RustyShackleford

If you wire it wrong, it'll still fry the BIU when you reconnect the battery cable.

I believe I'd use one quite a bit smaller than that, assuming you put LEDs into the map lights (which you should, if you care enough to do this mod). They should draw well under 1amp, probably not much more than 100ma.

I hate to sound condescending - because it pisses me off when people do this to me on other forums about other topics - but if you have no idea what the gaps thing is, perhaps you shouldn't be trying to do this work yourself. It's a little trickier to change plugs on Subies than on many cars, and if you get it wrong (cross threads, get crap inside the combustion chamber) it could be bad. That being said, the gap is the spacing between the center electrode of the sparkplug and the thingy that is just above it. I find that on the plugs I get for my car, it is already preset to the correct gap. But I check it anyhow of course. Good luck.

You'll be even happier that you won't go driving off at night thinking your headlights are on when they really aren't. DRL gotta be one of the stupidest ideas ever.

Nice work. I did something very similar in post #191. Note I wrapped the wires a little, to give some strain relief.

Nope, never heard of it. Wish I had ! Oh, I actually DIY quite a bit. I just wanted to make sure it really was a wheel bearing - which my mechanic (who I use for stuff like timing belts) verified. I was also tempted to get Subaru to do it, since sounded like they might pay for it, at least partially, on "goodwill". When I realized how much more expensive it was going to be at dealer (they mumbled something about $400), I was just like "screw it, I'll do it myself". But then SOA reimbursed me for the part ! But yeah, I do wonder if I have confidence to do timing belt (due in a year or so). I'm sure I can get it right, I'm just thinking I'll want to be slow and deliberate, probably not doing it all in one day. Guess I'll wait 'til the GF moves in. Well damn, I better not have to replace this bearing *again* before this car goes to the great beyond. My last Outback was pushing 200K (before my friend waited too long on the timing belt) and I never touched a wheel bearing.

Turned out to be a wheel bearing. Ordered hub assembly and replaced it myself, and Subaru reimbursed me for the part (as "goodwill", since the car only had 70K miles and there was that warranty extension for rear bearings). Apparently the failure mode for these bearings is not what I know from experience - it does not make that continuous grinding noise, and there is no freeplay to speak off (when you jack it up and try to yank the wheel sideways).

Took these on a road-trip this weekend and was extremely impressed with their performance, in particular the wet-road traction. Was going around hairpin turns on wet mountain roads and could not get them to break loose. As sticky as the rubber seems to be, I'm doubting I'll be getting 40K miles though.

Well, turns out I'm getting the best of both worlds. I replaced it myself AND SOA is going to reimburse me for the new hub. I called and referenced the case-number established above and explained that I decided to do it myself. They mainly wanted to know that I'd used a genuine Subaru part. So I emailed 'em the receipt from subarupartsforyou and they say I'll have a check in 7-14 days. I'm pretty happy.

So, here in the real world, it took me two sessions of about 3 hours each, on successive days - plus a trip to AutoZone and another tomorrow - to accomplish this task. I'd advise anyone undertaking the task to take the claims of an hour or less with a grain of salt. Possibly, if you run into *none* of the following glitches: 1. The axle nut is too tight to get off with a breaker bar, and you don't have a pneumatic impact wrench and impact-grade 32mm (or 1-1/4") socket handy ... 2. The end of the half-axle is seized in the hub splines ... 3. The bolts that hold the hub ass'y to the steering knuckle are frozen ... 4. The hub ass'y itself is seized to the steering knuckle even if you had no problems with any of the above ... And if you're very focused on the task, your phone never rings, your wife or other companion never requires any attention units, and all of your tools are at hand. And you don't clean any of the parts before re-assembling ... ... you might be able to do it in an hour. A couple of hints I'd add. I'd agree with the guy that someone here quoted, who said to just use an air chisel to deal with #4 above. With just the impact slide hammer thingy, I don't think I would have been able to get the hub loose. A cold chisel worked pretty well, although I'd managed to create a little gap by beating with a hammer and with lots of liquid wrench. The chisel approach has the advantage that you can't be defeated by the hub ass'y coming apart, as many here have reported. And I imagine it puts less impact stress on the nearby suspension parts. However, however you get it off (in the real world), odds are pretty good you're gonna do some violence to the brake backing-plate. As someone here mentioned, nothing you can't fix with a hammer; but in doing so I compromised one of the bolt holes enough that I needed take a drill to it to make it usable. For $20 or so, you might want to add a new backing plate to your parts order for the hub ass'y and axle nut. If you do that, you could even imagine just demolishing the old backing plate, so you can have at it from the back on the hub on all sides (not just the side where the brake caliper was removed) and not need any tools other than a hammer.

Well, on the TireRack "survey" it's given an 8.6 on treadwear. But who knows what that means - since it's called an "ultra high performance" tire, maybe 20K miles is considered good enough to get that score. Get back to me in 5 years !

No, I saw that - and similar posts - that's why I decided to do it myself and save dealing with SOA and my local stealership. But I guess you were all warmed up by then - like an Olympian. I'm cautiously optimistic that the axle will not be seized, since my mechanic rebuilt the half-axle earlier this year. I guess I'll find out tomorrow - assuming the 32mm socket from eBay's 'toolman525' (a great find BTW, assuming it works out, he has the 32mm socket in Craftsman, free shipping and should be here in two days, for $7.95). Maybe I'll realize this doesn't make sense very soon, but I wonder if removing the hub would be an easier way for swapping out the half-axle; no needing to mess with pulling the ball-joint (or whatever) apart, which seems to give a lot of people grief. I guess you have to remove the caliper and disc too, but that's mighty easy.

