No no no. That car was not anything like a northern car. Cmon up north with that tool for a real test.😀

that car is actually really clean by new england standards...

I found a very easy and simple way to get the Rusted Bearings out... I purchased some 2" (or so) longer bolts - SAME THREAD - that attach the Bearing Assembly to the Hub. I do also own an Air IMPACT hammer. Amazon sells some Impact Hammer Socket adapter (32029; 37315; 37316) etc. for not very much. Remove OEM fasteners. Thread in TWO of your longer bolts - diagonal cross wise from each other. Use your Impact Hammer with the Adapter on it - and a socket to not damage the bolt head - and the bearing comes out very easily and quickly. Just a few blows on one bolt; go to the other bolt; to keep the bearing moving evenly. I have FOUR longer bolts - usually only have to use Two. Since I already owned the Impact Hammer - that was 'zero' cost. The socket adapters were only like $20. I live just outside of Seattle; and Tacoma Screw just down the hill - so getting longer bolts was no problem either. But they would be available at HD or Lowes. Easy peasy.

I wish this was a representation of rust on a Northern vehicle. You probably wouldn't touch mine her in Maine 😆 🤣. But I love my subie and my location so stuck with the rust and corrosion. Love your videos and use them for self repairs often. Thank you for sharing everything you do.

Mr. Subaru has sounded super happy lately, which makes me happy. It’s odd when we remember his silent early vids.

I did this same job 2 weeks ago and there was an air hammer and the romantic aroma of the PB blaster. Up here in oregon our rust worms have snorkels. I need that. Thank you!

I've broken 2 hub busters after many many many uses. Excellent tool to have

FYI in the rust belt the abs sensor isn't coming out without breaking it.you have to be very very careful ( best Elmer fudd voice) 🤣🤣

Nice video, but I have a few tips to make it work a lot better on really stuck bearings after just doing this job on 4 really stuck bearings on a 2012 Impreza using a hub buster. 1. The tool works MUCH better if you put some wood blocks under the control arm and lower it onto those. The first one I pounded the hell out of the hub buster without the bearing budging because I had the frame on jack stands like this video. With control arm lowered onto 4x4 wood scraps so 100% of the energy of each strike was going into the bearing since the suspension now had no give the bearing popped loose in 2 hits. Did this on the rest of the bearings and they all came loose after 2-3 strikes. This was on an OH/NY/PA Impreza that has seen salt it's whole life. Both front brake dust shields had to be replaced because they basically turned to dust. Looking at how little rust was on the car in the video it doesn't surprise me his worked with the suspension just hanging. If you watch the video even with the light hits he giving it the suspension is moving a lot. It's unlikely a hub buster was really even needed on the car in the video. 2. I saw in the video he pulled the wheel speed sensor. Good luck on that with a true salt country car because you're almost certainly going to break that sensor trying to remove it since it will be fused to the knuckle. Much better off leaving that in place and just being careful you don't pull the CV shaft out with the bearing which will damage the sensor. I backed off the axle nut and made sure to break the axle loose from the bearing by lightly hammering it back in (make sure to use something to prevent you from hitting the threads, I used a 1/2" drive short extension). It doesn't take much to push the axle back. There's risk of breaking the sensor by removing it or leaving it in, so make your call based on how stuck they look. Just here to tell you that even BADLY stuck bearings can be removed without touching the sensors with no damage to the sensor if you're careful. 3. Speaking of that axle nut... PUT IT BACK ON BEFORE YOU START HAMMERING. Man I almost got in trouble here. That first bearing was getting a lot of play from all the hits. A few more without the axle nut holding it together and it definitely would have separated the bearing in half. Had that separated my only option would be to pull the entire spindle so I could press the remaining bearing carrier out on the bench. Put the axle nut back on until you see the bearing start to come loose. Don't wait until it's entirely free because again, you don't want to pull the CV shaft into the little plastic tab of the speed sensor, so just look after each hit and as soon as the bearing moves slightly and breaks that fused rust THEN take the axle nut off. Once it breaks it takes just very light hits from opposite sides to wiggle it out and this is where you can take care to push the axle back through the bearing as the bearing is coming off to protect the speed sensor.

