ORtoMI Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Hi folks, I'm brand new here....we need to drive from Oregon to Michigan ASAP, but just discovered the bearings are bad in the driver side rear wheel of our 99 Forester L. There is no play in them yet. There is a LOT of rust all around, so we were told that several new parts need to be sourced to do the job....estimate is $700(!) Is it realistic to make the drive as-is and get the work done in MI? The shop here cannot do it as soon as we need, but we are a bit concerned about going 2500+ miles without getting them replaced. Many thanks for any feedback you can give. HK in Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Probably not a good idea. Best bet for you is to find a good used knuckle and swap it out yourself. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 agree - find a used knuckle and get it replaced before you head out.. Not worth risking that long of a drive with known bad bearings. www.car-part.com to search for used parts and find another shop that can get you in sooner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, ORtoMI said: just discovered the bearings are bad in the driver side rear wheel of our 99 Forester L. There is no play in them yet. I've driven thousands of miles on noisy bearings at least 6 times. But it's also best to make an informed decision to do so, not just use one-size-fits-all blanket statements like "yes" or "no" to decide. How did you discover this? If these are Subaru bearings, the noise is light, hasn't increased in the past two weeks, and there's no play - then chances are heavily in your favor - like 90%+ you'll be fine. I've recorded the time between "onset of noise" to "bearing failure" and on multiple occassions it's been over 10,000 miles - usually around 12k-18k. I've driven thousands of miles including road trips many many times on loud bearings. I wouldn't do this on aftermarket bearings though, but knowing they're Subaru I'm not worried about it. You also know before hand - so what are your options if it starts to get worse (louder) while you're driving? If it starts to get louder and you still have 2,000 miles to go I wouldn't continue...etc. I'm not recommending it generally speaking, but but in my experience it can be done if an individual has a good bead on how bad it currently is, recent history, and a plan forward. if you absolutely had to do it, and have a game plan for keeping an "ear" on it, and had a back up plan, the chances are heavily in your favor that you could do it without major issues. The only hard part would be if you're half way - 1,250 miles and it was getting progressively louder really fast (which is highly unlikely to happen). If you recently left home or are close to your destination - and it starts You're in a rust free area of the PNW - find the used knuckle assemblies you need to complete this repair and buy them before you leave and end up in MI where no such thing exists for a vehicle that old. At which point - if you have a good rust free assembly - you might as well install it before you leave. Edited July 23, 2020 by idosubaru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORtoMI Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 Thanks a lot for all the input, guys.....got it lined up to be done in time, unfortunately do not have the tools/time/experience to DYI this one so gotta bite the bullet, at least there is one shop who can squeeze us in. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 That's best. You'd probably be fine, but I wouldn't do it. The chance of failing, and leaving you stranded, and on the hook for a tow, several days of hotel rooms, AND the repair is not worth risking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 That’s the way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 glad to hear it will be taken care of. Safe journey to you when you get to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Ok that’s out of the way so it’s story time kids. Can’t do this today with a contemporary Subaru. We were working a job across the Sound here and needed to take the ferry boat. It’s about a half hour trip. As soon as we exited our vehicles the rest of the gang went up to the lounge and generally left me alone there with all the vehicles. One guy came back to check on me. I had a FWD 1986 or was it 85? GL fivespeed - the legend ! Not kidding. That right rear wheel bearing got swapped out , hand packing the new one and was lowering the car back down as the ferry slowed to dock. I got applauded ! The guy maintaining the paddock watched most of it. You could see his face , not that I looked up much during the work , but as time went on he showed extreme relief!! “Man I’m glad you got dat dun” Mine was one of the cars at the rear so I would have blocked a lot of people. thanks for reading. Best audience ever ! Be well. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalman Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 is it ever ok to even drive with car that have problems that could affect its behaver on road, not just dangerous for yourself but for others too. bearings can cook and lock while driving if they really bad ... dont risk it . change it . even yourself not that hard with simple tools . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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