Replaced Rear Wheel Bearings at 75k

[Claytonmoore53]

I just had to replace both my rear wheel bearings on my 15. I am mostly putting this up here to let people know but, what do you guys think of this? This seems a little premature and I would expect at least 100k.

 

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[SubieN8]

It's not unheard of - wheel bearings are a point of weakness for our cars.

[Painless]

I'm at 165k and bearings seem to be fine.

I plan to replace all of them as well as several other things at 200k.

[Norskie]

I just had to replace both my rear wheel bearings on my 15. I am mostly putting this up here to let people know but, what do you guys think of this? This seems a little premature and I would expect at least 100k. /QUOTE]

 

Even 100k is premature for most brands, but not on Subaru's. Our Outback had six replaced between 90k-130k, but then none until we sold it at 175k. Never had to replace wheel bearings on any other cars we've owned, some more than 150k miles.

[Zetsubou Sensei]

I had my rear passenger side replaced at 45k.

[Grnlantern1]

Yeah I had my Passenger Rear replaced as well.. Typical Subaru issue, but they are getting better on the design flaw..

 

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[Claytonmoore53]

Well at least I wasn't the only one.. thanks for the replies and maybe it will help others!

 

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[YeuEmMaiMai]

rough roads? I have 2 Subaru and the 2003 ate a right front bearing at 80K due to a pothole. the other 3 bearings are at 140K

 

 

 

2014 is at 62K and bearings are fine

[Claytonmoore53]

No, I would say 80 percent of my driving is 70 mph highway and roads are decently smooth here in Ohio. Somebody I know thought maybe the crowning in the road affected it's life.

 

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[Norskie]

rough roads? I have 2 Subaru and the 2003 ate a right front bearing at 80K due to a pothole. the other 3 bearings are at 140K

 

2014 is at 62K and bearings are fine

 

We have crummy roads in MN but certainly not bad enough to wreck bearings. Rims, tires and struts get ruined before bearings do ... unless the bearing was marginal in the first place.

 

The Subaru SA told us that Subaru "bought a bad batch" of bearings, which is why they replaced them for free at 95k (35k after warranty expired) when one started to make noise.

 

They must have botched something because they had to replace half the new ones again within 10k (again they covered it) but when a couple THOSE went 40k later they didn't want to pay.

[ytqm]

I think I am about to join this "wheel bearing" club. I noticed right around 60mph there is a noise that seems to be coming from passenger rear. I dont think its the tires as didnt notice the noise until I took off the snow tires. I am going to have dealer check at next oil change.

[pleach]

I had a rear bearing go bad at 53,000 and now have symptoms of another going bad at 63,000. Good thing I got the extended warranty, which I never thought I would ever do. Edited May 28, 2019 by pleach
add-on

[08SpecB_DE]

If the potholes are able to ruin rim's, tires and struts, they are more than capable of ruining wheel bearings. If brand new bearings are going bad in 10k, they are running the axle nuts on with a gun and not torquing them properly. It leads to premature bearing failure because most manufacturers rely on the installer to preset the load during install.

 

I don't work for Moog but I'm very familiar with their products and they actually redesigned their hub assemblies because they were getting so many warranty claims. They are able to preset the load during the manufacturing process so even if the axle nut is run on with a gun, the chances of premature failure due to over-torquing is reduced dramatically.

 

 

I've replaced the LR on my 4th gen, all others are o.e. and I'm a little over 120k miles. Wheel bearings are a common failure almost across the board from my experience. I've seen 1 BMW and 1 Benz have a bad bearing. GM, Ford and Chrysler trucks are the most frequent by a longshot.

Edited May 29, 2019 by 08SpecB_DE

[Jeff T]

I had 3 replaced under warranty... Edited May 29, 2019 by Jeff T

[ytqm]

I too am starting to hear a bearing sound in the right rear at 47K. Question for all, prior to the bearing failing, has anyone else noticed a drivetrain vibration that preceded this? Ever since new, I had a driveline vibration, multiple tire rebalances, rotations etc. Dealer could never determine. It seems now that I am getting the wheel bearing whine the vibration has disappeared. Coincidence? Not sure, but I will mention to the dealer.

[ammcinnis]

... not torquing [the axle nuts] properly ... leads to premature bearing failure because most manufacturers rely on the installer to preset the load during install.

Excellent point! I don't know the design details of the Subaru bearings, but axle preload is a critical parameter in other cartridge-type hub bearing designs (e.g. GM) I'm familiar with.

 

I would expect that axle nut preload torque is carefully controlled at the factory, but is likely to be ignored for field replacements.

