a cascading series of wheel bearing failures during the rest of the life of the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted October 13, 2007 Author Share Posted October 13, 2007 I'll get my hands on it tomorrow and see if I can rule out anything. I just rotated the tires on it and I deliberately tried to "wiggle" the wheels out of habit to check for worn bearings and suspension, and they were all tight. Thanks for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimokalihi Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 Pretty much all the bearings were out on my 90 legacy when I got it. 3 of them at least. I don't have a press and the dealer wanted like $1600 to replace them all. That is crazy and there's no way I'm putting $1600 into changing bearings on a car I bought for $400. So I went to the junkyard and since I couldn't get the bearings out without a press, I just took the entire hub assembly off. Why get the bearings out when you can just throw the whole hub assembly on your car and it's way easier? This a major pain in the rump roast to do at the junkyard though. It's very hard to get the axle nut off without an impact gun. Especially when a lot of th tranny's are missing from the cars in the yard and the axle just spins when you turn the nut. At the junkard near where I live, the parts are the cheapest I've ever found. About 20 bucks will buy you the whole hub assembly! For $30 you can buy an entire door, glass, door panal and everything! The tranny is only $175 plus your core or $200 without it. I think engines are about the same price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 Put a bolt into the brake rotor and let it catch on the caliper bracket. Works great on the front with the vented disk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted October 13, 2007 Author Share Posted October 13, 2007 Thanks guys, but I really doubt I'm going to find a deal on 2005 forester rear hubs at a junkyard, especially around here! Besides, odds are they're just as bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hohieu Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 If you have multiple Subarus, the HubTamer works great. Well worth the $200 I spent for it on Ebay. Sometimes there won't be any play, but you can check the bearings this way: jack up all for corners, rotate the wheel with one hand, place your other hand on the coil spring. If there is roughness in the bearing, you'll feel vibration in the coil spring. Subaru addressed the problem by updating the part to tapered roller bearings (from the caged ball bearings on the earlier models) as well as the service procedure. My '99 Forester chewed through two oem sets in the first 59k miles -- replaced by two different Subaru dealers. The revised bearings have lasted much longer -- I replaced one last year that was making some noise with a Koyo bearing at around 120K miles (OEM bearings are NTN), and concluded that poor workmanship in installation was the cause of failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 Right on, hubtamer! Did you get the elite kit? Man how did you get that for $200, they're going for twice that now. I know harbor freight makes something similar....not sure if the adapter sizes are good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted October 13, 2007 Author Share Posted October 13, 2007 I just found this, but he won't ship, but I didn't want to spend that much anyway. http://sacramento.craigslist.org/tls/441629210.html Here's the Harbor Freight one, not as complete but it would do it. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=45210 I may get the harbor freight one. But here's the thing. If Subaru fixed the problem by using different bearings, and revised the replacement procedure, what year did they start using the better bearings on the assembly line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hohieu Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 I have the older OTC 6490 Master Kit rather than OTC 6537 Kit, which includes a new Ford adapter that only matters, of course, if you own a Ford. I saw the HF Kit, and I'm sure it would have worked with some additional parts that I did not already have. With the HubTamer, it was nice to know that I had everything I needed to do the job with a simple box of tools. Also, the quality is such that there is no worry of having to find replacements midstream while the hub is already disassembled and, in my case, with no second vehicle to go searching. It was acutally $170 + $20 shipping. The guy on ebay who sold it to me was pretty cool and didn't jack up shipping costs. Add maybe $60 for seals and the bearing, a free Saturday afternoon, and I figure I've already paid for the investment In any case, I've seen the newer OTC 6537 Kit online for less than $300, not including shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 Both of these kits says for front wheel bearing, Will they do the rear also if drum brakes are on the back? I still like the press it does both front and rear and there is very little pressure put on the bearing or housing if everything is cleaned and greased and if you have it straight when you press it in. If so much pressure is needed (as stated in the end wrench article) then it would seem someone is going to have fun taking the old bearing out and putting a new one back in with a slide hammer, or the tools in the hub tamer kit. But I have never used or seen anyone else use these tools so it may be very easy. I just found this, but he won't ship, but I didn't want to spend that much anyway.http://sacramento.craigslist.org/tls/441629210.html Here's the Harbor Freight one, not as complete but it would do it. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=45210 I may get the harbor freight one. But here's the thing. If Subaru fixed the problem by using different bearings, and revised the replacement procedure, what year did they start using the better bearings on the assembly line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted October 14, 2007 Author Share Posted October 14, 2007 What ever happened to the hammer and punch bearing removal method ?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 I think on some of the old Gen. they still use the hammer and punch. My cars are used in mail del. so wheel bearing go out quite often because of the heat from brakes and the heavy loads and ussually one wheel off of the side of the road. Before the Subaru I ran a Chev. Malibu now those are easy bearing to change after removing the caliper just take the nut off and pull hub off and give it a shake and they will fall into your hand. I wish Subaru had this type of bearing. What ever happened to the hammer and punch bearing removal method ?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted October 14, 2007 Author Share Posted October 14, 2007 I'm familiar with the hammer and punch method from owning old gen subarus. I guess the new style bearings are to delicate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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