I saw this tool on KZfaq and liked it so much I made one with a welder and some square tubing and flat plate. Only thing is, with the retail price of steel here in North America, you don't save a lot by doing it yourself. Even so, it was a fun little project.

Oh My God!!!!!! I wish you would have done this video a month ago. I just did all 4 bearings on my 2011 outback and it was an absolute nightmare. Definitely going to invest in this tool.

Just upgrading my daughter's college faithful 2004 Subaru Legacy to a bid girl's low mileage 2012 Subaru Outback (I do salvage vehicles in the Carolinas) and on my first drive after repairing the cosmetic crash damage this week one of the front wheel bearings was making noise, so your video was timely! Thank you so much Mr. Subaru been wrenching on Subis here in the upper Carolina for 10 years and agree 100% on the reliability if maintained and how easy the fixes are compared to my 2 other kiddos Ford Edges. You rock!!

This tool worked for me in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Can't get much worse as far as salt and snow corrosion on the roads. The front came off with little effort as expected. There isn't much surface area to corrode together on the Impreza front hub assembly. The rear is another story though. One side took two days with a slide hammer and it came out in two pieces. I tried this hub shocker on the other rear side. My 3-lb hammer wasn't enough. I did have to invest in a 8-lb sledge. It took three whacks and it was off in one piece. So if it's not working for you, try a heavier hammer. Also, the nuts it comes with are pretty cheap and stripped right off. I used a few washers and the lug nuts to attach it. That worked well.

What I've got in the habit of doing on my Subaru is every time I do any maintenance, I spray every bolt I can find with just a little PB blaster. My idea is it'll gradually break em looser and make future repairs a little easier considering she is quite rusty!

Your energy level is off the charts these days, hahaha. You're a force to be reckoned with on the internet now. I def coulda used this tool a time or two! Cars up North the corrosion can be unreal.

I bought this tool after fighting with a rear wheel bearing that came out in two pieces. 🤬This tool is definitely worth it especially up here in the Northeast! I still have the old rear hub in the garage as a souvenir and paper weight. Another great video chock full of tips and specs. 👍👍

Those Northern mechanics would laugh at that job. Heat, air hammer, kroil oil, repeat...... Wheel sensor salvage is a "ain't gonna happen" in a true rust belt car. Admire your knowledge, skills, calm demeanor, work ethic, good English, video-editing abilities.

See new reply below for some pictures of the "Maine Method" ! A 2017 rear hub replacement story from one of those "Rust Belt Guys"....... I bought one of the Hub Busters to use on my 2017 Impreza's rear hubs. I hit it so hard, I stripped the nuts off of the stud's threads without loosening the hub. After an entire weekend day of trying everything in my arsenal to get it loose, I gave up. I decided to remove the entire knuckle and take it in to my local garage for them to press it out. Once it was out, I had an idea. I bought some longer versions of the hub bolts and threaded them in from the back so that they engaged the hub, but were NOT against the knuckle. I supported the knuckle upside down on jack stands so that the hub was not supported and the longer hub bolts pointed up. A few times around the bolts with a two pound sledge and the hub started to move (down). In less than a minute, the hub was out. I did the second side in less than an hour by taking the knuckle out to begin with. Much less time and energy to remove the knuckle and replace it after than banging and bashing away on a rusted hub.

Love your videos. You're helping me keep my daughters 2001 Forester on the road. A lot of times you say you're putting stuff on the screen but never end up doing it. Links you mention, torque specs etc. That would be helpful to follow through. Much appreciated!

My son,and I replaced all four hub-berrings, and transaxles on my 05 Outback wagon. I thought I would take the opportunity to teach my son how to work on a vehicle. Even though I have relatively no experience with Subarus, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are relatively easy to work on. I absolutely love this car! Thanks for your amazing videos, and sharing your incredible talent!

