Help, help! Can any of you guys who've worked on steering and suspension please give me your thoughts as to what I should check or do next?
The situation I'm trying to remedy: Car pulls to the left as soon as I let go the steering wheel. Instead of the top center of the steering wheel staying at the 12:00 position, it immediately points at 10:00 within about 15 to 20 feet of driving after letting go of the wheel. The steering wheel also feels a bit like the wheel is pulsating when the car is turning left, like a big chunk of heavy snow is caught on one part of the wheel.
The car is a 1998 Legacy L wagon, 2.2L, AT. (I know it's not a first-generation Legacy but the front end is almost identical.) Car was tracking straight, tires wearing evenly but developed a passenger-front bearing noise. Upon pulling wheel, hub and bearing were chewed up.
Replaced passenger steering knuckle with good used knuckle (including hub and bearing) of same year car. Also replaced passenger side half axle with new axle (Empi brand, made in China) to match driver-side axle that was replaced about 8 months previously (the Empi axle is much thicker and heavier than the axles that were already on the car, and the mis-matched axle weight produced a vibration). Replaced ripped steering gearbox boot with new one.
All suspension parts were marked prior to disassembly and replaced according to markings and torqued down properly. Wheels are all tight, tires are balanced, air pressure checked.
Upon initial test drive, with the car pulling to the left, I tried adjusting the passenger wheel to toe it out more but that didn't help.
The factors I'm thinking could be causing the pull are:
1--driver's wheel bearing or cv joint is tighter than passenger side;
2--replacement knuckle is bent;
3--I'm totally overlooking something.
Any thoughts/questions would be welcomed! Thanks!
Car pulls left
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Ha ha, thanks for the laugh! 
I haven't got the car re-aligned yet because... I've done several replacement knuckles on my Subies over the years and I've never had a car pull at a 45 degree angle when the steering wheel and the tires are pointing straight ahead when parked (this is after lowering the car on the ground and driving the car till it "settles") and then when you drive the car both the steering wheel and tires turn at that severe of an angle. The tires don't feel like they are fighting each other like the toe alignment or camber is off. So, I figured there must be something else I didn't do or something I overlooked to be the cause.
So far, the pull to the left seems to be the same.
Oh, another thing, I've driven cars that when the toe alignment is off sufficiently, the pull on the steering wheel is noticeable. On my car, it's not very noticeable until I let go of the steering wheel and then it pulls to the left like I've never seen any car pull before. Then, at that point, it doesn't feel like the car is "pulling" per se, but just like I'm actually turning the wheel to the left (only without touching the steering wheel). This sounds funny, but it kinda feels "natural" as it turns to the left, like it's floating.
I never touched the driver's front side at all so for the car to pull left at about a 45 degree angle that would mean the passenger front tire would be noticeably crooked in relation to the driver's front tire if the toe or camber was far off. There is no tire squealing or scuffing sound at all when driving down the road.
I haven't got the car re-aligned yet because... I've done several replacement knuckles on my Subies over the years and I've never had a car pull at a 45 degree angle when the steering wheel and the tires are pointing straight ahead when parked (this is after lowering the car on the ground and driving the car till it "settles") and then when you drive the car both the steering wheel and tires turn at that severe of an angle. The tires don't feel like they are fighting each other like the toe alignment or camber is off. So, I figured there must be something else I didn't do or something I overlooked to be the cause.
So far, the pull to the left seems to be the same.
Oh, another thing, I've driven cars that when the toe alignment is off sufficiently, the pull on the steering wheel is noticeable. On my car, it's not very noticeable until I let go of the steering wheel and then it pulls to the left like I've never seen any car pull before. Then, at that point, it doesn't feel like the car is "pulling" per se, but just like I'm actually turning the wheel to the left (only without touching the steering wheel). This sounds funny, but it kinda feels "natural" as it turns to the left, like it's floating.
I never touched the driver's front side at all so for the car to pull left at about a 45 degree angle that would mean the passenger front tire would be noticeably crooked in relation to the driver's front tire if the toe or camber was far off. There is no tire squealing or scuffing sound at all when driving down the road.
'94 TW
I re-read my posts and I need to clarify something. The car felt "natural" and smooth turning to the left until I toed out the passenger front tire a bit to see if it would help the pull. Then it felt like the passenger tire was out of balance or that the tires were "fighting" each other as it turned to the left.
'94 TW
Thanks, Jamal!
At first I started thinking how could the rear be causing my car to pull left when it was tracking straight before the front suspension work and I never touched the rear suspension. Now I'm realizing that if the car was tracking straight with the front passenger bearing and hub going very bad (which would = friction = pulling to the right) then that must mean my car should have been pulling to the left if the bearing and hub were in good condition.
Well, that opens up another arena of possibilities!
Thanks again, Jamal.
Since both you guys indicated an alignment, I've now got to find a decent alignment shop nearby. The shop I would have gone to is in the next city but I really don't like driving 35 minutes on my car since it's pulling so much. The repair shops in my town don't know how to work on Subarus but I'll do some calling.
