A front wheel bearing seems to be failing at 65k miles ( yeah, I don't get to drive my Sube much since I'm out of the country a lot) on my 2000 legacy wagon......rubbing noise from front end at about 30 mph and above; it's not loud, but is noticeable to me. A mechanic test drove the car and proclaimed the noise a bad wheel bearing......at this point, the sound is much like that an off road tire would make.

I recently put 4 Sumitomo HTR A/S P01 tires on my Sube( really nice tires, excellent handling and wet weather grip) and there was no such noise for a couple thousand miles.

A front bearing was replaced under warranty at about 15k miles due to noise.

Are wheel bearings a weak point on Subes?

wheel bearings are known to fail, so it's not that uncommon.

 

but more commonly the *installation* is a weak point. if someone didn't use a hub-tamer to install the bearings and just pressed them in (which is common) then it could have damaged the hub which will cause new bearings to fail. that's why subaru came up with a very specific tool and procedure to install new bearings without damaging anything.

 

best bet at this point in my opinion is to just swap in another completely knuckle assembly and not even mess with the bearings if they're failing again in this hub. an entire knuckle assembly will have the hub, bearings, etc all in it and ready to bolt right on. easier and cquicker job and probably cheaper too - just $50-$75 for a used hub.

I had a similar issue a while back, but went with a new bearing.

 

Buying used from a junk yard.. what the likelihood of getting one that does not have a bad bearing- if bearing problems on these is common?

I have swapped out knuckles on a 00 legacy and 99 forester now with no problems. With the legacy I was really broke and needed a cheap fix. With the Forester I wasn't AS broke, but also the bearing had failed prematurely (within 20,000 miles). I would have preferred to let Subaru mechanics deal with it, but it is not cost effective to pay hundreds of dollars to have a bearing replaced only to turn around and do it again in a year's time. At least with going for the swap option you are buying yourself time and eliminating a warped hub as the source of the problem. If possible I always check out the condition of the parts I need while they are still on the donor car. In the case of bearings this gives you the chance to listen for any noise before they pull the part.

wheel bearings are known to fail, so it's not that uncommon.

 

but more commonly the *installation* is a weak point. if someone didn't use a hub-tamer to install the bearings and just pressed them in (which is common) then it could have damaged the hub which will cause new bearings to fail. that's why subaru came up with a very specific tool and procedure to install new bearings without damaging anything.

 

best bet at this point in my opinion is to just swap in another completely knuckle assembly and not even mess with the bearings if they're failing again in this hub. an entire knuckle assembly will have the hub, bearings, etc all in it and ready to bolt right on. easier and cquicker job and probably cheaper too - just $50-$75 for a used hub.

 

An inexperienced installation with a press, sure, that could cut down on the life.

 

A properly conducted installation with a press will not cause any problems.

 

 

Dave