SSpeed Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 (edited) I have an '09 Outback. Drive pretty smooth, but hitting a certain bump just right it has an unsettling steering wheel wobble. I looked underneath and the ball joints all look "OK". I jacked the car up and shook the wheel, up and down it's solid, but side to side both front wheels rock back and forth. However it doesn't seem to be the tie rod ball joint, it's actually moving all the way back to the steering rack, like I'm wiggling the steering wheel. I called a Subaru repair place and he said it was probably the tie rod on the rack side? Sorry, paraphrasing there. I also noticed the driver's side front tire has subtle wear on the inside of the tire, the camber looks ok. I checked my LGT and I can't move the wheel at all when one is up and the other is down, of course the tire height is a lot less, so no sidewall flex. What should I look at to narrow this down? Edited March 18, 2021 by SSpeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSpeed Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 (edited) Seems like this is probably the inner tie rod. I locked the steering wheel and rocked the tires, the driver's side has a lot of movement. I could be doing it wrong. Edited March 23, 2021 by SSpeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdcvg Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 Yep sounds like tie rod is wobble. If You have inside edge tire wear Your camber is off. New tie rods and alignment in Your near future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSpeed Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 Hmm, so I brought it to a local Subaru shop who looked at it for free. They said tie rods are fine, front struts look good, ball joints are good, rear struts were replaced with cheapies, and wheel bearings are ok (starting to go like all Subarus, but very mild). They drove it and said they couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Beyond my imagination, the only thing I can think of is the front struts look 95k original. They probably feel and look mostly fine, but odds are they are allowing excess spring rebound and maybe that's what I'm feeling over bigger bumps?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norutah Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Take a look at the grommet where the column goes thru the firewall. It must be fully seated. You can get a good look laying underneath, get to the rest of the car. From inside you need to peel a few items back to get a good look Sent from my HD1925 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSpeed Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 Ugh, the tire shop inflated the tires to 40psi. Let out some air and it's driving perfect again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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