Wheel bearings dead?

[d0bdish18]

I'm almost certain that it's the wheel bearings, but still, need another pair of "ears".

 

When the wheel is turning, it sounds like a shopping cart. And from time to time a loud pop and loud squeak

 

2016 2.5 Base

 

 

 

[silverton]

If you grab at 12 and 6 and there is play, it's the wheel bearing.

[DougKelly20]

How do the others go Silverton?

9 and 3 it's the tie rod and 2 and 8 it's the ball joint?

[silverton]

I haven't heard the 2-8 one before. 9 and 3 will find play in the ball joint, tie rod end(s), and control arm bushings, from there it's easy to visually inspect each component individually while someone plays with it.

Edited April 20, 2023 by silverton

[d0bdish18]

Just FYI - it was wheel bearing that died. It was so bad, that when I tried to get it out, it split up.

After hammering for 2 days, the only way to get out the second part was to unmount the whole knuckle and walk to the nearest garage to use hydraulic press. They did that for 40$.

But when I was putting everything together, I've noticed that a dust boot on the upper control arm is cracked and grease is coming out. From what I read, that boot is not sold anywhere and I need to replace the whole arm as a unit. Is that true?

[silverton]

If you can't find it separately on rockauto, that's probably true.  You'll want to replace that backing plate too

[waldguy]

Wow, that must have been a headache.  I thought 2 hours of hammering and prying was bad on my rear wheel bearing.  My backing plate was bent a little, but recoverable.

[peril]

Subaru bearings suck, but you could have done it with a bearing buddy (breaker). take the bolts out the the bearing where it attached to the spindle and leave the cv nut on it, and beat it with a sledge - they come out pretty quick. (2 days is god awful - sorry you had to go thru that; it took me like 4 hours on the first one I did and mostly because I wasn't using the tool the right way). 

The "secret" was to knock (2) lugs out and get 2 x 1/2 bolt or 3 x 1/2 bolts and washers and security bolt the breaker to the hub, and leave the nut in. If you ever need to do another happy to try and coach you thru it - the 2nd one is so much easier than the 1st.

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by peril