May 28, 200421 yr Hello All, I just purchased a Forester last month and plan to keep it until all the oil in the world runs out or until gasoline becomes a luxury commodity reserved for the truly wealthy. I am aware of wheel bearing issues among early foresters, and, in fact, both rear bearings in my car were replaced twice (that's four total) over 69,000 miles by two different dealerships (Yikes!!!). This is really ghastly as my 85 5 spd Accord went 215,000 miles w/o any drive train issues - only a few CV boots, but no expensive repairs. I really dig this car, especially the seemingly flat torque curve of the H-four - much better than the peaky transverse fours I'm accustomed to driving. Luckily, tapered (Legacy, right?) bearings were installed the second time so I hope that this does the trick. Why the heck did Subaru intall roller bearings to begin with? This is an issue of concern for me because the previous owner paid $750 for this job at a local dealer, and I cannot see doing this job every 35,000 miles or so? As I said, I really love this car but do not want a garage queen. The previous owners did not use the car off-road - just highway and around town with some time by the ocean in New Jersey during the summers. We live in Philadelphia, where we get a decent amount of snow, and we also go up to Vermont for about two months during the summer (dirt roads and mountain grades, but not the long Vermont winter). Besides keeping the underside of the car as clean as possible of salt and dirt, and keeping an eye on the hub seals and cv boots, is there anything else I should do? Also, has anyone who's put some miles on these tapered roller bearings experienced any problems? As a side note, when will the OEM struts need replacement? Any recommendations - OEM, KYB GR-2,...? Is the 99 Forester equipped with self-leveling rear struts (I don't think so, but...) and if so, can they be replaced with non-self-leveling ones?
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