Front End Problems - 89 DL - New Owner

[ladydee]

A month or so ago I finally purchased my dream car. An 89 Subaru DL wagon. It was only $850 and I was willing to work with or on any quirks it had. In fact I named her Quirky because she does have a few.

 

I took it into get the oil changed (which really needed done) to a tire center figuring they would find lots of things wrong with it so they could charge me for them. In fact I gave them that opportunity because I wanted them to tell me what was wrong, then I could tell them to shove it and fix it myself. But they only checked my tire pressure.

 

So my front end was a little wobbly. My passenger side. Then I finally heard the classic "need to change your brakes" noise. So I pulled of my tire and checked my brakes. The brakes were not ground all the way down, in fact they still had some live on them. But I found the wobble. The entire hub wobbled. So my dad, having trouble finding it in the store, went to the junk yard and got me a new hub. It still was making noise and acting strange. So we also changed the caliper. We tightened it as tight would go (I do not have a torque wrench) and it seems fine.

 

My driver side however loosed up too. So instead of changing the hub I just tightened the castle nut. The the grinding started. The brakes were fine. I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. Some days it would be fine some days it would grind a lot.

 

Finally it got to be too much and I looked down and noticed that my conical spacer was being ground down. It is just a cone now and the top part of the washer is gone. I didn't think I tightened it that much. I didn't think you could tighten it too much.

 

I am having trouble finding a new conical washer. I am wondering if that is all I need? Should I just go ahead and replace the hub. When I purchased the vehicle I was told the front axles had just been replaced, and indeed they looked shiny and new. Is there some big bad inherent in it (that requires lots of money and a proper mechanic) or is this some tiny fix I can do myself?

 

I don't mind fixing my car but pulling it in the shop every other day to tighten things is not my idea of fun as much as I love my Subaru.

[ladydee]

Of course I do a little more searching and I find a few threads (because I searched conical spacer) indicating that a new conical washer might do me the trick. So the question is now (since I've already checked the auto parts stores and they looked at me like I was mentally handicapped), actually not so much a question but confirmation that I need to go to a dealer and pick up a conical spacer. Getting one at a junk yard might not be the best idea (in fact the hubs that came with it are marked like they already came from a junk yard). But I will leave this thread up and up date you all on how that goes, especially if a new conical spacer does not work.

 

Thanks

Dee