BCooper

I'm thinking about giving my 2009 2.5 Outback a bit more whoomba. God knows i pay enough road tax - I want to get my monies worth. At 90,000 miles, I don't want to spend megabucks on it but a few hundred quid here and there won't break the bank. What would you say the top 5 go faster mods are? I'm thinking: ECU upgrade - plenty of companies doing this. It seems to be an easy one Airbox mod of some sort - always helps if you let them breathe Maybe an exhaust mod - I would be nice to make it sound a little more throaty. Do they run better on decent exhausts or is it all just noise? Upgrade the brakes possibly - discs could do with changing anyway, can I get drilled/grooved ones? Suspension tweaks? Does anyone polybush these? Any other ideas and advice welcomed....

Tumbleweed on this one but the job is done now so I'll leave this epilogue in case someone stumbles across it one day and wants to do it themselves. I changed all four bearings I used SKN bearings and carriers which are of reasonable quality and not madly expensive £300 for all four Each one will take about an hour to do - essentially you'll need a 32mm socket, a torque wrench that goes up to 220 KG-m. A six sided slim 14mm socket and a club hammer. The front ones are easier because the rears have integral handbrake shoes which will bind as you try to ease off the discs. The old carriers are likely to be rusted in place - careful clumps with the club hammer and some WD-40 will help here. Be careful on the rears not to hit the shoes and don't clout the stub axles without protection or the old nut on. (use new nuts) Use copper slip on the new parts to help it all off the next time and make sure you use a torque wrench set to all the correct settings on re-assembly. All in all it's not a bad job and the difference is unbelievable - three of my four bearings had some play and one was pretty rumbly. It's a smooth as silk now....

It's probably a recurring theme as I know wheel bearing noise is an issue with my 2009 Outback at least. I'll cut to the chase - at least one of them is making a noise, probably on the front but I'll change all 4 corners anyway. My questions to the good people on this forum are: I see they come as a hub unit complete with studs - what make/company/aftermarket reseller should I buy from? What part of changing them is going to be a pig to do? (Is there going to be a special tool that I won't have?) Cheers