I heard about upgrading the wheel bearings from a Legacy to a Forester? Any truth to the rumor and if so, how difficult is it?

They're the same thing... You might be thinking about upgrading to disc brakes if your forester has drums?

At one time in the past, I had read a coupla posts about that. Dunno if it would be true anymore - maybe Subaru has already changed the part?

I think the early Foresters has a roller bearing that failed and was replaced with a tapered bearing. As I researched this I found 1) there is an improved part including the hub and 2) its a major pain to remove. Hopefully the Arizona dryness has kept the strut bolts, etc. from corroding fast.