front end noise on '98 outback legacy: wheel bearing? repair costs?

[oro]

greetings y'all!

i'm getting a "revolving noise" in the front end which increases in
volume, hitting its worst levels between 55-60 mph. this noise is
there even if i have the clutch all the way down but seems to nearly
disappear when applying the brakes. the noise also seems to be louder
when i turn right. i notice no pulling in the steering but the
vibration does make the plastic casing of my stearing column vibrate
obnoxiously when at higher speeds.

i had new brakes installed in july & this doesn't sounds like a break
problem but i'm not ruling anything out. i know i need new
struts/shocks but what i'm hearing doesn't sound like that OR like a
cv joint problem. from all that i've read it sounds like a wheel
bearing problem in the front end. do y'all have any thoughts?

i called a subaru dealer's service dept on the cost of having the
wheel bearing taken care of. he initially quoted over $600.00 but
thought that was high and brought it down to around $530.00 or so. is
that reasonable?


thanks for reading..
m.

 

[Damon McMahon]

greetings y'all!

i'm getting a "revolving noise" in the front end which increases in
volume, hitting its worst levels between 55-60 mph. this noise is
there even if i have the clutch all the way down but seems to nearly
disappear when applying the brakes. the noise also seems to be louder
when i turn right. i notice no pulling in the steering but the
vibration does make the plastic casing of my stearing column vibrate
obnoxiously when at higher speeds.

i had new brakes installed in july & this doesn't sounds like a break
problem but i'm not ruling anything out. i know i need new
struts/shocks but what i'm hearing doesn't sound like that OR like a
cv joint problem. from all that i've read it sounds like a wheel
bearing problem in the front end. do y'all have any thoughts?

i called a subaru dealer's service dept on the cost of having the
wheel bearing taken care of. he initially quoted over $600.00 but
thought that was high and brought it down to around $530.00 or so. is
that reasonable?


thanks for reading..
m.

Sounds like bearings - mine are starting to get a little noisy too. My
previous car was a Hyundai Excel and for it a bearing cost AUD 105 and
AUD 110 for labour. Why a Subie bearing would be 3x more to replace I
have no idea.