Just thought i'd post a tip here. Since we all know that Subarus have a lot of wheel bearing failures, here is how you test them. First you need to lift up the vehicle and place it on jack stands. Then spin the tire by hand, while doing this place your hand on the spring. If you feel a vibration thru the spring you have found your dead wheel bearing.

Many people believe that if they shake the wheel and it doesn't move then the bearing is ok, they are wrong. Most of the time the bearing will still be tight, yet make noise. If the wheel is loose-do not attempt to tighten the axle nut, replace the bearing. If you do re-tighten the axle nut you will simply kill off the wheel bearing. Hope this helps.

it'll really vibrate enough to feel? i should go play with mine...

it'll really vibrate enough to feel? i should go play with mine...

 

You won't feel anything if you don't have a bad bearing though, LOL. Normally how it works is the customer complains of a rumbling noise, that gets worse the faster they go. We test drive the car to confirm it is a bearing noise. We then rack up the car and spin the wheels. Is is very easy to pinpoint the bad bearing.

 

If you have a bad bearing be sure to check your cv boots as well. Look for deep cracks in the boots. If you have deep cracks then replace the boots. This way you don't need to pull the front suspension apart twice. In theory one should allmost never have to purchase new cv joints. Just keep an eye on the boots and replace them before they split open and spit out all the grease. Oh and one more thing. If you do have a failed cv joint, try not to purchase a rebuilt cv axle. The quality is very poor, it is better to get a new axle. The only exception is Subaru rebuilt axle shafts.

good tip CB. if I hear any odd noises that is what I'll do. Since I have a fairly high mileage Forester they must be on borrowed time now.