[AmyC]

Our Ascent is in the shop for the transmission and they told us they were going to replace the wheel bearings because they were making noise. We are just over 1,000 miles so we wouldn’t expect this type of repair. Has anyone else experienced any issues with the wheel bearings? I tried to search the forum and didn’t see anything yet. Thanks!

 

[pro10is]

Unless defective, wheel bearings can last up to the life of a car. No wheel bearings should need to be changed at only 1,000 miles.

That said, Subaru bearings can be suspect. I had the driveshaft bearing on my Forester go at 30,000 miles and I suspect a wheel bearing is bad on that car as well because it has had an unexplained drivetrain noise for tens of thousands of miles, but no breakdown.

Still, I'm very surprised that anyone at the dealership would think you have bad wheel bearings on an Ascent with only 1,000 miles. That simply makes no sense.

 

[cwnannwn]

Had both wheel bearings go out on a honda civic less then 2,000 miles. It came down to a weak batch of metal in the bearing supplier.

 

[AmyC]

Ok thanks for your feedback! We thought it was rare and I’m glad it doesn’t seem to be wide spread!

 

[zulater]

Wheel bearings on older subarus is an issue but it's an obvious one. Not as easy as older GM wheel bearings as things have to be pressed in.

 

[bluesube]

Our Ascent is in the shop for the transmission and they told us they were going to replace the wheel bearings because they were making noise. We are just over 1,000 miles so we wouldn’t expect this type of repair. Has anyone else experienced any issues with the wheel bearings? I tried to search the forum and didn’t see anything yet. Thanks!

If Subaru is paying for this, your receipt/work ticket should show whether it's a warranty repair, TSB, or whatever, since the dealer would have to provide a reason to Subaru for doing the work, in order to be reimbursed, and not charge you.



What does it say on your receipt? Thanks for your input!

 

[AmyC]

It’s still being repaired but once we pick it up I’ll post a follow up with what I find out.

 

[AmyC]

My SOA rep told me this will fix the brake squeal that some ascents have and mine had that too. So if anyone has the brake squeal, they should mention to their dealership as it’s a warranty repair!

 

[mdub]

The wheel bearings should fix the brake squeal? That doesn’t make sense to me...unless I’m misskng something? As others have mentioned do some hard stops repeatedly to bed the pads and rotors (safely of course) - I have a little squeal so plan to do this when it is warmer and dry.

 

[Robert.Mauro]

It kinda may

The wheel bearings should fix the brake squeal? That doesn’t make sense to me...unless I’m misskng something? As others have mentioned do some hard stops repeatedly to bed the pads and rotors (safely of course) - I have a little squeal so plan to do this when it is warmer and dry.

The brakes need to be removed to replace the wheel bearings. There's a TSB related to the brakes, not regarding a defect (there isn't one), but regarding greasing the pads with a special grease to help them seat properly. So, if they follow the current brake installation instructions, I suspect that, yes, the squeal will be fixed.

Just one thing @AmyC, please remember that your car now needs another 1,000 miles of break in driving.

As for the wheel bearing issues, I'm at 17,111 miles with no issues. My 2010 Outback needed three replaced in the 185,000 to 205,000 mile range, but that was with a ridiculous amount of driving IN ocean salt water as you can see in my videos on my Subaru Ambassador Facebook page.

 

[JJ3438]

We picked up our Ascent Touring with 7 miles on it. We noticed an odd noise on our drive home. They replaced both front wheel bearings at 450 miles as they were making noise. Maybe they got a bad batch.