I have one and it works on many but I have better luck knocking out a wheel stud, installing as large{dia} as possible through the lug hole through a nut on the back side of the hub and tightening it to force the hub off. The tough ones you might have to do in a few locations. With either method you have to watch out for the housing cocking in the knuckle and then concentrate on the other side. Working on cars in the rust belt is a "special" experience that you can't get your head around unless you have actually experienced how awful dealing with rust can be. Working on rust free cars remains a dream.

The front driver's side wheel bearing my 08' Legacy went bad a couple years back. The slide hammer pulled the bearing apart before the rust holding the bearing to the knuckle would give. At that point I said "screw this," and just replaced the whole knuckle. If you live in NE, I cannot emphasize this enough, anti-seize compound! I use it on virtually every bolt (except brakes where I'll use threadlocker) and I have never had a problem taking it apart the second go around! I also put a thin layer between the knuckle and wheel bearing, and between the hub and the brake rotor (don't do that on the rear, that's your parking brake!). Also - beware of the bearings they sell in auto parts stores. Many of the reputable parts brands are not what they used to be. These days, I go OEM on everything unless it's clear there's a design flaw. Every aftermarket wheel bearing I had previously put in my car, within a few years, I had to replace again. So far, the OEM replacements have outlasted the aftermarkets.

At the Subaru dealership we use this combined with an air hammer with shaved down lug studs through the back. Unfortunately we had 2 in the last month that even after 8 HOURS of hammering we had to replace the knuckle. 90% of the time this gets it out though(Rust Belt)

I would jack up the knuckle before torque the x2 strut bolts as the vehicle would have Weight on it at the alignment shop previously. Great point to mark the eccentric strut bolt rotation beforehand. 👌

That hub shocker is indispensable up here. It saves you a lot of time and swearing. Thanks for the demo. Always good.

If we sold that vehicle here in New England, we would list that has “Zero Rust”:)

I just did all four wheel bearings on my 14 XV Crosstrek. I struggled to separate these for a whole day before I bought that tool. Guess what, bought that tool and my hubs just laughed at me. I was using a 15lb sledge too. I ended up back tapping the holes with 1/4npt and plugging them. Then used loger front bolts to jack the bearing out. I live in Mass. where the roads turn white from all the salt they put down during the winter.

Love the simplicity of the hub shocker and probably the price when my Subie decides to start to hum. If you personally do the work or have it done, I highly suggest OEM only. I had some work done with supplied OEM, and got some extra unauthorized work that was a MOOG assembly and it developed rust on the entire assembly in less than a year and I live in the SOUTH. They aren't high dollar like CV axles, but they can be found JDM used around $100 or a bit more if replacing a dry rot boot to solve the future fix. I noticed all the wheel hub lug bolts had major thread stretch where the nut was torqued. I've redone, parts included, tons of work that was torque sensitive I handed off. Luckily, Mr Subaru has been a Godsend in his Learning Channel like shared knowledge. I hope the H6 3.0 will survive with 15% blend. I replaced the cooling system last year. I guess the piece of paper under the seat that said tampons wasn't part of the service record.

After fighting with the other hubs on my wife's Subaru Outback I found this video of yours and just knew I had to have one of those tools. I got to looking around my shop and found the tool I had made to put in my press and separate Toyota 4 Runner axles from the hubs. I decided that it was quicker to modify that tool to use . The tool is not an exact replica but it works really well. Thanks for idea. Hub was extracted quicker than I expected

I drive an SH Forester. The front hub assembly is pretty much the same to the Outback. I use 4 (about 120 mm long) M12x1,25 threaded bolts to hammer the hub assembly out from under the car. Of course the job requires a hoist or an inspection pit. And soaking the mating surfaces in penetrating oil is a must. I live in Russia, and rust is allways an issue. I once had the hub assembly replaced at a repair shop. The technician used a reverse hammer type tool, but just tore the wheel hub (the rotating part with 5 wheel studs) off and had to hammer the remaining part from the inside, basically using my method.

between 2 older subies I had to replace 6 wheel bearing in a 4 month period last fall and this tool did them all with no swearing. Hardest part was removing hub bolts. I am in the rust belt so this tool works great with a 10lb hammer.

