Steering issue

Slacker

New member
Hello guys and gals I have a 2004 STI. I have replaced both front wheel bearings, the rack. tie rod ends, struts, rotors, break pads, and have had it aligned like 5 times. I still feel like at freeway speeds I need to stay on top of it. after being aligned it pulls to the right at times, then stops when i round a corner " either way right or left" my steering wheel at time will be dead center and other times the center will be at the 9 to 10 o clock position on a flat straight road. is this just a normal thing or am i missing something.

thanks
 

Grinder34

Track Monkey
Definitely not normal.

Were you in the car when it was aligned? Things can happen with old/saggy suspensions (example: http://imgur.com/a/G7gNC). Now most people wouldnt call the STI suspension saggy, so my guess would be something like a tie rod. Have you gotten underneath and double checked that everything looks/feels normal?
 
You say that you have had your car aligned 5ish times. Any chance you can get us a picture your the last alignment print out. We can guess all day as to what is causing your car to pull right, but I think getting some actual data is the best place to start as it will tell us how the car is currently aligned/was alined last.
 

Slacker

New member
Yeah I'll dig that up when I get home. I save all that stuff. I just replaced both rack and tie rods. I may still need to burp the system. Would a nasty air bubble cause slack?
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
I know this is a slim chance, but I have to ask...could it be your tires? I would imagine you've already considered it, but I didn't want to leave that stone unturned. I've seen some weird shit happen due to any number of a handful of issues with tires.

Also, if you are going down a perfectly flat road with the cruise control on, do you still experience this issue or is it more noticeable during acceleration/braking?
 

Slacker

New member
I do notice a bit of pull here and there to the right under braking. But its not consistent. Could be truck ruts.
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
I asked about acceleration and braking because if you have a shock/strut that is not dampening as it should, it can unbalance the suspension under acceleration and braking. I had this issue at one point a few years ago and was able to correct it myself because my gas shocks have adjustable rebound dampening.

I asked about the tires because sometimes a tire can just wear really weird for no apparent reason and it can often be very difficult to see without making a bunch of measurements, chalking the contact patch, etc. Hell, I've even had shops mount tires for me and find out after I get home that they installed them wrong, i.e. INSIDE label on the sidewall was on the outside, wheels put on with the directional tread going in the wrong direction, etc. I think those guys must have been high at work. :lol:
 
hmm you said that its more noticeable under breaking, in a straight line, on a flat road, but its not consistent. That may be key here as it may indicate that your break pads on the front right are not disengaging properly all the time. Long shot but, this once was an issue on my grandfathers truck, where it would pull to one side if you stomped on the breaks. so much so that it would almost pull you into another lane. scary situation right there....anyways just something to look at with what you have posted so far.

Also once we see the print out from the alignment we will be able to tell you if something is not aligned correctly etc.



:04ftw:
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
Don't underestimate tire ruts. Especially if you have wide tires and/or a lot of camber. The first couple times I took my STi back home (to my parents place) on really fucked up roads, I was convinced for miles and miles that something had to be wrong with my suspension. Even stopped to look under the car and check tire pressure. Eventually I got back on good roads and the handling problems went away.
 

Slacker

New member
Ok here is the data that was asked for. the Alignment data, I was not in the car when done. and if you dont see anything the you will need to instruck me on how to do a pic in here lol.
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
Wtf is with that right rear camber? You can probably tell its off with the naked eye.

Personally, on the rears, I shoot for -1.5 degrees and would never go over -2.0. Being that the rear camber from right to left is such a large difference, I'd say that is the likely problem. If this is the best alignment they could achieve, either they suck at life or you have something bent.
 
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Slacker

New member
yeah that might be Les Schwabs finest. What is the best way to tell if i have somthing bent? gonna have the car in the air monday, get my fat but under there and check it out. what should I be looking for? the car does have lowering springs on it wondering if that has anything to do with the camber? thoughts...
 

Grinder34

Track Monkey
If you're under there, just pull on everything connected to the hubs to check for movement, and make sure that everything that looks like it was designed to be straight still is. I know that sounds dumb, but a loose/broken component could allow them to set alignment specs, but have them move around while driving.

4deg camber is way too much for that tire. In the rear, compare all the suspension pieces visually from left to right and, again, see if anything looks very different/bent.
 

Batmobile_Engage

Squirrel Meat Aficionado.
Staff member
With lowering springs, suspension geometry changes, which can be corrected by adding a roll center adjust kit. But I digress, the lowering springs shouldn't be the culprit in causing only one of your rear wheels to have ridiculous camber. As far as what could be bent/damaged to prevent an alignment shop from successfully aligning the car, I'm probably not the best person to ask. Let's get the other guys in here...
[MENTION=1507]Spamby[/MENTION] [MENTION=652]Grinder34[/MENTION] [MENTION=4577]TK-421[/MENTION] [MENTION=9]HolyCrapItsFast[/MENTION] [MENTION=1]IGOTASTi.COM[/MENTION] [MENTION=5193]War_Panda04[/MENTION]

Also, I know you've said there have been multiple alignments. Have these all been at the same place? Have you tried to get a second opinion? Was the car EVER in an accident?
 

Slacker

New member
I have all the other data i can look/ post tonight when i get home.. pays to save all that crap lol " thank the car gods the wife love to be organized" will see what that camber is then as well. if its that bad ill take it bact to them and have them correct it for free.
 

War_Panda04

STill Plays With Toys!
best way in my opinion to check for bent components is to measure distances between bolt locations many different ways and see if it is the same on the other side. only problem with that is if its not really noticeable you wont know which side is the problem. hard to diag something like this over the internet but i wish u the best of luck and hope i was of some help at least.
 
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