metafora

The rear abs tone ring on my 2005 Blobeye WRX is cracked, see pic at the bottom. How do I remove and replace with a new one.

I watched what to do next? would the tone ring be accessed and come off simply by removing the nuts with an allen key highlighted in the photo below.

Pheonix

You will need to undo the driveshaft nut and "pull" the flange out. The tone ring can only be fitted from the rear of it.

metafora

Thanks, do you mean this driveshaft nut (see pic)? apologies if its obvious question, not a mechanic and don't want to screw things up more.

Don Clark

Pheonix

as Don's diagram shows, it needs a 30mm socket if I remember.

metafora

It looks quite straight forward in that case,

1. remove the wheel
2. remove the calliper
3. remove the brake disc
4. remove the axle nut
5. remove the hub
6. replace tone ring.
7. put everything back together in reverse order

Are there any gotcha's anything, I'm missing...

Don Clark

Replace the outer seal........
Use a new nut.

stockcar

and the press required to actually remove the drive flange from the bearings...............

Godspeed Brakes

iTrader: (259)

And probably bearings as these usually fall apart when you press them out

metafora

This looks like the axle nut I will need https://www.importcarparts.co.uk/par...ft&searchPart=

Can you point me to the correct outer seal please.

Ta.

metafora

I'm starting to think this is a bigger job than I thought. I don't have the tools to press out the hub, I may be better off getting the parts and paying someone to do it professionally who is better equipped for the work.

Do you know where I can find bearings...my local Subaru dealership are useless for parts enquiries.

Don Clark

You maybe better off enquiring about these

https://www.importcarparts.co.uk/par...y=&searchPart=

metafora

Its an option but beyond my budget for now. I think what I'm going to do is buy a reasonable slide hammer from Amazon and attempt to get the hub off myself.
I'm not a mechanic but I have been trying to increase my knowledge and have been accumulating tools and skills as I've gone along. This presents a good opportunity to tool up a little more and attempt the job myself.
I'm a bit wary when people say the bearings are going to come flying out but I think I'll have a go and if things go wrong I'll ask for more help.

If I do get the driveshaft flange off, I assume when I put it back on it will need greasing, what type of grease, will I need and how much should I apply?

John 37

If the bearings have come apart and so won't be re-used, put a run of weld round the inner race and they fall off. You can also use an angle grinder to carefully grind a flat on the race until it splits. A press is better of course but isn't always available.

It's been a while since I replaced my bearings but you may need a puller to get the flange off the drive shaft.
The drawing only shows grease needed on the seals. Type isn't critical. A smear on the splines helps too.

It looks like your tone ring was bust by someone hooking a puller over it. Wrong thing to do.

Pheonix

like you, im not made of money, so hire a hydrolic puller and invest in a pot of Greece . Pull the hub, it may extract the inner ring of the bearing but don't worry, it can be pressed back in. when assembling use lots of Greece and draw it on the drive shaft nut.

MarkRF

If you’ve not got a press and or puller I’d stop now.

It would be cheaper and safer getting a garage to do this job due to the tooling required - a slide hammer isn’t the right tool for extracting the hub as it relies on being centralised on what it’s withdrawing which there is no way to do on the hub without fabricating some kind of bracket - even then, it may not be capable of the force required for withdrawing the hub.

diy enthusiasm is admirable and putting together your own toolset is a must for any petrol head, but bearings aren’t a novice job, are easy to mess up, require specialist tools - a puller and press are two things the average diy mechanic will almost never use. For the sake of a couple of hours labour at a garage, I’d throw the towel in on this one.

metafora

I agree. The towel has come in. Even if I were to invest in the tools I don't have the experience or time to tackle a job like this. It has been a good exercise understanding what is involved and arriving at the conclusion it is beyond my capabilities.
Looking on YouTube, videos by guys who do this regularly, even in the best case scenario have a hard time of it, the nuts and bolts on my WRX are already rusty and seized like hell, its going to need a lot of effort and specialist tools to get the hub off.

I'll happily purchase the parts and pay someone who does this for a living to complete the job. I've got the ABS tone ring, just waiting for the rear hub bearing kit, many thanks to all those who pointed me in the right direction for parts and instructions.

I will probably try and get it done next week, I'll report back when its done.

Willowsdad

iTrader: (2)

I had mine done at Slowboy. I damaged mine after not winding the handbrake off enough when I pulled the discs off. Can’t remember how much it was though, I had quite a bit of work done at the same time.

metafora

Finally! Success! I got my broken ABS Tone ring changed and the ABS light has gone off.
I was fortunate, after bouncing around several garages with labour costs varying from £30 per hour to £70 per hour + VAT, I found someone who did the entire job, including replacing the wheel hub bearings for £110.

For those who have ended up here because you googled 'Change Impreza ABS Tone ring', if you decide to change the hub bearings on the affected wheel at the same time, (recommended), the likely costs are below..

Parts ordered from Import Car Parts
Rear ABS Tone Ring : £64
Rear wheel bearing kit: £40
Delivery costs: £5
Labour: £110 - if you are lucky, like I was. Its about 2-3 hours labour depending on how seized up your bolts are - note if you don't change the hub bearing the labour effort will still be about the same, this is because in order to get the hub flange off the existing ABS tone ring the hub bearings will have to be pressed out from their container, which is the major pain in this job.
Side note, if you do buy the hub bearing kit, it comes with a replacement axle nut, which you will need when replacing the hub flange. The axle nut on its own is about £4, you'll need it either way, since the old one is not recommended to be reused.

Total cost: £219.00

Thanks to everyone for their input and guidance, it was all really helpful.

Tale of 2 Foresters

A follow-on question regarding replacing the tone ring. The hub is only drilled in 4 places, but the tone ring has 5 bosses. Some sort of epoxy appears to be placed on the 5th boss. Does anyone have any insight as to the details for what adhesive to use? JB weld, anyone? Any other sage advice?