dudewerx Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I am quite confused by this one guys. Over the past two months I have been on a pretty hefty maintenance regimine with my main focus being safety and reliability. Brakes, lines, struts, inner and outer tie rods. Put stoptechs on all the way around, goodrige lines, posi quiet pads. OEM inner and outer tie rods, as well as new bellows boots. Raceland coilovers. Did all this myself and had Napa install new front axels(not remanufacted) and a drivers front hub and wheel bearing and then align everything. sorry..... So car is aligned properly, so they say, but when I turn right or left the car will pull to that direction! If I stop at a light and turn it the opposite way that its pulling then drive I can kind of counteract it but its not an exact science, just a guessing game on how far to turn it. What the heck is going on!?!? Did napa lie to me? Is it cause of the coilovers? Am I missing a component needed for a lowered car? I'm tired of my car steering itself : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesleySands Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Almost sounds like where the steering ties into the front axle. Make a turn then check the tires orientation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisty Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 i have the same issue, but my control arm bushings are causing it. my buddy at an alignment shop said the same thing, when i make a strong turn one way, the steering will stay that way until i make a good turn the opposite way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadvw Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 I am quite confused by this one guys. Over the past two months I have been on a pretty hefty maintenance regimine with my main focus being safety and reliability. Brakes, lines, struts, inner and outer tie rods. Put stoptechs on all the way around, goodrige lines, posi quiet pads. OEM inner and outer tie rods, as well as new bellows boots. Raceland coilovers. Did all this myself and had Napa install new front axels(not remanufacted) and a drivers front hub and wheel bearing and then align everything. sorry..... So car is aligned properly, so they say, but when I turn right or left the car will pull to that direction! If I stop at a light and turn it the opposite way that its pulling then drive I can kind of counteract it but its not an exact science, just a guessing game on how far to turn it. What the heck is going on!?!? Did napa lie to me? Is it cause of the coilovers? Am I missing a component needed for a lowered car? I'm tired of my car steering itself : This MIGHT be the well-known "steering rack bushings suck on Subarus" problem, where the steering rack has way too much play stock, and slides from side to side when you turn the wheel. There are aftermarket steering rack bushings that can correct this problem - search for info on that and see if it matches your symptoms.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTEASER Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 If the car has over 100k and especially over 150k on it for that age, my guess is that all or most of your bushings and tie rods are shot. With all that other new stuff on there, its going to accentuate the effect of the worn parts. I'd say start with the steering rack bushings like hadvw mentioned and go from there. The car may have been aligned, by it is likely not holding that alignment with worn bushings. GTEASER's 2012 Legacy GT - Sold GTEASER's 2009 XTeaser - Sold GTEASER's 1992 Legacy SS - Sold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 Steering rack and control arm bushings now added to the list of maintenance items lol. Any other bushings I should do while I'm down there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooln30 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Are you saying that once you turn the steering wheel doesn't go back to center with ease and the car wants to keep going the direction you turned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 No. Nothing happens with the steering wheel, well not anything extreme. After I have turned the car pulls towards the direction I have turned. That IS transfered to the steering wheel though and it puts it a little crooked. It makes my car drive like its really out of alignment. Like if I let go of the wheel I will either hit the ditch or a mailbox in a matter of 50 feet, going 60 mph As for the bushings.... Any suggestions on which ones are good to use or is factory the best way to go for steering rack and control arm bushings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooln30 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 That's not quite what I ment but is the steering tight feeling? It's either a tight ball joint or rack bushings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 Oh, the steering feels normal, it just pulls. I'm looking at energy suspensions rack bushing. Seem fairly good. Anyone used them before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spooln30 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 What I was trying to get to was if you have a bad ball joint and it's tight after you turn the car wants to keep going that same direction because of the BJ being tight. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey805 Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 That's how my Mr2 felt Any dips or curvature in the road and it would pull that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel2wd Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 go for white line or kartboy parts, just have to measure I believe the passenger side to find out what size you need. 1 bushing is same size on most subies, the other varies on model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassnectar Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 its called memory steer and it can be caused by any pivot point in the front suspension binding causing the tire and steering wheel to continue to want to move that way. (outer tie rod, Ball joints, strut bearings cause this, and certain bushings to a lesser extent) the most extreme cases would be the bearings on the front struts binding so the wheel is trying to go in the direction of the bind. here is some good information http://www.freeasestudyguides.com/memory-steer.html As for checking the condition of front end components. the easiest thing you can do is a dry park test. Simply go lock to lock steering in your garage on pavement. If anything Clunks or knocks you have an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted June 27, 2014 Author Share Posted June 27, 2014 Great help, its nice to have a name to my problem, thanks bassnectar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xdeadeye1 Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Simply go lock to lock steering in your garage on pavement. . What does this mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewerx Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Turn the steering wheel from full left to full right with the car stationary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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