2017 Subaru Forester Rear Wheel Bearing Replacement

Changing the rear wheel bearing on a 2017 Subaru Forester with only 50000 miles. The bearing was noisy while driving and was louder when swerving to the right. The Axle nut torque spec is 140 ft lbs and the wheel bearing mounting bolts torque to 48ft lbs.

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[jamesturnure]

OK, so I just did this job yesterday on my son's 2017 Forester and it bordered on nightmarish. If you live anywhere in the rust belt, be prepared and be sure that you have the equipment to tackle this job. With the wheel, caliper/bracket & rotor off (easy) and the 4 hub retaining bolts loose from back of the knuckle, hub wouldn't budge. Tried a slide hammer over the studs...no dice; tried hammering the flange with a 5lb copper sledge...no dice. Finally used a long barrel air chisel with a blunt punch on the loosened hub bolts from in back of the spindle. Dialed up to 140 lbs of air pressure it took 10 minutes of air hammering to push the hub out, completely destroying the bolt heads.

Now comes the fun part, removing the hub from the backing plate. Held it on my lap and repeatedly struck the hub, trying to drive it from the backing plate...no dice. Air chisel with punch...no dice. Had to disassemble the parking brake and support the backing plate between two large logs stood on end and drove out the hub with the 5lb copper sledge, bending the bejesus out of the backing plates in the process. Reassembly is a breeze!

So, although they are about $100 each from the stealer, I'd strongly recommend buying new backing plates (dust shields in Subaru vernacular) before you start. I was astonished that a 5 year old vehicle had so much rust around these hubs, but the bearing area where they mount is large. This job was a bear!

[claymeyer]

This video helped me tremendously! Thank you!! My dealership quoted me $680 to replace one wheel bearing. I said no, started researching, and came across this video (and others). I bought the wheel bearing for a little over $100, and even though it took me about 3 hours (I went slowly, and had to go get some supplies), it was done well and it was fixed! My next one should take about 30-45 minutes at most (but I don't have much rust at all on my hub assemblies). If anyone is doing this at home without an air wrench, I HIGHLY recommend two helper tools - a crowbar to brace across the bearing nuts when you're removing the axle nut, and a "cheater bar" - a steel pipe to slide over the socket wrench/breaker bar handle. Makes the job super easy.

And I will echo others' sentiments - this is the last Subaru I will ever own. I've owned Toyotas and Mazdas all my life, and never had a wheel bearing go out, or any other of the quirky CVT issues this car has. It drives like a delivery truck, and has something new wrong with it every 20K miles. A 2014 car with under 100K miles shouldn't have so many problems.

[vtv]

Thank you for the video. I was able to replace the entire hub assembly just like you showed and it only tok me 90min not too shabby for never have done it before. The only hard part was torquing the 4 backing plat bolts to 48lbs. Now my car sounds smooth again.

[edbaker]

Wow! This video unrealistically made me believe this was a cake job. Rear right bearing went out at 70K miles in my 2017 XT. Using the same puller used in the video only separated the hub from the rest of the bearing assembly. Then came 8 solid hours of 8lb sledge hammer, air hammering and chiseling before needing to remove knuckle assembly and eventually press out remaining cartridge pieces from behind. Then, destroyed backing plate when trying to separate it from seized casting. 2nd trip to the parts dept was for a new backing plate. Then, a 3rd trip was necessary to replace the cracked ABS speed sensor. Don't know why removing the sensor isn't step #1. Inadvertently damaging that sensor cost almost as much as the bearing.

[WaukeePaintballer]

Thanks for the video! I've had one wheel bearing go bad at 43, 000mi and another at 58, 000. Now my forester is out of warranty, and needs another one at 70, 000. I will not be buying another Subaru after this one. Thanks again for the instructions.

[mollymcdonough]

I really appreciate all of these comments about what went wrong. My dad and I tackled this job together and were able to do it without the puller assembly. Getting the bearing out of the back pad was difficult- but we used 2 old rotors, a few blocks of wood, a little bit of penetrating spray, and broke it loose. No damage done to the speed censor- thank you again for the warning on that. Overall the job took us less than an hour because we knew what to expect going in.
I think the best part about this is knowing that I can watch these videos myself and actually know what I’m doing. It’s doable! Just gotta be prepared and that can be the hardest part. Thank you everyone for the insight!

[PotterCountyDiggers]

My first rear bearing went out at 120k. My second just went out at 190k. My gosh that thing is a pain. Wanted to get it myself, but ended up making an appointment back to the garage. You guys make it look so easy in the videos. Having the right tools helps, youtube videos helps. But your mechanics jobs will be safe as not everyone can be a mechanic, you guys don’t get paid enough!!.
We tried everything. Including a slide hammer. Lol thanks for sharing!.

[calathan]

Thanks for the video! This is the one that convinced me to get a hub puller.

It still took me 4 hours... But it's done!

[scotchace]

Our 2016 Subaru Forester has rear bearing/hub growl, or so I thought. Listening to the whirring on your video, now I'm certain. 71, 000 miles. R/R Hub assy. Going to use OEM Parts.
Thank You for your video, you just made my day a little easier!

[scrappydude]

Helpful. Will be doing this on our 2016 with 106k. Right rear is making noise. Odd, because it’s predecessor, our 2004, has never had a bearing issue and is at 300k and going strong!!

[williamevans]

Replacing mine now. Thanks for listing tq spec for axle nut and hub mtg bolts! Mine made it to 135000 miles.2017 West Coast Forester . 2.5i FJB Edition

[expert]

PRO TIP - If the hub is stuck and being stubborn you can use a cold chisel to wedge in between the knuckle and the back plate. Works it out nicely. If you can get just a little bit of a gap first it works even better. Just be careful.

[markwest]

one item that is worth mentioning is that if you are doing this in your garage on a jackstand, disengage the parking break, as you won't be able to pull the rotor with the binders on. At least on the passenger side. One tool that worked for me for breaking the bearing is a pickle fork. did minimal damage to surfaces and while it was work, an hours worth of pounding freed it up.

[shadows]

If you live in the rusty states it's easier if you buy the Rear Suspension Knuckle Assembly Kit, it saves lots of time and reduces aggregation by 88% They cost around $140 a side

[andriusstalionisable]

I always always clean rust where the bearing goes in, carefully not touching the abs sensor. Then apply some copper grease on the bearing, cv axle and 4 nuts that hold it in place. It saves you so much trouble in the future.

[jasonroberts]

This guy did it in four minutes; between ordering parts (including the hub blaster tool) and whacking with a sledgehammer after spraying with penetrating oil it took me a week.

[mikevestibularman]

Great video. Nothing fancy. Straight to the point. Thank you!!

[thsawyer]

Thank you for your video, just love Chet Atkins and the 8 track too. Best video ever!😊

[fsm]

Edited: The torue spec in this video is correct. 190 N·m (19.37kgf-m, 140.1ft-lb). Sorry if I misled anyone.

[wadesdad]

Almost NEVER this easy on most Subies in the rust belt. Replacing my 2010's rear bearings 135, 000 miles.