Nothing beats leverage and force 🤘

For some reason, I haven't watched your videos since your lovely Thanksgiving thanks giving. Good to have you back in full form. I was just in North Charleston (love Amtrak) visiting friends. Would love to visit some time.

Hmm, currently replacing rear hub on my 2017 Outback 3.6r. Car originally lived in Boston before I bought it in 2020 @ 90k, so it’s seen Boston winters and salt. Last resort - Slide hammer just pulled the front *half* of the hub out, ball bearings everywhere. Knuckle is now going to a shop where hopefully they can *press* the hub out of the knuckle. Hub never moved a micromillimeter, despite extreme violence, heat, PBlaster, air chisel, you name it… ugh…

Not only was the hub shocker advice great but the other info was a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks man

Love the tool. Subaru bearing were breaking tools. This was a dream

Usually I just pull the spindle but will def be investing in one of these

I just bought one of these after seeing a short and it's a game changer

Thank you for this video. It will help me when I need to do this for my 12 Outback

Knocked out my rusted bearing in less than 2 seconds for me. 2008 OB clean and simple job even with my crazy rust up North.

Nice job Mr Subaru 😊

knock a stud or 2 out and use some grade 8 bolt and nut and you can impact the hub out against the knuckle cheaper than getting that tool

Yeah my Forester is a 2014 I bought her in Florida in early 2019. Now she is a MN resident. But way less rust then if I bought a 2014 Forester. Both my rear wheel bearings have been replaced. The dealership said it's going to take all day but they called me early and said the bearings came out easy to their surprise. I wasn't as I knew she didn't reside in the rust belt for too long.

Bring your tool and expertise to my 292k 2011 Legacy. I got myself a hub shocker to do my rear bearings based on this, and a few other videos. I still spent nearly 30 minutes with the air hammer 😄 My buddy's been a Midwest kid his whole life. The hub shocker was more like a 9v to the tongue, not the livewire it portends. Regardless, thank you for sharing your knowledge and advice. Ive learned a lot from you

just spray it with some blaster dude... let it sit for an hour spraying it a few more times while waiting... thats what i did in oregon... it worked so well... oh and dude so many people put a torch to em its crazy

great video in detail Thank You!!

I pulled a hub with a standard hub puller with slide and it ripped the whole assembly apart. I was left with pounding out the rest of assembly from backside of spindle.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Thanks for this guide. I installed a new wheel hub on my girlfriend's Impreza with your help and this hub shocker tool. Some broken bolts, but not too bad considering we live in salty NYS.

I absolutely love this tool. I’m embarrassed at how long it took me to get a hub off of my 2015 Outback before using this tool.

A satisfying video on this car would be the polishing/restoration of its headlights :D

What rust!? That would be a dream working on cars in Massachusetts. Plenty of Subarus come in for wheel bearings not one was easy light taps of a hammer lol! Now I just work on removing knuckle go straight to the press, less sweat. Anyway, great step by step video.

hey there not sure if anyone else asked this but why do you not use never seize when you reassemble the hub and bolts and nuts .I use it all the time it works great just wondering really enjoy your channel.

Nice vid! Thanks!

I think I will spend the extra money on new axles while this is apart,on to your axle removal video,,THANK YOU.

I have this tool and it pays for itself on the first hit, period.

Thanks for the video

I made of these tools after changing my 1st hub assembly. All I managed to do was break the bearing off of the hub assembly 😂. I ended up having to take the entire knuckle off and spend an additional 3 hrs of beating on the hub assembly from the back to finally get it to come out. It was caked with rust obviously but man it shouldn't be that difficult. I will say that I did get a stuck hub assembly off for a friend and it only took 2 whacks with my home made hub shocker

The owner of the last shop I worked in for a few weeks would have had a shit fit for using a new cotter pin and taking the time to clean rust off baking plate Hit the reason I only worked there for a few weeks. For sure going to buy and try this hub shocker out for my self, cars get pretty rusted here in MD

Seen some other people put anti seize copper spray before installing new bearing

Thanks for sharing

Always fun to work in the dirt...

