Car Wanders At Highway Speed

[Subaru_Nation555]

Driving back from a trip on the highway at 40-70 mph speeds I noticed that the car was kinda wandering. It just seems to shift to either side randomly. I know my wheels need to be balanced but could this be caused by misaligned rear wheels? The car just feels really unstable and nervous.

[scottzg]

could be alignment or a wheel bearing.

[professor]

if it shifts from side to side, check both the ball joints, and the tie rod ends up front

ball joints are an easy fix, but the tie rods are expensive and I elected to change the whole rack as that was cheaper. Both my steering rack boots were torn in half, and one side showed free play on the inner tie rod end when the car was parked (I could shift the wheel and tire with my bare hands)

bad alignment might cause the car to "crab" down the road, or excessive toe out could cause a shift symptom as well, but check the mechanical bits first. I'm betting on wear unless you've struck something recently

[Subaru_Nation555]

Haha, no I haven't hit anything recently so I don't think thats a problem. I recently inspected the ball joints and tie rods when I was diagnosing my brake vibration problem and both seemed okay. The steering rack was installed brand new about 20k ago. I think I'll just get a new alignment when I install my suspension and see if that takes care of the problem.