Subaru Forester Rear Hub Wheel Bearing Assembly Removal & Replacement 

Watched this video about six times. Noted the steps, and followed each as shown. The outcome was as I desired. Thanks for the video and especially for referencing the torque specs.

It's so nice to see someone that doesn't have to deal with rust. Not so with my stuff in New England. Speed sensors just snap off here.

I flip the rotor and screw in few thread with lug nuts and slide the brake rotor like slide hammer to get the wheel bearing out.

I have the same car. I honestly wish either of my rear hubs were that easy. I had to take off the entire knuckle and put it in a 12 ton press with a two foot extension on the jack handle for the press and two map torches aimed at it. Needless to say , when it broke free it came out like a rocket.

one comment to keep some people from going off-track, who might otherwise: No Forester up through the 2018 model year (SJ generation) has an electronic parking brake, which you mention in connection with needing a scan tool. And if you do have a 2019+ Forester (SK generation), I'm sure the part # for the rear wheel bearings is a different one than you mention, because the circle diameter of the wheel lug nuts was enlarged for 2019+ models. So - for 1998-2018, don't worry about a scan tool; for 2019+, don't use the part number mentioned here.

Always a no nonsense instruction from Mr. Subaru but the icing on the cake were the red on black SnapOn socks.

I replaced all 4 of the wheel bearings, and axles on my "05" Outback wagon. It was surprisingly very easy, and I did it in my gravel driveway with conventional tools. It only took a Saturday afternoon. 👍

Love the yard fix for this video. Really clear and straight forward. Thanks man!

You make this look easy. Actually doing an 04 Legacy rear bearing right now. Nice work!

So I have a 2018 forester touring with all the bells and whistles to include isight. Today Dec 30th 2022 at 77,000 miles I had both the rear hub bearings replaced at the dealership. I didn't do it myself because this vid and others said the rear electric brakes need to be put into service mode. I asked the tech at the dealership about this and he looked at me like I was crazy. He said the only thing in the hubs is the WSS (Wheel speed sensor). He even showed me the hubs and said he never heard of having to put the rear electric brakes in service mode. I literally showed hime this video and he said "Do you see any "Electric brakes back here? Your car has every feature Subaru offers." So at this point I would have felt really bad if I told him to put everything back together and I'll do the work my self. Not to mention I would have had to pay an hours worth of labor anyways. So I just let him do it. $450 in parts and $420 in labor. When I could have done it my self.

I’ve been looking for days for a video that replicated this same noise and issue! I have a 18 forester and you bet I’ll be taking care of that wheel bearing soon, many thanks for your video!

Thanks for the video! The manual parking brake isn't just on the Base model. All Foresters up to the 2018 model had a manual parking brake. They switched to an electronic parking brake for the 2019 Forester. However, all Outbacks/Legacys 2010+ have an electronic parking brake.

I just did the job. My bearing was really stuck in there. Some notes for you to consider if you are thinking about doing the job. If the disc doesnt come off easy, borrow the screws that hold the radiator down, they fit into the disc to push the disc off the hub. Turning the disc around and using it as a slide hammer was not enough to free the hub from the knuckle. If its super stuck, take the parking brake shoes off, you will get better access the pound on it with a hammer. Lastly, support the bottom if the hub with a jack or jackstand so the suspension doesnt absorb all the energy from the hammer blows. Good luck! Turning the disc brake around and using it as a slide hammer didnt work.

Thank you, that's the most thorough explanation I've seen. I'm in the rust belt, so if I attempt this it might be a different kind or experience.

As a GC8 owner, I'm kinda envious how easy the rear bearing replacement is now. I have entire sets of hub and bearing special tools...

Another excellent video. I have saved $2500 with two videos in last two weeks.

In my rust prone part of the world, the rear hub assembly would literally just laugh at you, trying to get it out like that. Here, you have to be prepared to go to war to get those suckers unstuck.

There is also a updated Technical Service bulletin that states to install the updated rear backing plate with the updated wheel bearing to remedy the constant wheel bearing issue. It’s a little bit more work but definitely worth it to replace while your there anyway!

I just did this exact repair on my wife's 2017 Forester two weeks ago. It was a loud hum past 35-40 mph from the right rear as well. I only replaced the right rear. Her car has about 68K and change on it. What an incredible coincidence you post this video with the exact same issue I had.

