New member introduction

Hello:
I have joined this group almost two weeks ago, so it is time to introduce myself. I had a 84 Turbo wagon, an 86 Turbo XT, a 91 Legacy wagon and now a 94 LSi (bought in 1996), so I qualify as a Subaru lover.
I have perused threads in this group, but have not joined before mainly because I feel I have so little to contribute, in awe of those who have replaced their automatic transmission with 5-speeds!
But since the trusted mechanic I have been going to refused to even consider rear wheel bearing replacement, and the Subaru dealership had done this twice already, I decided with all the time on my hand since retirement, I should tackle this. So now I qualify as a fool hardy, backyard mechanic!
With the info on this site, together with some advice from the Yahoo group, I have the knuckle out of the shaft, ready to be Hub-tamered!
So thanks already for this wealth of information, and for all the future advice I will get from this great group!
wolf33h

[wawazat??]

Have fun with your project and let us know how it turns out.

Todd

[CigarJohnny]

Welcome to the board, wolf33h! It's about time you chimed in after all that time. Don't sell yourself short. With all the subies you own and 7 years with the same SVX you MUST have useful experience we'd all like you to share. With all the experiences I've had in the 8+ months I've had mine I can only imagine how many you've had in 7 years. It's always great to hear another perspective from an SVX owner.

[Clydesvx]

My bearing problems were finally solved after my Subaru Dealer installed new HUBS. Before that time I was going through bearings every 20,000 to 30,000 miles.
Good Luck.

[ensteele]

Welcome to the site wolf33h. Hope your project comes out for you. It seems that if we want something done right, we need to do it ourselves! Even then, I wonder! Good luck.

Hi you all:
Thanks for the warm welcome. A question for clydesvx: do you mean that the knuckles (housing the bearings) were replaced? Were they out of round? Do you remember by how much?
Cheers, wolf33h

[Clydesvx]

Yes, They were replaced. I'll check the bill for part numbers and price and post them. I have had no problems since they were replaced. The shop I use said that this would fix the problem. They couldn't tell me why, they just said their experience was that this would fix the problem. Since I had a year warranty on the repair I went ahead. I'm glad I did.

[LarryIII]

Wolf,

Welcome. Where is Somers, NY?
I'm driving up to Syracuse on the night of 8/26/03 and plan to be there through 8/29/03.

Thanks, Larry. Somers is a little town one and a half hour North of NYC, about 20 minutes South of the intersection of 684 and 84.
Which way will you be going to Syracuse? Maybe we can meet for coffee and ?. Please let me know.
wolf33h

[Clydesvx]

2 28016PA010 Taper roller bearing @73.65 ea
2 28015AA021 Oil seal IN (F) @12.23 ea
2 28015AA070 Oil seal out @9.88 ea
2 28035AA010 Snap Ring F @6.95 ea
1 28411PA010 Housing-REAR axle,LE @177.57
1 28411PA000 Housing-REAR axle,RI @177.57
2 20540AA000 Bolt(L/L out) M144WD @25.22 ea
2 28052PA010 HUB COMPL (R) @169.95 ea
1 26269PA010 STRUT LH @8.57

Parts 01/08/1999 $959.82
Labor $360.00

at 117709 miles
Currently 238546 miles on these bearings.

We have a small meet scheduled on Long Island later this month. Looks like some pritty knowledgable people will be there. They could prob. help with your problem.

Thanks consume for the meet suggestion. Please tell me when and where.
Thanks clydesvx for the breakdown of the bearing replacement.
I agree with you that it is a good idea to get a new knuckle, especially when from the inner side, the housing shows a definite out-of-roundness. I plan to keep the hub itself and the backplate with the parking brake and ABS sensor. The inner seal is a mess, fused with the housing. I will go to the Technical Q & A for my next questions.
wolf33h

[svx_commuter]

At 186,234 I am approaching 100k on the wheels bearings that came with my SVX when I got it 3 years ago. I really do believe the life of the bearing depends on the assembly. Dealers use the hubs for an excuse. That's just my opinion. Doing this job with a press is a bearing killer. Puts way to much preload in the bearing assembly. Just my opinion, no hard facts.

Welcome the Network.

Update from back yard mechanicking: before pulling the knuckle from the half shaft, I had a terrible time with the lateral link long bolt. Two days of Pb Blaster and homemade 200+ ft-lbs torquing only yielded sore muscles. I briefly considered heating the two housing bumps next to the lateral links, but gave up not wanting to damage the bushings, and took to sawing the bolt in two places, next to the outer lateral link placings. I planned to drill out if the knuckle is ok.
Anyway, I saw right away that the inner seal was gone, and outpopped a coiled ring (I believe it to be part of the oil seal body). After getting the hub out of the knuckle, I saw that the knuckle bearing housing was definitely out of round by almost 1/32 of an inch, visibly squashed in by overtorquing the long lateral link bolt! So I am ordering the knuckle, but I saw no reason not to keep the hub and the back-plate, as previously conjectured. Once I get the parts, ordered through Kerven Subaru, I will work to get the right wheel rolling again! Thanks again for your input!
wolf33h

Sorry for the boring details, but since I am doing this for the first time, I would like to make sure that I am doing the right thing!
The hub came out with the outer bearing race rollers attached! The tapered rollers are indeed small (I read Beav's remarks). The outer seal and snap ring look ok, while the inner seal and bearing (still in the knuckle) is a mess! Green grease is everywhere, and the inner ring bears the letters NTN....4T-CRI-08A02....Japan EN.
This bearing was replaced a second time by the dealer. Is this the correct Subaru bearing? Help, experts out there: Beav, Lee, Aredubjay, ensteele, larry,......?
Thanks, wolf33h