colinmi

The way the pinch socket in the knuckle readily collects water and salt makes the ball joint really rust in there. Sealing it is not too practical, but what is thought of some antiseize paste when assembling? The pinch bolt is in the groove and makes it more than just friction holding it in. What is the engineering here? (Assuming there are no lawyers present.)

The rubber in the bushing was cracking and while it was not really sloppy yet, it felt like it should be a little tighter when driving. I didn't realize how much better it could be until I drove it last night with the fresh bushings. It is noticeably more precise and has much better road feel.

For me, today's project was replacing the front control arms on my 2012 Legacy 2.5 CVT Limited with about 80k. It went well and I want to share a few observations with those who may be doing something similar in the future. 1. The large bushings in the rear of the arms were cracking and not feeling as tight as they should any more. The dealer wanted about $450 to replace them and do an alignment. ( I do like my local dealer but also enjoy doing my own work and spending less money.) When looking at part prices I saw that complete control arm assemblies were available for about $120 each. This includes the big bushings, small front bushings and ball joints - along with a fresh control arm. And this is just a bolt-on job. I would not have to press them in. (I do like using the hydraulic press but also enjoy keeping it simpler and getting more fresh parts.) With the money saved on labor, I am getting more new parts and still saving money. 2. It is not a complicated job, but removing balljoints can be unpleasant and frustrating if you don't have the proper (but simple) tools. With the money I saved, I found a good reason to buy another good tool. I got the balljoint puller from Company 23 and it worked very well. This pulled the balljoint out of the axle carrier easily. I would even say, it made this step uneventful. 3. Before that step though, the tapered end of the balljoint had to be popped out of the old control arm. For this I just used a big balljoint separator I got off the rack at the local Advance Auto store for about $25. I ground the 'U' opening a little wider and it fit nicely. It made quick work of it and a nice big pop when the taper came loose. 4. A tip when installing the new arm. Get the bushings bolted in first before pushing the new balljoint into the axle carrier. Things line up more easily. 5. Use fresh hardware. New bolts and nuts don't cost much, are nicer to work with, will be less rusty next time you have to touch them and are safer. This is especially true for lock nuts, they should only be used once - after that they are pretty much just plain nuts. 6. I put some antiseize paste on the unthreaded shank of the bolts. Next time things should go even more smoothly. I considered putting a little bit inside the axle carrier that pinches the big end of the balljoint. Putting it on the taper end would definitely be bad, but on the other end seemed like it might be more OK. In the end though I did not, because I forgot about it in the heat of reassembly. 7. I masked off the bushings and balljoints and sprayed the new control arms with clear wheel paint. In case it is many years before they are replaced again they are less likely to be compromised by rust. It also makes them shinier. Fresh Hardware - genuine and proper from a dealer Balljoint Separator - ground a little wider Old Stuff - only about 5 years old and 80,000 miles but gets rusty The label on a complete arm assembly Nice and Shiny.

Thank you for all the responses. Because of them I learned a bit about the car. It's good to know this backlash isn't an indicator of something going bad. I also did a little more practical diagnosis here and am reasonably sure that these tires are why things are slightly less quiet and smooth than I think they could be. An alignment and some fresh tires are in my future I think. Thanks again.

Today I had the front end lifted working on the brakes. When I rotated one wheel the other one turned the opposite direction -as expected. There was about 5-10 degrees of backlash. The wheel will rotate that far before the other one starts to turn. I am fairly new to Subaru and my question is if this in the normal range? The car drives well but seems a little bit louder in front than my wife's 2012 Outback. I know there are other things that could account for this but am looking to learn a little more about these machines.

Thank you for the responses. Right now the brakes are very good but I may appreciate some larger ones sometime in the future. Brake components will eventually need to be replaced with use and age so if the upgraded parts are the same price as the existing configuration, there's not much of a downside to getting them besides losing the option of mounting 16" wheels. This is the way I'm thinking. The car has about 73k on it and I am planning ahead. I have not spoken to a dealer on the phone yet but a few dealers that list online use the VIN in the website search show both the 16 and 17 options as well as vented and unvented for the rear. They are showing what will fit rather than what actually came on the car.

Here is a picture of the front caliper.

Thanks for the response. The rotors still do look pretty good yet and I was just getting a look at them so I know what to get when they do need replacing. I would most likely stick with factory rotors. They do seem to be good and are attractively priced. When I do replace them I was thinking of possibly upgrading from 16s to 17s and to vented in the rear, both with factory parts. Having to replace calipers and brackets also to do that will probably dissuade me from doing that too soon. Right now my mot immediate question is how to tell if my front brakes are the ones for the 16" or 17" wheels. The Tokico front caliper is stamped with a 12 and WF (or E). The rear is stamped 21W. Do these markings indicate size or just some kind of production number?

Hello, I am new here and am looking to jump right in. We have a nice pair of ruby red 2012 Subarus in our driveway, a Legacy and an Outback. Both are 2.5i Limiteds with CVT and black leather. Things are good. I like to work on my own cars and my wife likes extended warrantees. We're covered for a while yet but at least I can get away with doing the brakes myself. My experience over the past decades has mostly been with Mercedes and a little Toyota pickup. I am relatively new to Subaru but always found them interesting. This morning I was looking at the brakes on my Legacy planning on replacing the rotors and pads sometime soon. My question is what is the easiest way to tell which brakes I have on my car? Dealer parts websites list brake parts for both "16" and "17" based on the wheel size. My wheels are 17" but these brakes could still be the ones for 16" wheels. The rear rotors are non-vented. I guess vented rears come with GTs and 3.6Rs. Is there a marking on the front caliper or rotor that would tell me for sure if it is 16 or 17? The part prices for the 16 and 17 fronts and vented and non vented rears are all the same --but I think I'd have to swap calipers and carriers as well as rotors and pads. I don't think I'm ready to do that just yet as what is there now works just fine for my use right now.