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Rear Wheel Bearing Question
Rear wheel bearing on the 94 are making some noise. Jacked up one side and spun the wheel. Yep, bearing sounds dry if not damaged yet. Have searched the forum and was confortable with changing them myself. Was going to buy bearings, inner and outer seals and replace them this weekend. Today I checked Autozone's web site (autozone.com) and found something which confused me.
Input my vehicle and found results: Wheel bearing - rear: Timken 516003 $51.99; Beck_Arnley 051-4036 $80.80 Related parts wheel seal - rear: Rear Wheel Seal Inner 2 per car - Beck_Arnley 052-3586 $3.79 Rear Wheel Seal Outer 2 per car - Beck_Arnley 052-3570 $3.79 Rear Wheel Seal Outer O-ring Type 2 per car - Beck_Arnley 052-3645 $2.60 ??? I was fine up until the o-ring. First I heard about one in any discussion of the rear wheel bearings. Maybe I overlooked something in some of the discussions but I sure don't remember an outer o-ring. Anyone familar with it? Where/how does it fit? Thanks for any assistance. Tom
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Tom Millican '92 SVX LS-L, Claret [Daughter's] '94 SVX LE (FWD), Barcelona Red '99 Outback SUS, 2.5L, Winestone (Burgundy/Gray) [Daughter Killed it] '02 Outback SUS VDC, 3.0L, Green/Gray [Spouse's; Died at 500,000+] '18 Legacy w/eyesight, Blue [Spouse's] '94 Subaru Sambar KS-4, White [Farm UTV] '94 Ford Ranger Extended Cab, Tomato Red |
#2
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subscribe. Gonna be doing mine soon and this would be good stuff to know.
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#3
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The O'ring is for the dust cap that covers the end of the axle. I recently pulled all four of my hubs and have been working on them. I ordered a complete set of seals and the o'rings and they are for the dust cap.
The previous owner had the rear bearings changed some time ago. Of course they failed. After getting it apart I discovered whoever replaced the bearings did not repack them. They just left the shipping grease on This morning I removed/installed the four races. Used a hydraulic press at the auto hobby shop on base (Lackland Air Force Base). Took 9,000psi to break the front races loose. The rears were a bit easier, broke free at 4,000psi. This evening I'll get the hubs all put back together and tomorrow reassemble. |
#4
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Quote:
Thanks for the info. BTW, what grease did you pack the bearings with? There is another active thread regarding rear wheel bearings here: http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31537 Keep us posted on your progress. I'll follow up with my results with non-Subaru seals. ...and I'll order those o-rings. Tom
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Tom Millican '92 SVX LS-L, Claret [Daughter's] '94 SVX LE (FWD), Barcelona Red '99 Outback SUS, 2.5L, Winestone (Burgundy/Gray) [Daughter Killed it] '02 Outback SUS VDC, 3.0L, Green/Gray [Spouse's; Died at 500,000+] '18 Legacy w/eyesight, Blue [Spouse's] '94 Subaru Sambar KS-4, White [Farm UTV] '94 Ford Ranger Extended Cab, Tomato Red |
#5
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In my experience I've found that the smallest details can greatly affect the longevity of wheel bearings. You can press them off and on correctly, pack them in high quality grease, install the seals correctly and generally do all the right things, then do something like torque the castle nut (axle nut) with the wheels on the ground, or over torque the lug nuts and thus shorten the life of new bearings. I've also seen shop cleanliness play a role, where gritty hands are used to pack the bearings, thus introducing grit onto the bearing surfaces (much like cross-contamination of foods). My advice is to pay close attention to every detail, take your time, use the proper tools and don't try to short cut any step. Oh, and take digitial pictures of the parking brake as you disassemble it and lay out the parts in order for reassembly. This is a way to enhance your memory of how the darn thing goes together.
Preston |
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I used Valvoline full synthetic grease...while wearing nitrile gloves. This is a no-hurry project as I still need a drive axle and SS brake lines before I drop it off the jackstands. Today I'm going to press the hubs back together, probably get the steering knuckles installed tommorow or Monday.
One thing that really disappointed me was the fact the rear bearings are so small they don't hold alot of grease. I'm going to make sure I pack the cavity between the bearings and load up as much as possible. I'm sure I'll never have to change the front bearings again but after looking at the rear bearings I'll no doubt be changing them a few years down the road. Definately one area Subaru went cheap. |
#7
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Just remember, you WILL need a hyrdraulic press or hub tamer to do them. They are way beyond the reach of your average arbor press.
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#8
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Got the hubs back on the knuckles. To put them back together I used a homemade press. Consists of a 5/8" threaded rod, a couple nuts and several washers. Worked really well and everything went together very easily.
If you read up further you'll note I did use a hydraulic press to get the races out. That's the only part that will require a press or hub tamer. If you have neither your best bet is to take the assembly to a machine shop. If possible, take an exploded view diagram. Whoever replaced my rear bearings really did a hack job and obviously didn't know what they were doing. FYI, I bought all the seals from Advance Auto, had to special order of course, but they worked just fine. Last edited by Myetball; 02-19-2006 at 07:30 AM. |
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