Always a great source of information , being a Subaru owner my self .

Thank ya ole buddy! You helped me fix my Nana's vehicle 🙏🏼

Rockin' the Snap-on socks. Thanks Mr. S.

The dealer recommended this for my '09 Outback, but I thought that the price was on the high side. Explaining it here confirmed my suspicion.

I love those rotating head ratchets

A generous coating of anti seize on all metal mating surfaces.

I had a garage I thought I could trust do the right side rear on my 06 Outback. Turned out the guy did the whole assembly job including the hub nut with a air wrench and it only lasted 1000 miles by which time it was making concrete-mixer noises. I did the job myself and replaced every fastener as they had been wrung up way beyond spec.

"so let's go get a little persuader" 🤣🤣 btw nice Mac ratchet right there!

I'm old school - could you please include measurements in foot pounds - even though you like Nm Thanks...

Great video, this video inspired me to replace my own rear wheel bearing on my 2015 Forester. My replacement was not as smooth as yours. My biggest challenges were: Removing the axle nut. Sprayed it with PB blaster and let it sit over night. Came back with a breaker bar and 3 ft steel cheater bar and the rotor kept spinning even with a helper pressing the break. The solution I found was to stick a flat head screwdriver in the slots of the side of rotor to prevent spinning. Still took an incredible amount of strength to break this loose even with a 3 ft breaker bar. Once the nut was removed, the four bolts on the back of the hub were so hard to break loose too. It is tight behind the hub and finding space for a breaker bar was very difficult. Using a combination of various ratchet extensions and 3 ft steel cheater bar I was able to get the bolts off. Using an impact driver would be my advice to making this job 50% easier. I didn’t have one. Luckily, the hub came off with a few whacks with a 3lb hammer. Re-assembly was easy and my project was complete. This took me 4 hours over the course of three days but if I did it again I could probably do it in under an hour.

Replaced mine at 135000 miles. SW US coast car, so no salt. Antisieze or hd wax protection on new mating surfaces! I bought MOOG. HOPE IT LASTS

it also can have a low jet like sound only gets louder as time goes on. I remember my 86 Ford cougar it was really loud.

A true professional thanks, for latest installment... A +

So much easier than the bearings that have to be pressed in

Just had a rear bearing replaced on my 06XT. Got a shop to do it, and it didnt look like fun.

Glad to see a how to video

Im guessing a better, tighter tolerance, seal in the bearing unit would help. Salt and potholes do no favors.

Great video thanks.

I would love to have a publication that shows torque specs for various fasteners. I know how to do the mechanical procedures, it would be great to have something limited to torque specs.

Again Thanks for the video.

Would you be able to show us home mechanics how to change out a TPMS module on a Forester wheel? I tried to unseat my front right tire, and no matter what method I used, it wasn't gonna comply. Got tricks for this??

I love how you skip past removing the inner two bolts that hold the assembly on which is exactly where I hit a dead end. Can't crack em loose with a ratchet and can't fit my cheater bar in there lol

Whole point of the video was bearing removal and assembly, wheres the removal? 1 sec its on the vehicle next it’s completely disassembled and the new bearing in hand. Did you press it off or did it just magically disassemble itself from the backing plate 😂 rest of the video is great but should probably not edit to the point its missing steps

I think I might be hearing wheel bearing noise on my 2016 Crosstrek, but wonder if it could also be the prop-shaft bearing failing, no change in sound when I turn / place a load on one side or the other

What happen if you don’t set the computer in a service mode and finished the hub assembly?

I'm dreading doing this to my 05 baja.... but i also dont want to pay a shop 700-800 for them to do it....

More comments, from having just successfully completed the whole job on both sides, today. (by success, I mean a good 15 mile test drive, up to high speed, observing everything quiet, tight, brakes and parking brake working well, no warning light squawks from the ABS/ESC). I'm in the PNW and my car is a '17 XT with 106,000 miles. We're not the rust belt, but probably wetter and rustier than the South. Mr. S's technique of whacking the lug studs with a hammer didn't work for me - I had broken several old studs and replaced them all just last year, so hammer-whacking just loosened up the studs from the hub. I had to hammer in a pry bar at the mating surface. Separating the backing plate from the bearing was also quite a challenge, despite being given little attention in the video. It's difficult to choose a good place for punch-hammering, and too easy to disrupt the parking brake assembly. But I seem to have gotten all my parking brake springs adjusters and levers back together correctly. Another idea I was slow to come up with, when reassembling the sandwich of suspension and backing plate to bearing, put the 4 bearing bolts into their holes as locating studs. The 2 parts don't want to align their holes otherwise. I commend MrSubaru1387 for careful noting of the sequence of doing things, and carefully mentioning torque specs.

