hunterlord
New member
do you think i can do a legacy outback rear wheel bearing in my driveway? seems like i could? has anyone any experience with this?
wheel bearings
- Thread starter hunterlord
- Start date
Iboc_C64
New member
I have never done a late model Subi, but I know the old ones are a B*TCH. When you change the old ones, they would only last about a year and a half because you needed to hammer them in. If you wanted it done right you needed a bearing press and even then they would not last as long as the originals. We had a 92 loyale that went through about 6 sets of bearings in the latter half of the 13 years we ran that car. On the upside, if they are anything like 90s and up GM vehicles, it will take you about 20 minutes per side with the right tools, all you would need is a jack, a tire iron, and a metric socket set.
Nigel Prodrive
Dirt surfer
short answer (unless you've done it before and know the trix and have the right bearing puller, socket and mallet) is, "no"
longer answer is "of course you can do it" but better question is, "can you do it right?" and then answer is "probably not"
longest answer is probly best: if it's for your 05 OB, then "have it done under the recall"....unless you'd prefer to end up crawling like a reptile thru slush under wobbly jackstands with frozen pinkies swearing your head off while salt and slime drip all over you
Last edited by a moderator:
hunterlord
New member
well she is all better! did it in about 2 hours going very methodical and cleaning everything i took off. the 4 bolt that hold the bearing were a piece of cake. the big nut on the shaft was a SHE DOG getting that locking dimple out enough to remove it. i did use a wicked small but trusty puller to try to pop the bearing. instead the entire brake plate popped off the lower swing arm. at that point into the vice and a couple dozen whacks with a 2# ball peen hammer and it was out. paid 49$ new in box for it. the original lasted 156K. i had no idea about the warranty on those. but mine are used up anyway. this and the harmonic balance pulley are the only replacement parts(except rotors and pads) so far on this outback. thanks for the advice and the encouragement. lots of PBblaster was applied about 10 minutes before i took it apart.
hunterlord
New member
my fronts at some point i'm sure. so the passenger side thread on the axle shaft is clockwise righty tighty... is the drivers side the same or a reversed thread? i could see myself breaking something with a 6'pipe on a breaker bar! the nut i removed from the passenger side came off with an impact gun@180psi real easy. its popping that dimple round that sucks. what do you guys do to make getting that dimple at the edge of the lock nut round befor you spin it free?
Last edited by a moderator:
Nigel Prodrive
Dirt surfer
hunter, good on yer for tackling teh bearing job. +1 for mainer's DIY-ness to a big degree.
your original question was, "is it easy" so I said basically no cuz it's not an easy job. sounds like you found the job doable but would you say easy?
as for getting off them axle nuts, that's why impacts wuz invented. [[[devil air gun smiley goes heere]]] no need to worry about getting the dimple un-dimpled, just buzz tha sucka off. after job is done, put it back on w/torque wrench and re-dimple.
hunterlord
New member
10-4 it was easy for a big knuckle dragger like myself. so righty tighty lefty loosey all around on the axle shaft threads? thanks h
Last edited by a moderator:
Nigel Prodrive
Dirt surfer
hunterlord
New member
hunterlord
New member
just finished the second rear axle bearing and it was easier in every way. the bearing just about popped out by it self. in all it took 75 minutes to do it from get off my butt to posting it here with cleanhands. thanks all for the input. so are they easy? i would say ...yes.