Front wheel bearing problem

[SubaruFred]

Is the junction the arrow points to the press fit connection between the bearing and the knuckle? If so I have a problem because mine is loose and wobbly.

[DavidBlaine]

Yep, that's the outer race from what I can tell in your picture. Is that a new bearing??

David

[SubaruFred]

David, I discovered today that the axle nut was loose. I torqued it to 140 ft lbs and the wheel wobble is gone, no noise and tighter feeling steering. The car has 178k on it and I bought it at 168k. I don't know if or when that wheel bearing may have been replaced. At this point I'm just going to keep an eye on things and see how it goes.

Thanks for your reply.

Fred

[Legacy777]

Fred,

Just for clarity sake, the arrow is pointing at the dust cap for the CV axle, and as you discovered, it's not pressed in.

Just a word of warning, the CV axle being torqued properly keeps the loads on the bearing what they should be. If the CV axle is loose, it may cause some undo load to be transferred to the bearing, which may cause premature failure. So just keep an eye or ear open for any signs of failure.