Wheel bearing R&R FAIL

[ThosL]

I had front bearings replaced on a 99; lasted a couple years then failed.  I was told any damage to the mount the bearing go in will cause them to fail too.  I went back to the same shop and they said no dice on any guarantee, and estimated doing the job again at well over a thousands. I got two front knuckles at the junkyard and the whole thing was under $400.

[Gloyale]

I had front bearings replaced on a 99; lasted a couple years then failed.  I was told any damage to the mount the bearing go in will cause them to fail too.  I went back to the same shop and they said no dice on any guarantee, and estimated doing the job again at well over a thousands. I got two front knuckles at the junkyard and the whole thing was under $400.

 

Probably didn't repack the new bearing.  Garaunteed failure within 1~3 years.

 

Also may have used cheap "centric" or even Timken bearings.  NSK or Koyo only for these people.  Even the FAG bearings are no good for subaru.  They are just "off" in terms of clearances and material quality.

 

Whatever the brand, they probably Installed it with glorified Vaseline "shipping" grease that comes in the bearing for rust prevention in storage.

 

Subaru wheel bearings DO NOT come prepacked with wheel bearing grease.  they must be properly packed with High temp bearing grease to come even close to lasting as long as the Originals.

[john in KY]

Last update:  Got it all back together yesterday.  Had a "scrapping" sound that turned out to be the inner side of the rotor just touching the dust shield. My favorite "tool" solved that problem.  Can't wait for the day I have to do the other side. 

[CNY_Dave]

As far as I know subaru bearings from subaru come packed with good grease.

It was whitish, looked a bit like vaseline, but was good grease.

 

I have put at least 150k on some fronts and rears, all lasted longer than the rest of the car, never had one start to make noise.

Edited November 21, 2017 by CNY_Dave

[Gloyale]

As far as I know subaru bearings from subaru come packed with good grease.

It was whitish, looked a bit like vaseline, but was good grease.

 

I have put at least 150k on some fronts and rears, all lasted longer than the rest of the car, never had one start to make noise.

 

nope 

 

packing grease

 

you got lucky

[CNY_Dave]

I specifically asked subaru, and packing grease would not last over 100,000 miles.

 

I would not have gotten lucky, I think it's 5 times? 6 times?

 

Bearings from elsewhere maybe it is 'packing' (really cheap useless but intended to be service) grease.

 

Maybe some bearings come from other suppliers with really crappy grease, but myself (my opinion) I doubt that packing a bearing with grease just to keep it from rusting, and expecting the bearing to be fully cleaned and repacked, isn't even a thing.

I've heard it said many times but have yet to see a single posted piece of info from a manufacturer stating their grease is packing grease only.

 

I remember when wheel bearings would come loose with both races, there was some sticky oil on them, but no grease. There are much better ways to keep a bearing from rusting than by putting grease on some of it.

 

Now people repacking bearings and using too much grease and causing a failure- that's a thing.

 

If you choose repack, don't use too much!

Edited November 22, 2017 by CNY_Dave

[Gloyale]

I specifically asked subaru, and packing grease would not last over 100,000 miles.

 

You got bad info from an Idiot who doesn't know how to look in an FSM

 

From the 90 Legacy FSM.  Same setup, Applicable to all Legacy models until 99 and Impreza/Forrester until 08.

 

Now being an 90 FSM, there is some Japanese to English translation issues so context has to be inferred.

 

This clearly shows the bearing as a point to install grease.

 

IMG_2751 by Dans Subaru, on Flickr

 

And this, although worded weirdly is instruction to repack with appropriate grease, "removing" the packing grease.

 

IMG_2750 by Dans Subaru, on Flickr

 

And here, this means to leave the new bearing parts toghether, witht eh plastic shipping piece holding the 2 parts into the outer race.  Should say "with" not "when"

 

IMG_2749 by Dans Subaru, on Flickr

 

You can't really pack these with too much.  Packed properly, the grease will be in amongst the rollers.  wipe off excess from inside and outer lip before putting seals in and you are good to go.  There is no air cavity between like old EA type, so the hub will push out excess grease when pressed in.

[CNY_Dave]

I am not getting the same thing from that, that you are.

 

I see it saying to lube the seals with the type of grease already in the bearings, and if that grease is not available you must remove and repack to avoid mixing greases, and the 2nd part to grease the bearing if you are not changing the outer race.

[Gloyale]

I am not getting the same thing from that, that you are.

 

I see it saying to lube the seals with the type of grease already in the bearings, and if that grease is not available you must remove and repack to avoid mixing greases, and the 2nd part to grease the bearing if you are not changing the outer race.

 

That's not what it means.

 

At any rate.  If you assume the bearing is pre-greased and that you need the same type for the seal, and you don't have that....Then you gotta pack them with an appropriate grease that you do have some of.

 

But that's not what it means.  Look at the picture showing the grease gun pointed at the bearing in diagram....not just the seals.  And when would you ever have pressed out an old bearing and be pressing it back in?  This is all in reference to pressing a new bearing.

 

Parts A, B, C in the last pic are in regards to pressing a new bearing.  Hence the reference to leaving the plastic lock in place in "b"

 

The sentence in C should be "Charge bearing with new grease with the outer race not removed".  Meaning pack it as one unit, do not remove the 2 roller halves and pack separately.  

[CNY_Dave]

Well, I haven't cleaned the grease from a number of bearings, and have driven hundreds of thousands of miles on them, did 4 on my outback alone, about 200,000 miles on just the first front bearing I replaced on that one, often over 75mph on a 50 mile each way commute, over 100mph for fun once in awhile, if you want to attribute that to blind good luck running on packing grease no amount of other information is going to sway you.

 

But I will re-iterate, I don't think any wheel bearings are shipped with a grease that is intended to be removed.

I've seen thick sticky oil, and I can see some bearings coming with cheap to-the-point-of-useless-grease (how to tell? not by looks), but if it's genuinely packed into the bearings, it's intended to stay there.

 

The grease in all the bearings from subaru I put in looked like slightly whiter vaseline, made me worry a bit, but to my mind has proven to be more than adequate.