My forester has eyesight but manual handbrake. Do i need the tablet to do the wheel bearing?

What year do they start having the rear electronic brakes? I have a forester 2011

I have a 2015 Subaru Forester. Do I need the scan tool in order to service my brakes?

always so great and detailed videos. thanks. what is needed (parts to be replaced) when replacing the rear back plate (dust cover) of the brakes on a 2009 impreza? my part list would be: dust shield itself, wheel bearing,....anything else? still not sure how the dust shield is screwed on the rear axle? thanks.

Wow I spent 3 hours separating the bearing from the knuckle the other day! 🤣🤣🤣

Great work. I have a 2014 Subaru Forester XT. I replaced both bearings with Moog. I got VSS P0500. I replaced both sensors with same lights on dash. I returned Moogs and got OEM's. With same lights and code. I disconnected batt terminals and touched together to discharged and left it over night. I plugged terminals to batt and was able to see VSS MPH on scanner with lights on dash and was able to drive it. I cleared VSS code and went back to limp mode and no VSS MPH reading. I now have a permanent code that I cannot clear with scanner that I have. I don't know if a better scanner can help me at this point. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Excellent video 👍 👍

I had one bolt that was stuck then rounded off end up cutting it drilling it then pounded it out. 2011 outback replaced axle also bearing were shot. 278k on it now.

Anyone able to take this apart to see what's going on with the bearings in there?

I think mine is going out on my 2011 Forester. Sounds like a growl though.

Thanks so much, this is really helpful.

Be careful with ABS sensors, currently a back order in UK for rear Subaru ABS sensors. I have been waiting for over a month for a replacement from Subaru. Subarus don't like Ebay alternatives despite what the sellers might say....lesson learned.

Wish it was this easy 😢 living in the rust belt wheel bearings are not your friend. Air hammer usually does the trick but sometimes the torch has to come out 😈

i think i need to do mine too. But I wanna be make sure is the rear WB.. How do you diagnose it? can I spin the wheel and use my other hand holding the shock tower and feel if there is any vibration?

Thank you for the video. My 2015 forester is now out of extended warranty with 120k miles. My wife is driving most of the time now but we just took it on a little trip. I am starting to hear a bearing hum again and i believe it is the drivers side rear again. I have had 4 bearing failures on my forester so far with 2 of them being on the drivers side rear and now I am hearing that one again. Is there something that is causing the drivers side rear bearing to keep going out? The only bearing on my 2015 that is still original is the passenger side front. At least these are easy to replace but why don’t they last longer? I never replaced a wheel bearing on my PT Cruiser with over 300K and my Mom went about 240K on hers before replacing the wheel bearings on her PT.

If that took you 4+ hours, it was that simple for me as well 😀. I needed quite a bit of persuasion....

67k this is hell for subaru so they need to fix this issue almost all subaru will not reach 100 miles before rear bearings huums.

I assume it's not intentional, but RU-vid's new description formatting seems to have made your disclaimer "-strike through-" which makes it hard to read. It also kind of makes it look like the disclaimer is no longer valid. I imagine that disclaimer was in your upload defaults that way, which probably means this is an issue on a lot of videos. Figured you might want to know!

Why do you use nm instead of lbf-ft?

I've seen 1a Auto use a torch, another use heat . This obviously looked like it gave you no trouble. What about in the event it doesn't come off so easy like that. Do you resort to torch ?

Great video. I haven’t seen anyone else use a hammer on these. I was wondering if you still could. I need to invest in an impact and a torque wrench, my torque specifications were always “fuck it, it ain’t going nowhere”

I have a 2018 Forester that is a base model without the existing roof rail system..... I know they make roof racks that fit into current mounting holes but is there a way to add this style of rails going front to rear like the one in the video? Is it the same mounting points?

