HELP!! Steering/AWD question???

greetings all-i am a newbie to this forum and to subarus. i havea 2005 subaru lgt 5 spd. it only has 3oo miles on it and i have a question. tonight i was driving home on i-95 from greenwich, connecticut to manhattan wheer i reside and cruising at about 60-70 mph. the car felt like it was accelearting on one side of the car and then the other. in other words it felt like the differentials were confused. even my passenger felt it. is this normal? could ther have possibly been a little ice on the road that could have caused this? please help as it made me feel very nervous about driving the car at speed.

How cold was it outside? Was the acceleration difference short or long?

 

That sounds like patches of ice on the road to me.

it was about 28 degrees out-felt almost like the car wanted to slalom itself-steering weight is so light-hard to tell if it was ice. could the diffs be messed up-say with the viscous coupling?

oh yeah and burst of acceleration/wandering were brief but nerve wracking nontheless.

NO not normal. It should be a smooth ride...

how hard were you on the throttle and what were the road conditons?

btw there is nothing in the differential to be "confused". it is a simple mechanical limited slip rear differential and an open front diff. no electronic gizmos to distribute power back and forth.

i was maybe a 1/4 open on the throttle. it has snowed quite a bit up here but road looked clear and is well travelled. it was about 8pm so if there was ice it was not visible at all.

have you chekced your tires for pressure and maybe snow buildup if that applys?

Check your alignment if the tire pressure is ok no snow buildup.

New poster here...just lurking on the site...

BUT, not just to conclusions that there is a problem with the car. First, I'm going to take a guess and say that you first noticed this problem just south of 287 on I-95. If that's the deal, you should be aware that the roadway is grooved in for quite a while (until about the toll plaza). Depending on the tires, steering, and geometry, some cars are prone to that swerving feeling on that type of pavement. For example my Miata (high perf tires and aggressive alignment) is all over the place on that section. My GTI is somewhat swervey (stock 16 all seasons, stock alignment specs). My A4 Avant is slightly more stable (stock 16 all seasons, non-sport suspension).

 

So, in a nut shell, do some testing to make sure its not the roadway....

 

-J

If there was in fact grooves, then what you felt was called "tramming" or something like that.

I would get a 4-wheel alignment.

Ask your dealer if a 4-wheel alignment was included with the PDI.

If it wasn't explain your problem and try to get your dealer to pay for the alignment.

damn man it was my first tiem on that road-i am anew commuter and it was night so i did not see the grooves-and yes that is exactly where i was-that realxes me-i was scared there was something wrong. you have beena big help-thanks tons:D

No prob... I guess that's a pretty good way for post #1 (for me) to pan out...

 

BTW, it freaked me out the first time too... I've lived in CT for just over 1 year... I work in Greenwich too but commute North on 95.

I would get a 4-wheel alignment.

 

Ask your dealer if a 4-wheel alignment was included with the PDI.

 

If it wasn't explain your problem and try to get your dealer to pay for the alignment.

 

A four-wheel alignment included with the PDI?

 

What are you smoking?:lol:

 

P.S.: Please choose a smaller font for your next post.

You are entitled to one free alignment under warranty - my dealer definitely told me that much. The original poster's problem appears to be tramlining - tire treads lining up with the grooves on the road making the car 'try' to follow the grooves. You get a wandering feel at the steering.

You are entitled to one free alignment under warranty - my dealer definitely told me that much. The original poster's problem appears to be tramlining - tire treads lining up with the grooves on the road making the car 'try' to follow the grooves. You get a wandering feel at the steering.

You are correct. My post specifically refrenced dealers doing 4-wheel alignments as part of the PDI. That doesn't happen.

good thing you noticed it, it's normal for the car to adjust to the slippage like that. All you have to do is maintain your direction and line. The car will do its best to keep you going in the direction. It happens greatly in even normal 2WD cars when your drive through a really deep puddle on one side of the car). The differentials dont get confused (it's all mechanical).

 

Keefe