Patrickjd9 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I drove my wife's 04 Legacy wagon on a rare highway trip (250 miles RT) yesterday and had to keep the speed down to 70 mph or less because it was so quease-inducing. An unpleasant ride in what has been a pleasant car to drive (bought new). The car has a 2.5 liter non-turbo, automatic, and 78K mostly stoplight-to-stoplight city miles in and out of Washington, DC. The car has had its power steering pump replaced recently. It still turns left easier compared to turning right, but less so than before. I tried the fender bounce test on the front struts this morning. The driver's side presses down and settles quickly, but with a lot of resistance. The passenger's side has less resistance, and seems to let the other side twist a bit before settling. Neither is your classic bouncy worn strut feeling. The front passenger-side tire is also wearing a bit unevenly. I'm inclined to replace the front struts on general principle, but suspect that it really needs some actual diagnosis. Any ideas to be looking at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 When was the last time it had a front end alignment? Sounds kind of like it might be a combination of struts and alignment. Alignment could also explain the turning left easier than right if it's really out of wack. Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOthis Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) If you notice the tires wearing unevenly and tire pressures are all adjusted properly I would prob. bring it in to have the alignment checked...are you getting a pull or anything? Its quite rare for a Subaru so semi-new and with only 78k miles to need new struts already...I had the original struts on my Legacy with over 200k and when i pulled them off they weren't even entirely bad yet... Are you getting any odd noises or just the hard steering feel? have you checked the Power Steering fluid level? Edited June 21, 2009 by EVOthis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrickjd9 Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 No odd noises, just the steering feel. Car has never had an alignment. OE tires wore evenly right to replacement at 56K miles--rotated every 15K miles. 78K miles doesn't seem like a lot for struts, though the car has been heavily city-driven. I picked up the tire wear issue last time I changed the oil. Perhaps I'll try to get a wheel alignment when I'm off on Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Check the easy stuff first too.... its free All lug nuts there and tight? Tire pressure within spec? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrickjd9 Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 Just checked tire pressures. Three tires were 31 psi, passenger side front was 29 psi. I raised it to 31 psi. Seems small, but might have aggravated the situation. Thanks all for help so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 78K miles doesn't seem like a lot for struts, though the car has been heavily city-driven. Agreed -- it's odd that it would have bad struts or bad alignment. I just picked up a '90 legacy with no front struts left -- 188k. But, it's been driven alot on bumpy dirt roads. I've never had to do struts on any of my other subarus, and several of them have been over 240k. I've also never had an alignment on a subaru, and i'm not exaclty nice to them. I've actually been quite suprised that I haven't knocked any of them out of alignment enough to wear the tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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