Want ahead and got the Kumho Ecsta 4X. Glowing reviews at tirerack from folks claiming to be "spirited" drivers, but also a 40K tread warranty (yeah, I know the tread warranties are virtually worthless).

If you're pretty sure the "roaring" is the bearings, then I'd totally go ahead and do it. FWIW, my mechanic diagnosed it by lifting the car body (i.e. with the wheels dangling), using some kind of pole thing to depress the gas somewhat, and then using a screwdriver as a stethoscope up against the back of the hub. Not quite sure how a shade-tree mechanic would manage this, maybe with 4 jackstands, or 2 and a platform jack - being careful as hell not to end up as a Darwin Award finalist. It sounds like it's pretty easy, from the descriptions here - although I think people here tend to understate the amount of time it takes to do something. Sounds like there are three potential sticking spots: getting the axle nut loose if you don't have an impact wrench, the half-axle possibly seized where it plugs into the hub, and the bolts that hold the hub ass'y to the suspension. I'm optimistic about the half-axle, since my mechanic rebuilt the CV on the problem side within the last year. I think you can slightly loosen the axle nut while the thing is still on the ground - using a massive cheater bar - but be warned that this can damage the bearings :-) I don't see it as a safety thing though. I think bearings tend to get extremely noisy before they fail.

Maybe the phone guy misunderstood and thought I meant both fronts. Would need the diagnosis before SOA would weigh-in on how much help they might give. Just ordered the part ($130+$3 plus shipping) so it's moot now. Pray for me that no seized axle spline or un-loosenable nut.

You're probably right, but this is America. Last pair I had on this car, Yokohama's, handled pretty well and now have 50K and aren't in desperate need of replacing. Oh yeah, now I see. I figured somebody like you would reply, LOL. Ok, I'll just order 'em all and look at the sidewalls.

Anybody know how to tell if a tire is "directional" at the TireRack website ? I can't even seem to figure it out at the manufacturer's site. I'm mainly interested in Yoko AVID Envigor, Conti Max Contact DWS, Bridgestone Turanza Serenity, and the several Kumho Ecsta. And of course I'd appreciate any advice on these. I'd like to get at least 40K miles, but want good handling too. Snow/ice not much of an issue.

So I have a front wheel bearing going bad. Called SOA and they gave me a record locator number and said they'd probably help me on "good will". Pushing a little harder, "WILL they help me ?" the guy said they would probably cover it partially. But I have to make an app't with dealer to confirm the diagnosis and get a quote. Over the phone, dealer said about $450; I said "well, dealer invoice on hub is $150 or so, how much labor can it be ?" And they said 3 hours; seems pretty crazy, given how easy the job sounds in the writeups here. So I'm thinking I get the part from one of our favorite discount OEM parts places for $130 or so, do it myself, and I probably spend a lot less that what I'll end up paying the dealer - say, if SOA picks up 50% of the quoted $450 cost. Plus I avoid the aggravation of dealing with the dealer twice - once for the diagnosis and quote, once for the repair - and dealing with the SOA folks as well. Make sense ?

Hmm, right after I changed my plugs, I went on a roadtrip from home in NC down thru SC, GA, and FL. Maybe they have different gas in those states, due to laws regarding ethanol usage ?

Amazon isn't reputable ? I bought plugs from them (and brake pads and plug wires) and they were all shiny and new and in a box.

I just replaced my plugs, which were 10K miles overdue (for the 30K interval, they are the "laser platinum" NGK OEM plug). Then went on a roadtrip. I swear my mileage was 2-3 mpg better than I'd been getting. Seems surprising.

I could have bought the aftermarket complete axles you guys are recommending, and replaced it myself, and been a lot cheaper than I paid the shop to replace the inner boot. I feel comfortable replacing the axle, but maybe not doing the replacing of the boot (dealing with the bearings and clamps and dirt and all). Heck, even if I paid the shop to replace the complete axle, the cost might have been the same - probably one hour labor, instead of the two I think they charged me. The only thing slowing me down from doing the whole axle is the reports of some of the non-OEM ones having issues. Sounds like AA or Carquest are good though.

I'm tempted to buy one of those hub assemblies and just carry it around in my car. I tend to do a lot of long cross-country roadtrips.

Jacked it up today - rotated the tire, no grinding sound (and sounded just like the other side) and no looseness (free play). But the slightest rotation of the wheel (a few inches at the tire edge) causes a little "clink" sound that seemed to be coming from the outer CV joint or from somewhere outboard of there (in the bearing area). So I guess it's a bad outer CV joint. It's odd, because the boot is not damaged. I had the inner CV joint rebuilt a few months ago when I discovered a torn boot; back then I asked if they intended to do the outer one too and they said "they never go bad". Wish I'd just replaced the entire half-axle then ... By the time I fix this I could have bought a brand new OEM half-axle and replaced it myself, never mind one of the non-OEM ones.

Thanks for the replies ... I don't think (and hope to god not) it's something in the tranny, as it very distinctly seems to come from the left-hand side of the car, more distinctly "left" than if it were the left-hand side of the tranny, I think). Doesn't really seem like a wheel bearing either. You say the wheel bearing gets louder when turning in one direction, but I've never heard one that seems sycn'ed with the wheel rotations. Nor does it sound like the CV, from what you're all saying. It's a mystery I guess. No long trips on the horizon, so I guess I'll just wait 'til it gets worse.