More repairs...ugh (Subaru)

[dhay13]

Wife has a 2017 Subaru Crosstrek that we bought new. She hates buying new vehicles. Last one was a 2006 Jeep Commander that we bought new and traded for the Subaru at 125,000 miles.
Subaru has been very reliable. 117,000 miles now but this summer I had to replace all 4 wheel bearings, and rear pads and rotors. Well, my daughters boyfriend replaced them. I lost my job in April so my wife started DoorDashing in May in addition to her regular job. We put 17,000 miles on it in 6 months. I didn't have the time to do the repairs so he offered to do it for us. I was driving while wife DoorDashed so we were out 7 days a week at least 4 or 5 hours a day. Anyway, parking brake shoes were shot so he removed them completely and threw everything away. So now I am back to work so no more DoorDashing.
Still have a clunking in the front end so ordered the kit off 1A Auto that includes the control arms with bushings and ball joints, both inner and outer tie rod ends and sway bar end links. Also new rack boots. So plan is likely changing all that this weekend.
I also just bought and installed a Turbro 10,000 watt electric heater. Just finished wiring it up last night but seems to work great. I bought all new parking brake hardware too but it won't be here until next week so next task is to replace all of that too.

 

[dhay13]

Got it all done. Had to buy a few tools in the process. I replaced the inner and outer tie rods, control arms that included ball joints and control arm bushings, and sway bar end links. Bought the kit from 1A Auto for about $230. Need an alignment now.
Over the summer I replaced all 4 wheel bearings and rear brakes so not much left in the front to replace.
Had to buy a special ball joint removal tool for Subarus. The BJ is pressed into the knuckle and the stud goes down through the control arm. The 'pocket' where the BJ is pressed in is closed off on the top so can't press it out or pound it out from above. It has a pinch bolt but even jamming a pry bar in there didn't release the BJ. Advance Auto had the tool for $30. Well worth it. I also spent $35 on an inner tie rod removal tool. Also have to buy a pair of long needle nose pliers to reach back into the inner tie rod boot to tighten the wire tie.
Aside from that it wasn't a bad job. Probably took me about 16 hours total working by myself and at a slower pace with a few breaks in there. Alot of my time was crawling out from under the car to turn the steering wheel or to adjust the jack. Having a helper probably would have cut 4 or 5 hours off my time.
All in including tool purchases I'd say I only have about $350 in it plus the alignment. Gonna cal Monday to get that scheduled.