Instead of using the pry bar method, you can grab the coil spring with your hand while you or someone else manually spins the wheel. You will feel a vibration on the coil spring with the bad wheel bearing.

@5:00 For future reference, M8 x 1.25 threaded bolts is the size to extracting the stuck rotor.

"Gotta hold your mouth right" - underated and underused life advice my pops used to give me 😂 thanks for video!

Bro, thank you so much! I’ve been doing repairs on my 2012 Legacy. I live in a college town so every mechanic thinks they can up charge because the parents are most likely paying for repairs. But I am a single healthcare worker. I cannot afford these crazy prices. You’re really helping me out a lot. I just wanna tell you how much I appreciate it.

I can't believe how easy that came off. This took me 4 hours in the rust belt. I ended up using a hub buster and a 12 pound sledgehammer to get it off.

I have the same problem with my 17 forester right now, was going to take it to the shop but after seeing this I can definitely do it myself! Thank you so much for making this!

Awesome! You talked me into it. My wife's Forester is noisy as hell. I thought it was the worn out tires but now with new tires it's still noisy. Gonna give it a go. BTW: once you touch the prybar to the housing, you then touch the bottom of a plastic cup to the end of the prybar and it amplifies it ALOT. I have a rig in the corner that is a long metal rod with the end securely stuck to the bottom of a big disposable plastic cup. It's an awesome poor man's stethoscope I use to find noises like this.

I absolutely love your approach and this channel. Just realized my rear driver side wheel bearing is done. Found the super helpful and I’m definitely going to get the same size tires. Cheers!

Oh man this video is perfect. I happen to own a 2016 forester too, definitely going to keep checking back here. Thanks man!

Great video! I did my passenger side rear bearing on my '17 Forester last year and will have to do the driver's side soon. My car is from Michigan so it took plenty of heat, penetrating oil, and an air hammer to remove backing plate from the bearing assembly. Otherwise went really smoothly.

Nice video, this was my guiding light! Mine didn't just fall off. I had rust seize the bearing and just couldn't get it off. I ended up cutting the elbow off a tire-iron and using that as a wedge between the bearing/dust shield assembly and the car. 6lb sledge and some pounding and I was finally able to separate the assembly from the car - wish I had thought of that sooner. If I have to do this again I'm going to buy a hub removal tool. Thanks for the video!

Thanks for the visuals! I've decided to do this job myself. The only thing I'd mention that you don't cover in this video is to be sure to put the hub bolt back on with the appropriate torque for the vehicle. In my case, 140 foot-pounds for a 2013 Forester. This is a preload on the bearing. Important for longevity. Thanks again for making the vid! Always a huge help to see the process!

Thanks for this. I'm going to be attempting this in a week

Fine video, appreciate you taking time to make it.

You made it look easy. Now time for a weekend project! Thanks a lot for this!!

I appreciate you taking the time to post the video. But I have news for you and anyone else who attempts this repair. My old hub assembly and backing plate would not separate nice and easy like it shows in your video. I have been over two hours trying to get it to budge with no success. Taking a break now to come back and post this note.

Another fun one, thanks for the content!

Thank you my brother.. super helpful, greetings from Greensboro NC

the bearing sure came out easy for you!

Awesome, well explained, not so bad! lets save some money

Man the new foresters are easy.... 98 to 06 are super fun.... i wish they were that easy. I ended up replacing the whole knuckle. Lol.

Just an fyi, use of an impact gun versus a proper torque spec with a torque wrench will cause premature bearing failure. It’s a common mistake. Many times, when replacing axles, and not bearings, the bearing will soon follow. This is due to the shortcut of using an impact gun. These bearings are designed to operate with a calibrated range of pre-load. An impact gun puts way too much tension on the bearing, shortening its service life. Most people overlook this due to the simplicity of modern bearing component replacement. A possible visual symptom of over tightening will be grease around the axle nut, bleeding out to the center of the wheel.

Thanks bro, great video and straight to the point. I owe you a beer for sure!

Here in West Virginia thats alot harder to do mine was nicely rusted on. I have found any time I do any work under my car. I put Permatex Anti Seize on the threads.

Sure the hell beats cuttin an old axle bearing and collar with a dotco on a 60s car and finding a blacksmith machinist in the dirty outskirts of town to press the new ones on...

Just yesterday, I dropped by my Subaru dealer to ask them how much to do a wheel bearing. $650.oo / bearing. I also saw a mechanic using a 12 pound sledge to get a 2018 Crosstrek wheel bearing off I couldn’t believe it. The buildings cement floor was shaking. I have a 2012 Forester.

Wonder how long those Timkins lasts?

How did the bearings hold up? I keep changing mines every 6 months!