I cut up an old rotor and welded a piece of 18x2" hitch reciever tube to it. Its not as nice as the hub buster but it hasnt failed me yet.

Enjoy your deep Suubie experience. We had 2015 Outback, wife’s, I rarely drove it, ran around on noisy rear wheel bearings for over a whole year. I thought just the tire tread noise of the newer tires. She has 21 Touring Outback now, wow, finally our first of 6 Subarus over 30+ years to have a smoother and quieter ride and actual power assist to power steering, what a concept. First ever heated steering wheel is most excellent up north. It will be my hand me down some day. Hope I can figure out a computer control screen strapped to the dash. Back to point, would you think about doing a show and tell on polishing fogged plastic headlight bezels? That car would be good example. As a visual learner, I could use a visual on how to do that better than I have.

Fantastic info. Thanks .. ;)

Easier than the old style Subaru hubs!

Still looking for the "northern" patina (rust, like heck, those dust shields are still brand new))...my Swedish 2006 Subaru is considered in decent shape, but your subie there, would represent a 1year old vehicle 🤣🤓

Jack stand on grass. Perfect.

For success in the real salt belt, the axle nut has to stay ON the axle during initial hub separation from the knuckle. Otherwise the hub itself will pull out of the bearing race and game over 😉

Great video! I would be interested to find if that Hub shocker would work on the older style pressed in hubs....now that would be a game changer Especially for those rear hubs

I see this design is based on leverage, but wouldn't it make sense to try to insert some rotational force upon the assembly, maybe a punch from the side in the rear or against the bearing base? Seems hitting the assembly from the side which would lead to rotational force would loosen more easily than something that's designed to slide together and maintain rigidity from that slide direction. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm only about to do this in a few days.

I bought this tool hoping for a miracle. After beating the **** out of it for what seemed like 3 days, it finally showed a smidge of progress. At that point I put the air hammer to it and then made a trip to Home Depot and bought a couple bolts that were about an inch longer then the ones that hold the hub on from the back side. I then hit them and she finally started to come out. What a freakin nightmare. The money I spent on tools I probably could’ve just paid a shop to do it and saved myself several hours of swearing a stressing. When it finally broke loose I kind of felt like rocky balboa when he beat all odds and beat the Russian. Most definitely the worst hub I’ve ever changed.

Alright brah, I just ordered the hub shocker...it better work on Wisconsin subaru😉

When doing on the ground like this always slide the tire and rim under the front, trans axle or k frame for added protection,,,, saved me many times... Front wheel drive automobile will walk off the stands and jacks....

Can you fit these modern style knuckles/hub carriers to the older cars like sf/sg forester? Also, on those older style ones, I've recently come across one whose front axle splines seem to be rusted into the hub. What do you do for these? It's in Australia so we don't have road salt rust.... But it stuck so bad and they usually just knock out easily in my experience. Any tips?

Born and raised in Minnesota I seen more then my fair share of rusty, corroded components on vehicle's. For all the whiners watching, there are a lot of persuasion tools out there, my favorite go to is my trusty Snap-on air hammer. It's never let me down, even rebuilding the front axle on a 3/4 ton Dodge Ram 4X4.

where did you buy this ? nice vidio 👍🍻 . looks like I should do a pair of rear bearings ,before snow .

I have to change my 98 impreza that spent most, if not all of its life, in the north east. Right on the coast. Love it right? We'll see what that tool does. Fingers crossed lol.

When I did the rear hub 2011 outback 1 bolt became an issue rounded off was a real buttkicker but got it.

Hi MrSubie ! How long can it takes ? Trying a different shop. Both rear hub assembly was change and got charged 2.5 hrs per side. I'm not on the penny, but it seems a stretch. *calipers & rotors we're done last sept, but live in rust country. Thx you!

Figured id share my experience with this tool. It didnt break off the front right hub of my 08’ legacy. This car has seen only about 2 winters its life, and it was unable to bust off the hub after bending the tool hammering it for 3 hours. So I took the whole knuckle off (5 min) then hammered the hub from the back, popped right out in about 10 hits with a 3lb hammer. I suppose for future reference if it doesnt budge in a few min of striking, move on to a different method lol.

