Hi Mike, not sure if this is the right place for this question…but figured I’d give it shot. I have a ’14 Subaru WRX sedan with 27k miles. I’ve recently switched to 18″ aftermarket wheels with plans to upgrade to bigger STi calipers and rotors. When doing that upgrade I was thinking of also swapping out the OEM wheel studs for some longer aftermarket ARP studs. From what I’ve seen in order to have enough clearance to install the longer studs I would need to fully remove the hub and bearing assembly. I think the general consensus for older hub/bearing assemblies was that you would likely damage the bearing on removal and you should rebuild/replace it on reinstall of the hub. I believe the 2014 WRX has a newer style captive bearing that is sold only with the full hub assembly and it doesn’t require a press or special tools to install. Is it still necessary or a good idea to replace the wheel bearing when removing the hub assembly? Is it likely that it would be damaged when removing it? Is it possible to source just the wheel bearing without the full hub assembly? I’ve seen folks pull and reinstall the hub but I wasn’t sure if they were potentially setting themselves up for trouble with the bearing in the near future.

Thanks,
Dave