A friend of mine has an 05 Outback with about 180K on it. She asked me to check it out because of a steering shimmy that happens at high speeds. I did some research on the subject, and did a visual inspection of both front wheels and steering assemblies. Ball joint and tie rod boots still look good. No play when rocking wheel horizontally or vertically.

 

An interesting thing I noticed is that the shimmy kicks in only above 60 mph, and it happens when you let off the gas from accelerating. So accel from 50 to 70 quickly and then let off the gas, no brake, the shimmy will start, and continue.

 

It also has nothing to do with braking. There is no shimmy when the brakes are applied, even hard braking.

 

So I've seen suggestions of an alignment, which I may tell her to get.

 

But I noticed that the control arm bushing on the driver's side is starting to fall apart. (not the bushing that connects to the xmember, but the one where the radius rods mount to the car on the older gens)

 

Could this worn bushing be the culprit?

 

I'll upload a picture of it soon.

 

Thanks!

 

Driver's side:

 

Pass side:

Edited June 5, 201411 yr by ystrdyisgone

When you visually inspected, did you jack up each side of the front end to get the road wheel off the ground?? Then, did you move the road wheel up and down, left to right to find any looseness?? Also, with weight off the suspension, did you check ball joints and tie rods for looseness??

Yeah, that's what I was referring to when I said rocking the wheel horizontally and vertically. There was no play to speak of.

 

I told her to get an alignment and we would go from there.

I agree, do an alignment first. The tech will quickly find any "play" in the suspension. It could also be a tire problem.Ask the shop to inspect the tires as well.

Could this worn bushing be the culprit?

 

yes, those bushings are a large part of the problem.

Edited June 6, 201411 yr by heartless

you could try swapping tires front to back

 

but that bushing looks close to being done for.

I've had worn axles cause that type of shimmy as well, but if it were me I'd get those bushings fixed before they rip completely apart.

So she's getting her tires balanced today, she didn't wanna fork out 76 for a full alignment.

 

I'll be ordering those bushings soon, gonna do the balljoints while I'm at it. How much of a pita are those bushings to R&R?

 

Another thought, she did have both axles replaced recently, I was thinking maybe the shop didn't torque down the axle nuts all the way?

Aftermarket axles or original Subaru axles?
Did the shimmying relate to when the axles were done?

Switching tires front to rear as our Texan friend suggested above might have diagnosed the problem unless all the tires were out of balance...

I'm guessing they were aftermarket ones, she said the bill was in the $150-$200 range, which seems like it would be a bit low if they had replaced with Subaru axles.

 

I'll ask her about when the shimmying started. I know that it was after the axles were done, but I don't know how soon after.

Edited June 7, 201411 yr by ystrdyisgone

What I've learned here on Roller Derby is that after market axles are a crap shoot. Best to have the original axles rebooted or replaced with OEM.

Otherwise, odd symptoms are reported including shimmying or even your dog howling unexpectedly in the middle of the night ;-)

Edited June 9, 201411 yr by brus brother