LOL. I wish. That'll never happen with a Canadian Subie. Glad it works for you though!

😄 that car didn't spend much time in North the way that ABS sensor came out and the hub came off. Here the ABS would be broke and the hub buster would be getting wacked with a 10lb long handle sledgehammer. 🤣

All the videos I have seen on this tool, it’s being used on an axle through hub. I am curious if this would work on a Front hub of a RWD car like a 2011 Crown Victoria?

What's your take on using anti-seize compound on that new hub flange when re-assembling?

will the hub-shocker also work on the 2016 Outback rear wheel bearings? last thing, what about if I pick up a cheap-o torque-wrench from Harbor Freight? Is that ok just for this job? I don't have the resources for the electronic type or even a Craftsmen.

My JDM 2004 Subaru Forester has an issue at take off. Its automatic (sadly) and when lifting off the brake to go it doesnt go until the pedal is lifted about 3/4 of the way and kind of jerks and then goes. Tranny fluid has been changed twice. Front and rear diff fluid has also been changed. Doesnt always do it. Only does it when warmed up. Also never does it in sport shift mode. Always takes off perfect in sport shift mode. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you! Car has 75,000km.

Wound it be recommended to do both wheel bearings even though only one was needed to be replaced ?

This is a very heavy duty tool , but does not work in the northern parts of the country. I tried using this tool and I actually broke the wheel bearing out of the assembly. It was way easier to remove the whole assembly, take it to a mechanic shop and have them press it out.

Working on my rear wheel bearing on my 2013 Crosstrek now and even with the hub buster tool you used, it's not coming out

What mileage point in general do bearings need replacing

I need to replace my rear hubs on my 05 Altima. I live in Sioux Falls, cars rot quickly due to road treatments in this area. I tried replacing them already, removed the bolts but the hub is frozen into the aluminum knuckle. I don't want to mess them up anymore in the case i just can't remove it (the car is not worth bringing to the shop), but i really want to change them out. Does this guy truly truly work on these types of jobs? Id be scared of beating the crap out of the hub for it to not come out (its my daily, i cant afford to disable it) 🤣

Would this work on the pressed in Subaru bearings?

Hello Mr Subaru. My 2011 Subaru Outback 2.5i has bad rear bearing. Makes a lot of noise. The car only has 65,000 miles, well kept all around. Why is it that SUbaru bearings don't last much? I have a 1997 Nissan Altima that has 145000 miles and I never changed its bearings. Are there bearing out there that are better than the OEM that come original on the Subaru? Or is this basically a design flaw on all Subarus? Thank you for all your videos. Learned a lot!

I use a old tow hitch as my hub shocker lol

I have the hub remover tool. I have been whaling on it for over an hour with a 8lbs sledge (take breaks of course). I can't get it to budge. I have saturated with PB blaster and still no luck. I have also heated it with a propane torch and tried whaling at it some more. Any ideas on what I can do?

I got the same car, live in north east pa and mine has about 114k miles. I think i will one day need a torque converter as it gets a little shakey during gear changes, doesn't stall though. Ive also found certain ways to reduce the shutter, if u give a little rpm n change the gears when u get into exactly 1k rpm with the brake firm obviously. Also, i used to wait daily in line for coffee n this n that, it doesn't like to just chill idle in drive, i put it into neutral now when sitting for longer than a few seconds and it was actually gotten slightly better with less shuttering the last 5k miles so who knows. Either way, how much is a typical torque converter no friend discount, n not ur price, ur actually fair?

I know its been said but in michigan you don't have that little rust past 50k

I noticed you used an impact taking the 14mm wheel hub bolts out. Is there a chance of these breaking or being seized to a point where they break? I'm only asking because I have a wheel bearing in the front and rear I'm about to replace AND I live in Canada where our streets are plastered with salt in the winter.. Cheers and Thanks!

I would worry about too many blunt force trauma might mess up the cv axle. Just my thought.