Bearings 101..

[mbtoloczko]

Originally posted by mohrds


Yes

Hmm. I've had the rear wheel bearing assembly apart, and as far as I can tell, there is no way for the bearing to transmit any loads of any kind to the wheel bearing seals. The bearing seats against a shoulder in the knuckle on the inboard side of the knuckle, and on the outboard side, there is a large circlip preventing any lateral movement of the bearing in the knuckle. The seals are on the outside of the shoulder and on the outside of circlip, and do not contact the bearings.

[mohrds]

Originally posted by mbtoloczko


ok. So a newer style bearing exists for the Forrester and Impreza, but it is unknown as to whether it can work as a substitute for an SVX rear wheel bearing.

The pre 2003 Forrester and Impreza use the same bearing as the SVX.

Supposedly there is no change in the knuckle or hub for 2003, only the bearing so if the new bearing fits in the old knuckle and hub, it should fit in the SVX.

Doug

i am very interested in this, is there a price difference? also can anyone confirm this yet?

[mbtoloczko]

Originally posted by mohrds


The pre 2003 Forrester and Impreza use the same bearing as the SVX.

Supposedly there is no change in the knuckle or hub for 2003, only the bearing so if the new bearing fits in the old knuckle and hub, it should fit in the SVX.

Doug

I understand now. Thank you.

[vkykam]

Doug,

Me mechanic ordered it for me prior to the 20th. I'll drop by my mechanic and see if he still has the invoice for it and the P/N.

This is bearing #6 for me, 3 on each sides over the past 30 months. The first two on each side were prematurely worn due to improper installation (torque, grease). The 3rd one on the left has been on the car now for almost 2 years and 50k miles now, and no problems. The 3rd one on the right is the fresh one.

The first 5, I've got a good mental picture of the bearings. If Subaru Canada superceded bearing numbers, I would think it'd be a while back, so I'm pretty sure I know what the Canadian bearings look like. Unfortunately, I'm complete lost on your description of what the bearing would look like.

The 5 that were installed looked like a thick cylinder, with tapered edges. Against the tapered edge would sit the 2 removable pieces, which is a plastic cage with rollers in them.

Does that help?

VK

Originally posted by mohrds
Supposedly Subaru of Canada has superceded the Legacy Bearings for the SVX so if you take your SVX to a dealer in Canada, they look up the part number to a SVX bearing and it shows the part number for the Legacy as the correct part.

I cannot verify this. Victor, would you mind stopping at the parts counter next time you are at a dealer and have them look up the bearing part number? Or look at your receipt if you had yours replaced at a dealer back on the 20th. You may have the tapered bearing installed... Wouldn't that be cool?

Doug

One paycheck after finding a new job I'm going to try this. I'll see if anyone has tried it before then. If you do please post here so I'll feel more confident about buying these or know not to repeat your mistake.

one more thing, the part number 23 and 24 (inner and outer oil seal) should I get the ones that coorespond to the forrester, or the ones that coorespond to my SVX

I wonder if my parents would mind if I rip the bearings out of their 2 week old forester and sneak mine in. . .

[vkykam]

AbdominalSnoman

Granted that my experience with these bearings haven't been much (only 6 of them so far in 2 years ), I'm fairly confident that with proper installation, it'll last a while. If not installed properly (torque, grease), it'll be toast in a short while.

With overtorquing and the right grease on bearing #1, it lasted all of 3 weeks.

VK

I asked subaruparts.com for a price quote on these but they haven't responded for about 2 days. The dealership wants about $86 for them. I'll order these as soon as I get a price back from them and we'll hear if it will work soon enough.

I've had mine on for maybe 2 years and 30,000 miles? On most cars, even sports cars, you just don't plain change wheel bearings period over their entire life. I know that about 40,000 miles before I put mine in, the previous owner did the same thing. I'd like to stop this evil cycle. (evil since I can't figure out how to spell vi-shus anything but phonetically)

Please, if anyone knows what seals I need, svx or forrester, please tell me.

[mohrds]

Originally posted by AbdominalSnoman
I asked subaruparts.com for a price quote on these but they haven't responded for about 2 days. The dealership wants about $86 for them. I'll order these as soon as I get a price back from them and we'll hear if it will work soon enough.

I've had mine on for maybe 2 years and 30,000 miles? On most cars, even sports cars, you just don't plain change wheel bearings period over their entire life. I know that about 40,000 miles before I put mine in, the previous owner did the same thing. I'd like to stop this evil cycle. (evil since I can't figure out how to spell vi-shus anything but phonetically)

Please, if anyone knows what seals I need, svx or forrester, please tell me.

I hope you aren't buying pre 2003 Forrester bearings. The pre 2003 will be the same as the SVX bearings. Did you order the part number listed above (SCI541005)?

I would get the Legacy seals, logic being, if the carrier is the same opening on both cars, the seal will be either identical or designed for the bearing, not the carrier.

Vicious is the correct spelling.

Doug

[alia176]

Guys,

Hope I don't sound crazy here but these bearings that you folks are talking about sounds very costly. Why? Wheel bearings are simple tapered, needle bearings and should have a Timken p/n as a cross reference. I've been buying Timkens for less than $20 (race and cone) for years. Why are these bearings priced so high? What am I missing here?

Ali

[alia176]

One more thing, I forgot to ask. Can someone post a pic of these bearings so that I can have a better understanding?

Thanks again.

The bearings for the forrester are not too much more expensive than the svx ones. At the dealer the svx bearings are about $80 and the Forrester ones are $86 or $87. If you get the bca united bearings online from carparts.com they cost about $70. Subaru parts lists the svx bearings as $52 or so so I'm hoping the forrester bearings are only a little bit more so I don't have to pay full price.

(still no reply from subaruparts.com, how long does it usually take?)

[mohrds]

Originally posted by alia176
Guys,

Hope I don't sound crazy here but these bearings that you folks are talking about sounds very costly. Why? Wheel bearings are simple tapered, needle bearings and should have a Timken p/n as a cross reference. I've been buying Timkens for less than $20 (race and cone) for years. Why are these bearings priced so high? What am I missing here?

Ali

Ali,

Here is the bearing manufacturer's Part Number: 46T0807050 and the manufacturer is Koyo, Japan.

If you can find a Timken cross reference, please feel free to share it with us.

I figure bearings are like bolts, you can by them direct for next to nothing, but once the auto manufacturer has to buy them, inventory them, track them, distribute them, warehouse them, and ship them out to the dealer, that is why the price skyrockets.

Doug

[mohrds]

Originally posted by AbdominalSnoman
The bearings for the forrester are not too much more expensive than the svx ones. At the dealer the svx bearings are about $80 and the Forrester ones are $86 or $87. If you get the bca united bearings online from carparts.com they cost about $70. Subaru parts lists the svx bearings as $52 or so so I'm hoping the forrester bearings are only a little bit more so I don't have to pay full price.

(still no reply from subaruparts.com, how long does it usually take?)

Try www.1stsubaruparts.com

You didn't clarify if you are ordering 2003 Forrester? You may get a better price on a late 90's Legacy bearing instead of a 2003 Forrester.

1stSubaruparts.com has a rear bearing for a 96 Legacy 4WD priced at $53.64

Doug