Hi all,

Bought a set of tires on my 1987 DL 4WD wagon several years ago which included rebalancing whenever. Started to get a shimmy at about 45mph about 4 mo. ago so took it in to be rebalanced and all was fine. After that I  replaced the bellows boots on the steering and then noticed that it seemed to be pulling to the right some so I checked the tire inflation and did the string alignment and that took care of that. I also replaced the balljoints and struts reciently. I just bought a set of new tires and on the way home it started to shimmy at about 45mph. I turned around and took it back to the shop where they took the tires off and rechecked the ballance and said it was fine. The car has 209K mi. The shimmy doesn't get  stronger as the speed increases but you can see and feel it in the steering wheel. My experience with unbalanced tires is that as the speed increases, so does the shimmy. Then there seems to be a short time when there's no shimmy and the steering is smooth. That may only last for 30 sec. though, then the shimmy comes back. So, what's the possibility that the rack and pinion could be at fault and why would it just show up now with a new set of tires? I've read here that there is a lash adjustment but I haven't gotten back under the beast yet to check it out as I just got the tires a few days ago and now it's raining. If there is, what's too tight? I might add that the tierods seemed to be tight but I'll check them again. It's not power steering.

Assuming that the alignment is in spec,

 

I've had a shimmy that fades in and out.  Slightly bent rims could do it.  Slightly off balance on both front tires could do it.  When I used to run the white wagon wheels, I had to go to a Subaru dealer for balancing.  They were the only place that could get it right.

 

If the shimmy amplitude goes down as speed drops, it has to be weight related.  If it only drops in frequency, it is tire shape or a bubble of delaminated tread.

A guy I knew once had a mysterious balance problem on a tire.  Could not get it out after numerous attempts to balance it.  Turned out to be water in the tire.  Service guy said it probably originated from an air compressor at some point in time.

Bent rim or balancing issues could do it, but they would have to be terminally stupid to not see it on a modern balancer.

Steering rack bushing? Tie rod ends? Worn cone washers? Wheel bearing?

Jack up each front tire separately, grab the tire and see if you can twist the front wheel in any way.

When I brought the car back the owner checked the balance and showed me that one rim was bent but it was on a back tire. I brought in another rim a couple days and he remounted the tire. So I guess the employee who mounted them first was terminally stupid for not seeing it or not caring.

Specs DaveT? Do you know what the specs are for this guy? As far as I know there is only toe adjustment with the tie rods and the only specs I could glean was '0' toe for a '92' or a squeek toe-in. I'm about as close to '0' as I could get but I'll check it again.

It's been awhile since I repacked the wheel bearings but I'll check that too, scoobiedubie. I certainly would like to able to solve this without having to go to a Subaru dealer. Probably have to take out a loan from the bank to pay for it.

I'll have to check the FSM to get the exact range, but 0 to slightly toe in is what songs good.

Turned out that one of the front tires was at fault. Dealer replaced both front tires and no more shimmy. Who'da thunk?