Forester Wheel Bearings Question

[BRH]

Awhile back, there was much discussion here about the wheel bearings on
Foresters failing prematurely. (I don't recall all of the model years
involved).

I have a 2001 Forester and hav already had 1 wheel bearing replaced
about a year ago. It would have cost between $330 (mechanic)and $400
(dealer) to replace, but to my pleasant surprise, it was still covered
under warranty. (Warranty on drivetrain goes to 50,000 miles - not sure
about time limit).

I'm now approaching that 60,000 mile limit (Just over 58,000). I just
happen to have my car going into the dealer on an unrelated matter, and
was wondering whether it would be worthwhile to have him check the wheel
bearings while the car is there. If so, can I trust a Subaru dealer to
do a fair assessment of the wheel bearings, if I have no "symptoms" like
I did the last time?

Or would I be better off having an independent mechanic do the
assessment on the bearings, and if he finds problems, only then present
his findings to Subaru? Note that I don't notice any "symptoms" with
the bearings at this point.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. An estimated cost for
checking out the wheel bearings would be helpful as well.

Thanks!

 

[Edward Hayes]

I would definitely have all drive train stuff checked before the
warranty is over.

 

[MN]

Awhile back, there was much discussion here about the wheel bearings on
Foresters failing prematurely. (I don't recall all of the model years
involved).

I have a 2001 Forester and hav already had 1 wheel bearing replaced about
a year ago. It would have cost between $330 (mechanic)and $400 (dealer)
to replace, but to my pleasant surprise, it was still covered under
warranty. (Warranty on drivetrain goes to 50,000 miles - not sure about
time limit).

I'm now approaching that 60,000 mile limit (Just over 58,000). I just
happen to have my car going into the dealer on an unrelated matter, and
was wondering whether it would be worthwhile to have him check the wheel
bearings while the car is there. If so, can I trust a Subaru dealer to do
a fair assessment of the wheel bearings, if I have no "symptoms" like I
did the last time?

Or would I be better off having an independent mechanic do the assessment
on the bearings, and if he finds problems, only then present his findings
to Subaru? Note that I don't notice any "symptoms" with the bearings at
this point.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. An estimated cost for checking
out the wheel bearings would be helpful as well.

Thanks!

Are you in the US?

I thought wheel bearings are not covered in US as
part of the drivetrain warranty (5yr/60,000 mile).


MN

 

[Steve Bukosky]

I have a 2001 Forester and hav already had 1 wheel bearing replaced
about a year ago. It would have cost between $330 (mechanic)and $400
(dealer) to replace, but to my pleasant surprise, it was still covered
under warranty. (Warranty on drivetrain goes to 50,000 miles - not sure
about time limit).

Interesting. Since new, my 2002 Forest has what I thought was a lot
of road noise that I blamed on the somewhat aggressive tread of the
tire. My son has a Jaguar that had a very expensive front bearing go
out and once when riding my the Subaru, he commented that I have bad
bearings because that is how his sounded.

I've put over 50,000 miles on the car and the sound has not changed
since new, but paying attention to it while going from cement to
smooth asphalt, I can hear that the sound doesn't change and can tell
that the tires sound changes. So, the tires were never the source of
the noise. Now I don't know if it is normal AWD noise or something
that should be checked out further.

 

[BRH]

Are you in the US?

I thought wheel bearings are not covered in US as
part of the drivetrain warranty (5yr/60,000 mile).


MN

Yep. I'm in Virginia. In November 2004, at odometer reading 50229, I
had the left rear wheel bearing replaced under warranty. At that time,
Subaru told me that the entire drivetrain, including wheel bearings, is
covered up to 60,000 mile. There might be a time limit as well, but if
so, I don't recall what it is.

 

[tom klein]

Interesting. Since new, my 2002 Forest has what I thought was a lot
of road noise that I blamed on the somewhat aggressive tread of the
tire. My son has a Jaguar that had a very expensive front bearing go
out and once when riding my the Subaru, he commented that I have bad
bearings because that is how his sounded.

I've put over 50,000 miles on the car and the sound has not changed
since new, but paying attention to it while going from cement to
smooth asphalt, I can hear that the sound doesn't change and can tell
that the tires sound changes. So, the tires were never the source of
the noise. Now I don't know if it is normal AWD noise or something
that should be checked out further.

on smooth pavement, my '02 legacy wagon can be eerily quiet. the last
time i thought i had a bad wheel bearing, it turned out to be loose
wheel nuts - the dork that serviced the car didn't torque the nuts
properly!!! luckily, all i got was the noise, rather than losing a
wheel on the highway (500 miles from home).


........ tom klein