Straight ahead or right turn, over 30mph, loud growling.

 

Turn to left, same speed, it goes away...wheel bearings?

 

Time estimate for this job? 1985 Brat...

Yep, bad bearing. Fastest way to do it is get another knuckle from a yard, swap it in.

 

Not to hard to change bearings, done it both on a press and on the garage floor. Actually easier on the floor I think. 1st time doing it, would say about 3-4 hours, start to finish. Don't want to rush on this job. Be sure you put the spacer ring between the bearings on re-assembly, otherwise you'll be popping a bearing back out to do so. Been there, done that.

Just a possibility that the castle nut has come loose. Makes the same noise as a bearing. Tighten to 145 ft-lb or more if you find it loose and see if the noise goes away before you tackle a bearing replacement.

If it's like my '86 GL wagon, the noise was coming from the drivers side......Loud roaring growling noise like you describe....would go away if you turn the wheel a bit in different directions.got so bad I could barely hear the radio at speeds over just about 30mph like you describe.....Make sure you get the new bearings pressed in right with new seals too......If they get pressed in cockeyed they wont last long and you'll wind up with same deal. This is what happened in my case..My local shop that did it for me prior to this recent bearing replacement set them in just a tad off and the bearings only lasted about 15K miles...Good luck!!!!

I just went through all this stuff a while back. I had this pounding sound in the front end so I changed out the cv axles. That helped a little then it got worse.

I changed out the wheel bar. on both sides, still had the sound, then I got new ball joints. Now things are smooth as glass.

 

 

Jeff

Forgot to add that to the mix...occasionally, on hard left turns, the steering will act normal going into the turn and suddenly jerk harder into it...tie-rods, ball joints?

Check your ball joint seals too......If cracked and losing grease, you otta replace them....Check all suspension bushings as well......Check you rack and pinion steering boots for cracks and seperations......all this stuff comes apart at the same time so if you take it to a shop instead of doing it yourself, get it all done at the same time, will save you lots in labor. Have you figured out which side the noise is coming from??? Take a passenger with you if you're not sure and listen to the noise.....There were some really nice Brats at Carlisle PA, especially SUBARUBRAT........This man KNOWS the Brat........Check out the Meet and Greet site on this Forum and look for the "Carlisle" posting, and you'll see some great pictures of us at the show....some really nice Brats were there.......