I know my '95 Legacy is in need of ball joints, but recently I've been getting bearing noise from the front-right as well. In your experience, what kind of parts and labor costs might I be looking at to have these two issues taken care of by local, independent shop? I already have ball joints and was planning to put them in once the weather got warmer, but I'll need to buy at least one bearing too.
i didn't. i live about two hours from Minnetonka, In Eau Claire, WI. i was looking to source the parts myself then pay a local, trusted shop to do the work.
Not sure what shop rates are, but here's what it took me using hand tools... ball joints, assuming they are already pressed into the tie rod ends, should be around an hour each side. Wheel bearings, assuming the knuckle and/or hub assembly don't also need to be replaced and is easily pressed out, takes about 1-2 hours per side. Make sure the shop you're working with is willing to work with parts you provide. Many shops either won't install customer parts or will with the understanding that if it fails, it's up to you to prove it was an install error opposed to apart failure. The couple bucks you save buying parts on your own cuts into a shop's margin. That margin, among other things, allows them to do free follow-up work without taking a loss. If you want to save cash, I'd recommend considering doing the work yourself. Aside from possibly taking the hub/bearing assembly to a shop to get the bearing pressed out and back in, the rest of the work can be done with simple hand tools.
You can order the parts from Morries Minnetonka Subaru and they can ship them to you. We get a decent enough discount through them that even with shipping, you'll likely still come out ahead.
A decent rule of thumb for a wheel bearing is $300-350. $100 for parts, and 2 hours of labor. As far as ball joints go, you have four, and probably don't need to replace all of them. The failing ball joints need to be diagnosed, and then replaced. They may or may not be replaceable with hand tools. It really depends on what you consider hand tools. If they include something that can get the outer tie rod red hot, then yes those are considered hand tools. Otherwise, I can't can't give you an estimate for inner or outer tie rods.
I end up taking my Miata to Jeff at least once a year during the autox season. The drive out to Bloomington is worth it for me for that type of work. For the wife's appliance though, I'm looking try and get it done a bit more locally. That being said, I am in the Twin Cities about once a month for business anyway and could just drop the spindle(s) off with him. So, how much time and cursing in my garage can expect to deal with to get the spindle off the car? EDIT: Tie rods seem fine, it's the ball joints at the control arm I'm worried about.
...lulz. Yes....carl would know....and so would you if it weren't for GHB. Shop rates vary. But I typically charge 125-150 labor per corner for wheel bearings and whatever else needs to be replaced while I'm in there....tie-rods (inner/outer), ball joint, endlinks.
