Alignment problem

Does anyone else here notice an alignment problem with your car? When I drive on the freeway, orient myself in a straight line, and then remove my hands from the wheel, the car will slowly start going to the right. I know that the freeways are normally slightly sloped towards the right for water runoff, but this is even on roads where there is no noticeable embankment. Even if I aim myself a little bit to the left , it will start going to the right. The reason I ask is that I have already brought my car to the dealer twice in order to fix the alignment. The first time they said my tires just needed to be rotated and rebalanced, but that didn't fix the issue. I brought it back to them again, and this time they subletted the job out to Firestone to have them check the alignment. I think it mentioned something about changing the rear suspension or something. Either way, my car is still pulling slightly to the right when I'm not holding onto the wheel. If this is normal behavior then I'm not going to push it. But if this is abnormal then I'm going to go back and tell them to fix it. Thanks!

I'd also look into a hanging brake caliper. Or something with the parking brake. You'd be surprised at what one wheel with more brake drag can do at highway speed. Also, tire pressure.

It's very sensitve, if there is a slope on the road, it will go towards the slope. I'm sure you can "fix" this by changing the alignment to your own specs.

I took it back in to the dealer. I had the service manager go out with me so that I could show him the problem. Upon driving he confirmed that it was a definite pull, and not just a drift. In fact, he mentioned to the service advisor that it seemed worse than last time, since he test drove my car personally due to all the problems I've had with the car so far. I hope this time they can fix it. Third time's the charm right?

Hopefully this time everything will be fixed. Keep us updated on what the problem really is :). Good luck.

I just got back from the dealer, unfortunately not in my Legacy but in a Toyota Prius. Apparently the alignment shop says that there is nothing they can do to fix the car. They state that it is a problem with the camber, and that it is not adjustable. The dealer had them go over every portion of the car to see if it was a problem caused during delivery, i.e. if the truck driver cinched down the car too hard and bent the camber plate or whatever it is, but they said everything looks fine. So they have put in a call to Subaru TechLine to find out what to do with the car. Man I'm so hoping things turn out alright with my car.. This sucks that it has to happen to me, but I guess this is just another notch in a line of misfortunes with me and cars...

Sounds like it needs to be put on a frame rack and bent back into shape. Having said that, the first thing I check when my car develops a pull or noticible drift is the air pressures. It's amazing how people never think to check such an obvious and easy thing. Even a pound or two difference from left/right can cause significant dragging and a pull (depending on the tire). Just remember, check when cold and on a level surface.

Sigh. So the Legacy is back. Apparently they took it to another shop, which determined that the rear wheels were toed to the left, which was causing the car to pull to the right. Supposedly they re-toed it to be "straighter", even though it's supposedly all within spec. Changed the steering alignment a bit, and they say it's all done. The service manager said that he tested it himself and everything is all perfect. I'm not convinced though, because on the drive home, the car was still drifting to the right. It's not as pronounced as before, but I can feel it. Due to lack of foresight, I should have had the service manager go out for a spin with me to verify that it's all fixed... So honestly, I'm at a loss of what to do now. Bring it back? Bring it to a second dealer for a second opinion? Bring it back to the dealer and say it's still broken? Please give me your suggestions. Later on I'll double check the tire pressures again just to make sure that's not a culprit... Argh!

Just get on the road, and cross over into the oncomming traffic lane. See if it still pulls right. Within spec is a vague term. Mostly meaning that if it's "close" its not worth adjusting things. The alignment tech NEEDS to know the original complaint. A good one can "tweak" it right, even if "right" is out of spec.

[quote name='TLS']Just get on the road, and cross over into the oncomming traffic lane. See if it still pulls right.[/quote] You mean when there is no oncoming traffic right? :o You were not intending to suggest his insurance company buy him a new car were you? :twisted:

I think his point is to invalidate the argument that the pulling is caused by any gradation in the highway. By pulling into the oncoming lane, it would then be banked ever so slightly in the opposite direction, so that if it still pulls to the right, it's a definite issue. If it goes merely straight, then it could be compensation for the rightward drift, and if it goes to the left, then it's probably all right. At least that's my interpretation. I've been driving it on city roads and highways today, and the driving is kinda odd. Sometimes it will drive straight. Other times it will drift to the right very slightly. And sometimes once it starts drifting right, it really drifts to the right. I don't even know what to do with this. Maybe I'll just suck it up and keep my hands on the steering wheel so that I don't even notice its tendency to go to the right. Argh. All I wanted was a nice, brand new, trouble free car. Is that so much to ask for?

I think i'm having a similar problem. I noticed that my steering wheel does not seem to be centered, it looks like it's leaning a little to the right. So when i'm driving it seems to pull slightly to the right, but i'm not sure if its the road. I'm gonna test it out again today, if it seems to pull i'm gonna take it in.

