and i notice when i take it on the highway at 70mph plus the steering wheel shakes a little. not too much that its unbearable but enough to notice when you look down at your hands on the wheel. now ive had this problem before with my escort wagon and got it fixed (it was tie rods and old tires) but since this car is only about 4 years old i was wondering if it could be the tie rods or is it the tires? anyone else have this problem?

Greetings outback legolas,

It's probably not the tie rods as you surmised. Your wheels are probably not balanced. I had the same problem with my forester, and just had the wheels balanced today to address this very issue. No more shakes. All tire services are warrantied only to the orginal purchaser so you will need to pay to have them balanced. I would suggest finding a place that offers a lifetime warranty on this service. I had mine done at a Goodyear Auto Service Center for just over $50, which includes lifetime tire balancing and rotation every six months/12,000 miles for the life of the original tread. It's good, though, to re-torque the lug nuts after each service as shops that use air tools tend to overtighten them.

 

Additionally, how is your alignment?

 

Take care

Also another cause could be the brake disks being warped, which happens a lot on these Outbacks. The MY00 had smaller disks than the MY01 and newer. You may need to resurface or just replace.