I had new batteries in my techwrench and they sprung a leak. Ruined my wrench. Should have learned to remove them after the day. Or, shouldn't have swapped up from my old school clicker.

@MrSubaru, im hearing noise, pretty sure its the wheel bearing. do the rears seem to go before the fronts??? bc im pretty sure its the rear driver side. Enjoy your vids, you remind me of ErictheCarGuy. he was the one i always watched and learned from when i had my old car. But since getting a Subaru, i found your channel, and been watching to learn.

Do you think it's worth fixing a 2012 Subaru Legacy with head gasket problems or should I get a new car? I have about 209,000 miles on my car.

I have to do this to my XV crosstrek 2015, Any tips not in the video?

I hear yah on that ... live in east coast Canada. Literally beat on my for 2 hours with a sledge hammer to get it off

Another fantastic instructional! When I need to persuade my assembly, so you recommend the pullers I can rent from the car parts shop?

I've newly discovered Subaru service bulletin 05-70-19R (revision date 12/02/2020) which talks about new backing plates ( 26704FJ002/012 RH/LH ) being necessary to install along with new bearings. I didn't do that, but continue to think I got very good success at noise elimination. But did I create a car configuration that actually will have worse bearing durability than my car had when new? If I can get to 15 years old and 210,000 miles I'm not sure I'll mind it starting to howl again. But if I want to put in new backing plates too, I should do it pronto before anything rusts up again... Comments?

Yea my abs sensor is one with my spindle lol

Man, I am not used to seeing a bearing hub come off that easily with such a dinky little hammer. Or the bolts come out with hand tools.

Are those snap-on socks? 😊

Piece ‘o cake! We have a 2017 Forester XT Touring without Eyesight. Don’t have to worry about computer when doing this?

Nice video. I meed to do mine on a 2018 crosstrek Hope it goes well. Im in the rust belt

Howdy, The notes say that you didn't need the scan tool because it had a manual parking brake and no Eyesite. My Forrester has a manual parking brake but it DOES have eyesite. Do I still need the scan tool in order to do this procedure? What exactly happens when you change out the bearing that would impact the control unit? I'm assuming it has something to do with the speed sensor???? I don't have a scan tool so I'd rather not need to get one unless necessary.

MIne is an european 2017 Forester 2.0D, automatic transmision, manual parking brake and no-eyesight: Do I need the scan tool or not? BTW, Great videos. Thanks Bro.

6:53 why skipped that part of how you take out and put new wheel bearing? Theres some parts who are holding it from taking out

Working on LR hub removal, backing plate w/ e-brake assembly came off with hub. The hub is physically loose sliding in and out of the backing plate but the ebrake components are blocking its ability to come out. 2014 limited w/ manual brake and no isight etc. Can’t figure out why my situation is completely different than any I’ve seen on RU-vid. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Why is it necessary to put rear electronic brakes into service mode... What is issue if you don't .. thank you...Great video

Would this replacement work for a 2010 Subaru Forester non turbo?

Great video!! Thank you sir! 🙏 🙌

Is it ok to hammer the wheel bearing out like this or is there a risk of damaging the knuckle that holds the wheel bearing?

Is there any way to work around the electronic parking brake? Like, pull the negative terminal with the car in park and the brake not on?

i guess my wife’s 2015 forester is different. i can NoT get the hub out. i’ve tried slide hammer , 2x4, a puller , 4 lb hammer. i even heated assembly and will not budge a hair. 5 hours and it won’t move i’m going to take entire right rear knuckle passably off a d bring to a machine shop. Other videos say this is the TOUGHEST auto repair ,

So does the whole back end need to be elevated when torquing the axle nut or just the one side of the vehicle?

You mentioned a snap on scanner to put the parking brake in service mode. Why does it need to go into service mode? Can't I just leave the parking brake off?

Please tell me more about that rachet you're using

Do you have to replace the angle nuts when you do the bearings?

Do you need to grease the new assembly during installation?

Axle nuts are a part needed?

Noob question here, i have a 2016 and cant get the rear hub off for the life of me, ive hit it with a hammer and cant get it loose, i dont have a slide hammer unfortunately

so why was the tablet required? I didn't see it used. Never touched a computer for replacing brakes/hubs before.

Is the straw hat an osha requirement???

Thanks for the video...