 

 

Edit: I just checked the 2015 FSM, and it clearly indicates that the hubs require correct axle nut torque to properly preload the bearings:

CAUTION:

Do not load the [front/rear] axle before tightening the nut - axle. Doing so may damage the hub unit COMPL. [emphasis in original]

Edited May 29, 2019 by ammcinnis

[Beamercub]

I too am starting to hear a bearing sound in the right rear at 47K. Question for all, prior to the bearing failing, has anyone else noticed a drivetrain vibration that preceded this? Ever since new, I had a driveline vibration, multiple tire rebalances, rotations etc. Dealer could never determine. It seems now that I am getting the wheel bearing whine the vibration has disappeared. Coincidence? Not sure, but I will mention to the dealer.

 

Yes. Besides my front drivers side bearing. My symptoms were that i couldn't control the car at highway speeds. They diagnosed it as a bad rear diff. That took 3 months to complete. I wish they had replaced the bearings at the same time, because i've always since noticed a hum going 70-75... After going thru that ordeal, SOA gave me the gold warranty at no charge. It was either that or $3,500 off buying a new car. i gotta say at times I feel like Mr. Magoo driving down the road and perfectly fine at other times.

[komodo693]

Joining in the bearing club, passenger rear went bad at 53,000m now at 65,000m the passenger front went bad. Dealership now said must have come from a bad batch and is “proactively” changing the other 2 bearing. [emoji6]

[ytqm]

Just had our 15 legacy in for 54K oil change and mentioned a bearing noise in rear. As I suspected, both rears needed to be changed. I think this should either be a recall or have a warranty extension period. Seems there are a lot of these needing to be replaced.

[08SpecB_DE]

Recalls are safety issues. A noisy wheel bearing is not considered as such. The dozen or so that I have replaced, there was no play in the bearing. There's definitely a manufacturing flaw but most companies will not admit fault unless someone puts the squeeze on them (aka class-action)

[Norskie]

Just had our 15 legacy in for 54K oil change and mentioned a bearing noise in rear. As I suspected, both rears needed to be changed. I think this should either be a recall or have a warranty extension period. Seems there are a lot of these needing to be replaced.

 

Isn't that covered by your 5/60 drivetrain warranty ? As it was explained to me: ETA - Engine-Transmission-Axles.

 

Subaru replaced all of ours - free - on our 2005 OBXT at around 100k in 2013 or so. We did NOT have an extended warranty, so any warranties were expired by 60k.

 

When they replaced them they said they had a bad batch and were replacing them with better units. Annoyingly, two of the 'new' bearings only lasted 5k miles (covered by subaru) and another only lasted about 60k (not covered by subaru). I really would have thought they'd figured it out by 2015. Or maybe not, WRX's are known to go through throwout bearings pretty quickly at least up through 2017.

[apexi]

Or maybe not, WRX's are known to go through throwout bearings pretty quickly at least up through 2017.

 

2005-2009 Legacies are in that boat too.. So annoying.

[fogdoctor]

Have had 2 replaced under warranty / extended warranty withing the 80k miles.

[YeuEmMaiMai]

We have crummy roads in MN but certainly not bad enough to wreck bearings. Rims, tires and struts get ruined before bearings do ... unless the bearing was marginal in the first place.

 

The Subaru SA told us that Subaru "bought a bad batch" of bearings, which is why they replaced them for free at 95k (35k after warranty expired) when one started to make noise.

 

They must have botched something because they had to replace half the new ones again within 10k (again they covered it) but when a couple THOSE went 40k later they didn't want to pay.

 

 

roads are not crummy in mn the are horrible in and around the twin cities... moved out of the capital a few years ago and now reside in rural MN and the roads are much much better. Now you know where they got the money for that useless thing called light rail...

[ytqm]

Isn't that covered by your 5/60 drivetrain warranty ? As it was explained to me: ETA - Engine-Transmission-Axles.

 

Subaru replaced all of ours - free - on our 2005 OBXT at around 100k in 2013 or so. We did NOT have an extended warranty, so any warranties were expired by 60k.

 

When they replaced them they said they had a bad batch and were replacing them with better units. Annoyingly, two of the 'new' bearings only lasted 5k miles (covered by subaru) and another only lasted about 60k (not covered by subaru). I really would have thought they'd figured it out by 2015. Or maybe not, WRX's are known to go through throwout bearings pretty quickly at least up through 2017.

 

 

Yes they are under warranty and replaced with out question. I think Subaru should extend the warranty on these as there is obviously and issue with the design for this many to fail.