bensonae Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 i have BFG Kdw2s had an alignment not too long ago, have sti springs, upgradign to ksports soon- at 65 mph + this car will not go staright. most squirrely car i have ever driven. please help. what can i do to mend this situation. i like the car but it makes me nervous the way it drives on the interstate at highway speeds. i was thinking of going with a degrre and a half of toe in on the rear wheels and maybe half a degree on the front to get the damn car to go in a straight line. i haev had 2 bmws, a vw, 2 mazdas, 2 nissans, and a chevy vehilce and this car is easily the worst on the highway at speed. this should not be as one of the reassons i got the car was for its "stability" of awd. even if the alignment is out a bit it still should not eb all over the road. i haev had plenty of cars that have had alignment out but they have never benn this scary at speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandwood Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 still have your alignment specs? sounds like an anomaly to me. getting out of the legacy game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bensonae Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 it does not seem to eb an anomaly since there have been numerous posts with "wandering car" and unstable at highway speeds postings. someone must know how to remedy this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Check out this thread. Anyone have caster settings corrected under warranty? http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5976&highlight=caster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Where are you driving. Can you explain the wandering a little more specificly? My car does sometimes follow the road crown but it never feels wandery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandwood Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 it does not seem to eb an anomaly since there have been numerous posts with "wandering car" and unstable at highway speeds postings. someone must know how to remedy this. imo there;s a big difference betw wandering, which I have experienced, and a car that won't drive straight, which seemed to be what you experienced. getting out of the legacy game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 caster is not adjustable. I have had the issue and it seems to be fine now....trick was getting the dealer to use '05 specs (they are aligning using '04 specs.....duh!). Post your alignment specs for us to see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 imo there;s a big difference betw wandering, which I have experienced, and a car that won't drive straight, which seemed to be what you experienced. Wandering & won't drive straight sounds the same to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 wandering is different from consistent drift to the right, which is what most have experienced. The dealers blame the crown of the road or the tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bensonae Posted November 30, 2005 Author Share Posted November 30, 2005 granted the roads in my area suck-i live in NYC and commute to greenwich, CT but i have driven my brother's s4 on the same and his is very stable. i mean this car wanders ALOT and comparatively ALOT more than my brothers s4 which feels well planted. i am comfortable driving his cars at triple digit speeds and my car wants to go a little right then i correct it by countesterring and then it goes too much left-it won't go straight w/o me constantly going back and forth on the steering wheel. i have never had to do this on any of my previous cars like i do to this one so it is not me. also my brothers car does not do this. the car follows crowns on the road yes-to me that is normnal. i am talking about a car that is nerve wracking on the highway b/c it want to intermittently veer a bit from left to right. top me this is just plain unsafe and there must be somethign off. caster maybe? any ideas, advice please help as i really want to go stage 2 but won't if the car is going to handle like sh%$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlabs Posted November 30, 2005 Share Posted November 30, 2005 Not quite the same... Let's say you set your steering wheel straight. You let go. The car and steering start to turn to one side. You have to re-correct, constantly. That's one scenario. I'd call this wandering. The other scenario is this. You set your steering wheel straight, but the car doesn't go straight initially. You re-correct, and then the car stays in a straight line after that. In other words, you can say that it's not quite calibrated to go straight when the steering wheel is at 12 o'clock. -=- Livin life at 140 BPM -=- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtp Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 How about a third scenario, which I experience everyday... At highway speeds, in a relatively straight stretch, very light grip on wheel, the car twitches both LEFT AND RIGHT. Feels like huge gusts of wind buffeting the car from either side. Totally unpredictable... and it happens on all types of road surfaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forestir Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 How about a third scenario, which I experience everyday... At highway speeds, in a relatively straight stretch, very light grip on wheel, the car twitches both LEFT AND RIGHT. Feels like huge gusts of wind buffeting the car from either side. Totally unpredictable... and it happens on all types of road surfaces. That sounds very dangerous. Your 3rd scenario indicates something is wrong... tires, bushings, tie-rods. Definitely needs checking out. Drifting, wandering, centered-steering-wheel... common problems with lots of dealer excuses. Your 3rd scenario, inexcusable. Dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Sounds funny. I have never experienced this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 still have your alignment specs? sounds like an anomaly to me. So, do you have them? Toe out can make a car very darty/twitchy. Tires can make a big difference too. I don't have any experience with the KDW2 but my Legacy is much twitchier with the RT-615s than with the RE-92s (the differenct offset of the wheels may have something to do with that as well). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 tire pressures can make a difference as well. Since winter and cold temps have settled in, it's important to check pressures and compensate for the drop in density. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Ok I just took my car out for a 30 minute drive on the highway. I can say that the car does follow the road crown a little bit. However there is no "wandering" persay. Not even with my soft multicell jello Bridgestone WS-50 dedicated snow tires on my car. I had the car up past 85 at points and it tracked straight as an arrow if you kept the steering wheel straight. In the middle lane if you split the crown you can let go of the steering wheel at 70mph and it will track straight with little to no steering input. My only suggestion is to bring it back to the dealer and tell them to align the car to 2005 specifications. If they use a hunter machine make sure they use 2005 specifications because to my knowledge they have not released the 2005 program for the machine yet. IF YOU DO NOT TELL THEM they will most likely use 2004 specs. I had to give my alignment guy specs out of the factory service manual and had him enter the values MANUALLY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Hunter specs for the '05 were released late summer. That was the resolution to my issues....my mistake was assuming my dealer knew what they were doing the first three times the car went into the shop for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bensonae Posted December 1, 2005 Author Share Posted December 1, 2005 i will try to get align specs soon-my issue is the exact same as member rtp described. whatever his issue is i have the exact same sensation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 Since there's been some mention in this thread about rough roads...... How are the KDW2s at tramlining? Is this the culprit? <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bensonae Posted December 1, 2005 Author Share Posted December 1, 2005 they tramline-that is definitely making it worse as i have re92s back on for colder weather and they tramline less but the car still reacts the same way. tires and pressure are not the issue. as i said before my brother's audoi does not do it over the same roads so it is not the roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 ^ Cool ( well, not really, but you get my meaning ) - just wanted to be sure that all our bases are covered. <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted December 1, 2005 Share Posted December 1, 2005 they tramline-that is definitely making it worse as i have re92s back on for colder weather and they tramline less but the car still reacts the same way. tires and pressure are not the issue. as i said before my brother's audoi does not do it over the same roads so it is not the roads. When you get another alignment be sure to post the specs in the printout they should give you. Caster: Camber: Toe: at the very least KIA(SIA): if possible. If you watched him do the alignment and he did not touch the cam bolts on the struts then most likely you car is misaligned or cross cambered. Alot of lube and go shops just do toe and go alignments. Most will not be aware that the legacy's camber is adjustable through a cam bolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 Hunter specs for the '05 were released late summer. That was the resolution to my issues....my mistake was assuming my dealer knew what they were doing the first three times the car went into the shop for it. Patagonian GT, are these the Hunter specs for the '05? What is the spec. for Max. Thrust Angle? Front Caster Left & Right Min. 5°10' Pref. 5°55' Max. 6°40' Camber Left & Right Min. -1°00' Pref. -0°15' Max. 0°30' Front & Rear Individual Toe Min. -1.5 Pref. 0.0 Max. +1.5 Total Toe Min. -3.0 Pref. 0.0 Max. +3.0 Rear Camber Left & Right Min. -1°25' Pref. -0°40' Max. 0°05' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 I'll grab them tonight....the printout is in the LGT at home....driving the Mini today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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