At first I started thinking how could the rear be causing my car to pull left when it was tracking straight before the front suspension work and I never touched the rear suspension. Now I'm realizing that if the car was tracking straight with the front passenger bearing and hub going very bad (which would = friction = pulling to the right) then that must mean my car should have been pulling to the left if the bearing and hub were in good condition.
Well, that opens up another arena of possibilities!
Thanks again, Jamal.
Since both you guys indicated an alignment, I've now got to find a decent alignment shop nearby. The shop I would have gone to is in the next city but I really don't like driving 35 minutes on my car since it's pulling so much. The repair shops in my town don't know how to work on Subarus but I'll do some calling.
'94 TW
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kimokalihi
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89 legacy is first gen.
98 Metro Hatch Daily Driver :)
91 SS EJ20G Engine/Tranny/Diff Swap Build Thread Here
"Your testes are close to your bottom but you still play with them all the time." Jeremy Clarkson
91 SS EJ20G Engine/Tranny/Diff Swap Build Thread Here
"Your testes are close to your bottom but you still play with them all the time." Jeremy Clarkson
generally if the alignment is causing the pull it is because of the rear. if the front toe is off, the wheels will center and your steering wheel with be crooked, but it will drive more or less straight.
having the rear off means the rear end is trying to steer all the time.
Or if something is bent and there is a lot of cross camber or caster it will also pull to one side.
we do alignments with tape measures and lasers:
speaking of which, I need to fix my alignment this week.
having the rear off means the rear end is trying to steer all the time.
Or if something is bent and there is a lot of cross camber or caster it will also pull to one side.
we do alignments with tape measures and lasers:
speaking of which, I need to fix my alignment this week.
Well, I just returned from the alignment shop and the Legacy is not perfect but a whole lot better. The tech that did the work is supposed to have 15 years alignment experience and he's got two GLs! So, we talked Subaru-talk for a bit.
On his initial test drive he came back with a look of disbelief due to how much the car was turning left. By looking at how the car was sitting he couldn't believe that the car would pull left that much on the drive. I guess he's never experienced that before. Based on what I told him (recent repair history) he guessed that the steering knuckle was the culprit. He decided to try and align the car but he wasn't sure if he could get it back within the spec range.
The alignment equipment's printer ran out of red and green ink so the "before" and "actual" settings did not print out--only the specified ranges specs per Subaru that printed out in black. He didn't recall what the before settings were but allowed me to copy the actual settings where the car sits at now.
Toe: LF=+.01 RF= -.01 LR=0.0 RR=.02
Camber: LF=-.09 RF=-1.1 LR=-1.0 RR=-1.6
Caster: LF=+3.6 RF=+2.2
SAI: LF=20.8 RF=18.1
Based on the SAI and caster settings, the tech said probably the steering knuckle I got is bent at least a little bit.
Now that I've entered the numbers, I've just realized that I thought the LF camber was -0.9 but it's actually -.09. I asked for the settings to be -1 camber all the way around with 0 toe. Oh well, I'll make sure the next alignment goes better. Meanwhile, I may have to pick up another RF steering knuckle, too.
At the end of the alignment, the car still drifted to the left on the test drive so the tech swapped the front tires and now the car drifts to the right.
I'm happy at least I've got my car to drive but not totally thrilled. For the next alignment, I'm going to go with a front camber setting of -1.5. I don't have any time to fuss with it so it's going to have to do for now. At least I got my daily driver back on the road (it's been out of commission for 4 months!). Yay!
Thanks guys for your inputs. I appreciate it!
On his initial test drive he came back with a look of disbelief due to how much the car was turning left. By looking at how the car was sitting he couldn't believe that the car would pull left that much on the drive. I guess he's never experienced that before. Based on what I told him (recent repair history) he guessed that the steering knuckle was the culprit. He decided to try and align the car but he wasn't sure if he could get it back within the spec range.
The alignment equipment's printer ran out of red and green ink so the "before" and "actual" settings did not print out--only the specified ranges specs per Subaru that printed out in black. He didn't recall what the before settings were but allowed me to copy the actual settings where the car sits at now.
Toe: LF=+.01 RF= -.01 LR=0.0 RR=.02
Camber: LF=-.09 RF=-1.1 LR=-1.0 RR=-1.6
Caster: LF=+3.6 RF=+2.2
SAI: LF=20.8 RF=18.1
Based on the SAI and caster settings, the tech said probably the steering knuckle I got is bent at least a little bit.
Now that I've entered the numbers, I've just realized that I thought the LF camber was -0.9 but it's actually -.09. I asked for the settings to be -1 camber all the way around with 0 toe. Oh well, I'll make sure the next alignment goes better. Meanwhile, I may have to pick up another RF steering knuckle, too.
At the end of the alignment, the car still drifted to the left on the test drive so the tech swapped the front tires and now the car drifts to the right.
I'm happy at least I've got my car to drive but not totally thrilled. For the next alignment, I'm going to go with a front camber setting of -1.5. I don't have any time to fuss with it so it's going to have to do for now. At least I got my daily driver back on the road (it's been out of commission for 4 months!). Yay!
Thanks guys for your inputs. I appreciate it!
'94 TW