....on my '99 Legacy GT. I plan on removing both rear hub assemblies and taking them to a local machine shop for pressing bearings out and in. When the car is up on jackstands and you unbolt the rear strut from the hub, is the strut already fully extended or would I be doing something stupid by simply removing those two big bolts that secure the strut to the hub (with the car up on jackstands)? The rest of the job doesn't look too bad.....

You have to remove those bolts, yes, you also have to remove some other stuff.. like the axle... maybe the ball joint nut.. a few other things are holding on to that hub pretty tight

You have to remove those bolts, yes, you also have to remove some other stuff.. like the axle... maybe the ball joint nut.. a few other things are holding on to that hub pretty tight

 

I realize there's more than just the struts to unbolt---but I'm wondering if, when I remove the 2 bolts holding the strut to the hub, wether the strut will pop downward with a lot of force -- or will it not extend downward any furthur?

Mwatt,

You are correct, the strut is fully extended and limits the downward travel.

 

I always keep a floor jack under the hub to ease the removal

of the bolts which you speak.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

BTW

As I see you have read.

The use of a "hub tamer" does not require removing the hub.

and having a neighbor that's the shop foreman at a Subaru dealer is a major bonus!!!

 

Although you will not be doing this when you

remove the hub.

When removing the top of the spring sometimes called the hat

you need to compress the spring slightly.

I done a rear bearing just a few months back, I took the bolts out with no problem, and was able to line them back up by hand no jack was needed. If you want to do your own bearing I would suggest getting the 20 ton press from Harbor Freight and doing the whole thing yourself. I picked mine up on sale for around 200.00 dollars, and it sure beats having to go to the trouble of waiting on someone else to find time to do it.

I realize there's more than just the struts to unbolt---but I'm wondering if, when I remove the 2 bolts holding the strut to the hub, wether the strut will pop downward with a lot of force -- or will it not extend downward any furthur?

Mwatt,

You are correct, the strut is fully extended and limits the downward travel.

 

I always keep a floor jack under the hub to ease the removal

of the bolts which you speak.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

BTW

As I see you have read.

The use of a "hub tamer" does not require removing the hub.

and having a neighbor that's the shop foreman at a Subaru dealer is a major bonus!!!

 

 

Although you will not be doing this when you

remove the hub.

When removing the top of the spring sometimes called the hat

you need to compress the spring slightly.

 

 

I'm still hoping the neighbor will be able to help me by bringing home the Subaru tool set for doing the bearings, but he's a hard person to get to "commit to a time" on a weekend. They are good neighbors so I don't want to hound the guy over and over....so I'm preparing mentally to do it myself.

It's a good learning experience

especially if you have to work the next day...