00-04 Legacy Alignment??????

[Vince]

Hello all! Long long time lurker first time poster. :) I have a question. I purchased my 01 leg gt brand new in 01. I have noticed that all the tires I put on the car has this horrible wear on the inside of the tire. I thought it was the alignment at first but when I brought it in for an alignment they said it was dead on. Is this a normal thing with the the 00-04 leg's? I have put three sets of tires on the car and none of them last longer then 33k with a 60k tire. Thanks!

[Flanders]

I think it is the car but you should pay the $70 for an alignment. I made it almost to 40k on the stockers, I then bought Dunlop Sport A2 which lasted 30k in exactly 2 years, one tire was showing belts. I bitched at the guy I bought them from and he gave me the deal of a lifetime on some Pirelli's. As close to free as a tire can get. I have heard other people complain about tire wear. Good luck. You might start buying cheapies.

[apexjapan2]

A good alignment will make the car drive like you've never felt before (if your last one was not good). Subes are very sensitive to it.

I'd also suggest a couple of mods that can help - like an ALK and steering mount bushes. The ALK (and the alignment specs they suggest) really improved the wear on my car (as mine had a tendency to lunch on the fronts). I've a feeling that the stiffer bush on the ALK also keeps the tyre more stable in relation to the road surface, which can't be a bad thing IMHO.

The steering rack mounts have less to do with wear, but sure make the steering feel better :D

HTH:)

[Flanders]

I should add that I have never been told that my alignement has been off. I've had it done several times.

Apexjapan2: thanks for the info. One problem I have is that I have never seen steering rack bushings labeled to be compatible with my car. Do you have a suggestion I can take to be reliable? Do you think that the Whiteline model on this page http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/subaru_corner.html will be compatible?

Thanks in advance!

[ADirtyLegacy]

i bought my '02 used in '03 and the stockers lasted up to 48k but damn the last 2k was SCARY!!!! i didn't have money to buy new tires (and still don't) but i HAD to buy some be4 driving (or at least thought i was gonna be driving) home for thanksgiving b/c i was hydroplaning all over the place in rain on the Tues be4. i ended up with some Kuhmo Escta (or something like that...anyone know anything about them?) cause it was the cheapest tire they had for the legacy....and $95/tire aint cheap in my book when i wasnt looking to buy brand new tires in the first place! and i didn't even drive home!!!

Kenda

[evolutionmovement]

I run Kumho ECSTAs on my flat 5-spoke Forester-wheeled Legacy and they are a great tire for the cheap money ($53 from Tire Rack 205/50 16). They slide like the Falken 712s on my old 15" wheels, yet grip better like the Yokohamas I followed the Falkens with. Very neutral where the Yokos wanted to understeer too much and the Falkens just gave up and wore quickly.

Steve

[ADirtyLegacy]

ok now i don't feel so bad. i will say that taking corners is more fun now with grip! now...i got to work on some brakes and ill be on my way to going AND stopping!

Kenda

[Flanders]

I'm in the same position re: brakes. Do you know what products you are going to get?

[evolutionmovement]

I highly recommend cryo-treated OEM-style rotors. The increased wear resistance is amazing. $25 for under 12" rotors, $35 for over 12" from one-cryo.com and well worth it, especially if you 'warp' normal rotors in months like me.

Steve

[Flanders]

I have also come across www.frozenrotors.com. I like the idea of long lasting rotors. Get some real nice pads to go with them but I can't make up my mind. I don't know what to think about their cryo'd pads. Don't know what brand they use for this stuff. Still looking for more information. My dealership has been riding me about my back brakes, they are supposedly 80% worn. I am going to do something as soon as possible but still don't know what. I really need to step things up though!

[evolutionmovement]

frozenrotors isn't cheap, but they can get them quicker. One cryo requires sending rotors (they may be able to source). They're cheaper depending on shipping, but the turn around is longer. Never tried the pads, but I'm converting to WRX front brakes (standard old Legacy wagon rears are the same size) with Hawk HPS pads and the cryo rotors. Currently I use EBC GreenStuff with the cryo-rotors. Rotors are at about 5 years ~120k and severely worn thin. Pads are about 60k and nearly at the backing plates.

Steve

[jmcgliss]

Our '00 LGT wagon is very sensitive to front alignment. I complained of a nagging pull to the right at 40,000 miles and had the tech ride with me to prove it. By persisting they put more thought into it and said, yes it was out just a small amount - but the road test convinced them to actually adjust it. Tire wear has been even on two sets of tires.

[kavolta]

Me too, I had my alignment done and kinda stuck to the right alittle, so he did it again and same thing, I wonder what the hell that is.

[subaru_terrence]

I have whiteline control springs on my 02 legacy and it had RE070s last week. They lasted 12,000km ONLY and one of my tires were completely ripped off on hwy. My rim got damaged and had a hard time to stop from 100km/h on hwy.

I thought it was caused due to the negative camber..
front left is -1.31 degree
front right is -0.91 degree

Now, I guess it's a common problem to the 00-04 legacy's. My car kinda stuck to the left a little bit if i let go the steering wheel on hwy.

[camber]

I used to rotate my tires every oil change(6k Km's) to combat tire wear. Also, found that a couple more PSI then recommended helped a bit.

BE's like eating front tires.