I think its a common fault straight out of the factory, just take it to bridgestone and they will fix it up asap, but u will have to pay. Subaru have been putting the responsibility back onto u "Buyer Beware" on that one. Adam.

Well I took my car for a drive and everything seems to be okay. It's really hard to tell though, the steering seems to be sensitive.

I guess that's the weird part, because the dealer I went to doesn't do alignments, so they sublet it out to a contractor. So my car has already been to 2 different alignment shops (Firestone and some company called Alignment Specialists) and neither of them fixed the issue. Can another company do something that these two shops can't? And I'm extremely curious as to why they found 3 different issues/reasons for the problem each time.. Are they grasping at straws? Attempt #1) Tire rotation and rebalance Attempt #2) Rear Suspension off Attempt #3) Camber of tires Attempt #4) Toe angle of rear tires and steering wheel realignment. I'm going to call Subaru of America and see what they will do for me, since my car is still pulling to the right

Are you sure it's not the roads?? AWD cars will drift away from the crown in a road, it's normal behavior. Try driving on both sides of a crowned road. It should drift left on the left side of the crown and drift right on the right side of the crown. On a perfectly flat road, if you can find one, it would track straight. Craig

Yeah it was more of a pull. The service manager himself verified it, and as long as I am not the only one experiencing the problem, then it's a problem. And supposedly they're finding things wrong with the car that would account for a rightward pull..

I have the same problem. Definate pull to the right. It even does it from the left lane of a crowned road, so I know it's not my imagination. I haven't had a chance to take it to the dealer yet. Hey Chinchy let me know how it works out for you.

I'm currently in conversations with Subaru of America. I most recently faxed over to them my three work orders showing that I had the same issue worked on three times, and the guy I talked with said that he would have to turn it over to a senior tech since I'm having the same problem 3 times. Man, Subaru of America is kinda slow. I faxed over the docs to them 10 min after I talked with them (noon on Friday 9/24), but their faxing system (looks like Rightfax) doesn't release it to the people for a day and a half or so, so they didn't get the fax until today. Weird. I'm expecting a call back from SoA tomorrow.

I had a similar problem on a new 1983 VW GTI.. Everything checked out at the dealer, so I drove to the VW distributor (in Culver City, CA back then) and asked them to look at it. Two white-smocked German engineers (no kidding) examined the front end and measured EVERYTHING. Turns out while each individual adjustment was within factory tolerances, they all stacked up on one side to cause my car to pull to the left. Individual adjustments were centered and the problem went away. If there is a chassis aligment shop or a wheel alignment shop that doers high end and/or race cars, take your car there. Good luck.

Yeah that's what they keep saying, that everything is "within spec". I don't care if it's in spec or not, take it out of spec if that's what it takes to make it drive straight.....

spec has a nice margin... if everything is one one 'side' of the spec... you get your drift. have them tell you exactly what range the measurment should fall in, and have them slightly adjust the other way... what do you have to lose at this point? You could get another car.. but hit a hard bump, and your out of alignment again...

Chinchy, That there is the problem today. Todays alignment racks are totally dummy proof. They go so far as to visually/graphically show the tech which wrench, and where, and turn it which way on which part. It's when you find a GOOD tech that they actually know how to take off the blinders and go beyond the "factory spec" to give you a better handling or better tracking automobile.

I had someone tell me once that a slight pull to the right was a designed-in safety feature. To keep you out of the oncoming traffic should you dose off or be otherwise preoccupied. *shrug* sqrl b8

I wanted to chime in on this as well. I picked up my LGT Limited sedan last week and after about 10-15 miles driving it home, I noticed the exact same problem. While driving down a perfectly straight highway, my steering wheel was off to the right by about a 1/2 inch. If I straighten up the steering wheel, I go to the left. Tried it on several different roads, same result. Even driving at 30 mph going perfectly straight, if I remove my hands from the wheel, it starts to drift to the right. I called the sales manager right away, even before I got home on the day I took delivery of my car. I'm taking the car in on Friday for this VERY same thing. But know this....I had the exact same problem when I bought my 2003 Toyota Tacoma (that was WAY worse) and with my 2002 Nissan Maxima. The Nissan dealer did the same as what you seem to be experiencing chinchy...after a couple tries they kept saying it was corrected and then it wasn't. It actually got worse. I asked them, "did you actually drive the car?" After yet a third time to no avail, I went to a different Nissan dealership, who fixed it the first time. It's not exceptable to me for a car to drift and my steering wheel needs to be straight. I don't like going straight but having my steering wheel turned like I'm taking a bend in the road! And like you, it's NOT the roads, I noticed I had to apply constant pressure on the steering wheel (literally pulling it down on the left a bit) at all times to keep the car going straight! Again, wasn't as bad as my Tacoma or Maxima was, but not exceptable nonetheless. I'll let you all know how my results are on Friday!