Any thoughts or advise from your past most current experience before I go ahead and install. Should I return the MOOG and keep the OEM? The only difference I see are the bolt studs.
Rear Hub and Wheel bearing assembly for 2005 Subaru Outback 3.0R LL Bean Ed.
Moog has a good rep. That said, just like most OEM hard parts, most of these are now being manufactured in China. In general, that's a bad thing in my experience.
I had put two Moog hubs in the front of my '08. The passenger side one went out very quickly after I put it in (within 5000 miles) for some reason, so I replaced it with OEM. The driver's side is still fine.
Might have just been a fluke. Otherwise they seem to be of comparable build quality and work fine with ABS/VDC speed sensors.
^ I'm with Clean given I've done that project its not hard but takes time and if you have any rust its more time to get the parts out cleaned up and the new bits back in etc. I would rather go with the known part that should give you at least another 100K of no trouble vs the part that could have you doing the whole **** project again very shortly.
My time is worth more than the few $'s difference in savings.
Did you swap the sway bar bushings when doing the end links? Switching worn sway bar bushings makes a huge difference on noises, definitely go with OEM bushings. I used moog endlinks on front (replaced the weak plastic cup design) when both OEM links broke around 65k and the moogs have been solid. But biggest noise reducer was new bushings.
Yes, I've been reading a lot about it, most aftermarket if not all. Especially, with regards to ABS and magnetic stripe issue. I just installed the OEM and the MOOG will be returned this week. I could try to install the MOOG, but the time and trouble to remove the caliper, the abs sensor, and the rotor just to get into the hub part is I think is just a waste of time.
There was a recall on the wheel bearings of 05-06 OB/LG. I think it expired in 2012. I'm not sure if they actually fixed this or just extended the warranty. I installed Moog, it has a 3yr warranty. Cruise and ABS is working fine. We'll see how long it last.
Moog is not making the actual bearing, they are making the assembly. The bearing is what I would be most concerned about. Who is the bearing made by, what is the bearing stamped with?
For a bearing though, I would still go with Timkin or SKF.
I do like Moog for suspension and steering parts though.
In the last year and a half I've had to replace both rear wheel bearings and I went with Timken. It sort of surprised me that the actual bearing was from NSK, a reputable Japanese bearing manufacturer though. 30k later and not a rumble from the rear. I have Moog end links front and rear.
Hi chiming in. I have 02 LL Bean - what I am seeing on rear hub bearing for my year build is only the actual bearing is sold; but not the item integrated with the wheel hub + studs. Anyone know why? It seems the 00-04 range of Sub OB show similar config and getting the full integrated assembly (makes the job easier to swap) is like $150 - but for 05 and up the integrated assembly is like $60 for a Timken job.....what gives with the config difference?
I am attaching pics from PartsGeek.com to show what I mean.
02 WheelHubAssembly.jpg -> this is $70 and it clearly is not integrated; meaning a big pain in my behind to separate from outer portion of hub assembly where the wheel studs are...
02_WheelHubAssemblyRear.jpg -> $190 for an integrated assembly that is seemingly a standard for '05 and up; now that it what I would like to work with - remove axle, unbolt bearing hub assembly install new and reassemble....
05_WheelHubAssemlyRear.jpg -> $70 on a Timken build and clearly includes the hub portion with studs all ready to go
Somewhat related to this discussion - About 3 weeks ago, my daughter had new bearings installed on the rear of her VW Beetle. (Aftermarket parts)
Here we are, 3 weeks later and not even 500 miles on the new bearings and she was complaining about a 'noise' in one of her rear wheels.
I pulled off the wheel, and removed the caliper and brakepads.... sure-enough, that brand-new bearing is binding and nearly impossible to spin by hand.
I advised her to get with whoever installed these bearings and exercise whatever warantee these parts may have.
MORAL: Even brand-new wheel bearings can go bad quickly. Understand your warantee options before you spend money.
I've got to lean toward an opinion that Moog quality isn't what it used to be.
My sway bar links were Moog parts...they lasted a few months before they developed enough play to start clunking horribly. Put OEM ones on and it's dead silent again.
That's in addition to the wheel bearing that I mentioned earlier.
I replaced the rear hubs on my 05 3.0R with MOOG and was happy to see they were made in the US with NSK bearings. After two weeks I ordered more MOOG for the front. They're made in China and now I'm having issues with the cruise control. I'll pull and clean the sensors and see if that helps but I have a feeling the mag stripes on these Chinese made hubs aren't up to par. They weren't any less expensive either!
Good evening, reading your post concerning the hubs and wondered if you also experienced intermittent ABS during braking on sunny dys in Aug
I have had this issue since replacing the front left hub with an aftermarket part. The hub I replaced was growling something fierce.
I have never had an issue with MOOG for bearings, but If I recall, they had two levels to pick from. Did I miss something and Timken go downhill? they were always my go to supplier for Jeep bearings...
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