Great video. I was wondering if there were torque specifications for the 4 rear mounting bolts or for the main hub nut on the front? I recently had to have a the LR bearing replaced. I suspected it was the bearing, but I wasn't sure. As far as the sound, I would describe it as if you were flying a single-engine airplane or something. Definitely a grindy-type noise. I wonder if this is some kind of design or manufacturing problem? I was in the shop (again) a few weeks later for an intermittent ignition problem, and there was a customer in the waiting room who had two bearings go on her at once.

Can this be done on a 2006 Forrester of the rear? People are saying it’s a different bearing for the rear because there’s drum brakes?

Great!

Thanks for the video, I found yours the most helpful when replacing my rear bearings! Shot in the dark question here: is it possible to put the new bearing back on and messing up the position of that small axle dust shield? Your video captures a great image of the part I'm referring to @ 07:28 . I ask because my ABS light came on after replacing the bearings even though we checked the sensors before we finished

How many miles did you have when the noise started.? I have a black 16 forester as well, and I’m hearing a slight vibration starting around 40ish. Mph

Anyone know if this would be the correct fit for a 2003 forester??

Hey what brand tires did you put on that Forester? Thanks!

What would you say the quality of that TIMIKN Bearing was, or is?

Can't find these kits. where did you get them? GREAT VID THANKS ! !

Thanks..

You had me at "hellacious."

Had an axel replaced and they never jammed the hub nut in. It ended up backing off a trashing a wheel bearing! Now I have to put on a new one! They never knew what they were doing!

So I went to check my wheel bearings like you did. I jacked my car and had all 4 tires off the ground. Turned my car on. Put in in drive but only my passenger front tire would turn. My rear driver side turned for 5 minutes and I could hear the roaring from that tire but not the front. The driver front and passenger rear would not turn. Even if I turned them they would stop. After the 5 minutes the driver side rear tire quit spinning. The only one spinning, and stayed spinning, was the front passenger. The driver side front tire wanted too but wouldnt(you could see small jerking forward movements). I'm confused why they wouldn't spin. Once I lowered my car I got in and noticed 6 dash lights came on (check engine, AT temp oil, abs, hill start assist, traction warning, and my cruise control symbol flashes on and off). Now I'm really lost lol I didn't take anything apart

What year is this Subaru forester?

you can use a stethoscope for the car. Dont use the doctor type

Man that was easy, mine was corroded onto the knuckle and was a pain to remove.

How many miles?

How many miles are on this Forester?

My wife has a 2018 with114,000 miles. I noticed a "snow-tire" like sound from the rear. I'm guessing rear bearings are shot. Crap.

Should be recalled, they used poor parts at the factory that go out early, everyones bearings went out after 70k miles, meanwhile my dealer thinks its fine every time i ssk about the annoying noise coming from the resr bearing. I turned the bearing myself by hand and could feel the grinding inside.

You have a sexy voice and i like watching a man work on cars

THIS MUST BE FLORIDA OR A SUNSHINE STATE

SHIT!! I thought I was gonna see a screwdriver get driven through someone's skull. Napa sells mechanic stethoscopes for $12. Nonetheless a very helpful video. Thanks for posting.

If your car is pristine like this you are OK. If it's rusty, you are in for the battle of your life.

Without that impact gun and just hand tools its abit of a bitch of a job on a 15 year old forester i can tell you that but i got it done in the end along with new struts rides like new 😎

lol i wish i lived somewhere where rust didnt exist.

BEWARE that there’s a good chance this bearing will be seized in the spindle. I wound up having to order the hub shocker tool, had to ream the holes with a dremel to make it fit, then had to wack it full strength with an 8lb sledge a dozen times before it came out. Personally I wouldn’t attempt this repair unless you already have the hub shocker tool, unless you’re ok with the loss of your vehicle for a week or so.

Didn't your traction controll screw up your plans to have the wheels spin while off the ground and in gear? Apparently I need to learn how to bypass the system because it shut down the wheels from spinning. Could only get two to spin. Both driverside. When I touch the Gas it would make the audible sound associated with the traction control and stop all of the wheels. Luckily it was the driver side rear that was screaming bad. But I wanted to make sure the passenger side wasn't bad also. I was able to have another person hold the driver rear wheel and the passenger then would turn. Was never able to touch the gas to spin them up to anything over idle (2-3-4-5 mph) but passenger side sounded good. Is there a trick to get all of the wheels to recieve power while off the ground. I did turn the traction control off, the computer will still kick it back on when it perceives a big enough loss of traction.

bearing is now trash need to torque to spec for proper preload.

Step One: Live in an area where components and fasteners don't rust.

You can buy a stethoscope for checking this

That sure isn't a Pennsylvania car.

Definitely not in the rust belt

Bill statement bearings: $100 each, install: 2 hours per bearing $90 hour, and all he parts they broke extra 1k 😂😂😂

Hate Subaru. This is why. Use to own one and they go to crap over 100k

Wtf. 1k for bearings? 2 hubs for 200$ or 160$ and an hour to do 2 of them.