Subaru pulling right ... ideas?

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Since the last rallycross I did (months ago) the car has a slight pull right. This happened once before and I found it was a rear camber bolt that slipped.

I expected to find this again but to my amazement, the alignment is spot on ...
front camber 1.25
rear camber 1.0
rear toe 0"
front toe about 1/16" in
I also was able to check thrust angle with an 8' straight edge, it's zero

Any ideas about what could cause a pull if the alignment is spot on? I eyeballed all the bushings and shock mounts and can't find anything out of whack.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Tue Nov 16, 2010 2:32 pm

Do you find it pulling more on throttle vs. off throttle? If so, it could be a bad halfshaft. - AB

JamesShort · **Posted:** Tue Nov 16, 2010 2:33 pm

How are the steering rack jelly beans....I mean bushings? The whole rack might have shifted. Caster?

I guess it would be a miracle if your front camber was even and your caster was bogus and/or the steering rack has shifted.

Maybe a CV joint is getting too loose or too tight with age?

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Hmmmmm you guys may be onto something...

Would a right pull be a stiff right or left cv? I think right front or left rear, no?

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Tue Nov 16, 2010 4:57 pm

MikeWhitney wrote:

Hmmmmm you guys may be onto something...

Would a right pull be a stiff right or left cv? I think right front or left rear, no?

I would think those two as well. - AB

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

don't do anything until you confirm it on a second set of wheels/tires. many years ago i bought an old POS 1981 honda civic for like $400. it pulled to the right harder than glen beck's cardiologist, if you let go of the wheel for even a second you'd end up in a ditch. after installing a new set of tires (no alignment changes) it drove perfectly.

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

Put it on your lift and see if one of the wheels doesn't turn when running in gear. Wheel bearing, axle or sticking caliper.

Check the wheelbase on both sides (something could be bent on one side).

Sometimes when the tires are really soft, for example Continental ContiExtremeContacts, my Imprezas have pulled downhill. Maybe pump up the tires to 45 psi and see if it goes away.

That's about all I have.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Jason Tower wrote:

don't do anything until you confirm it on a second set of wheels/tires. many years ago i bought an old POS 1981 honda civic for like $400. it pulled to the right harder than glen beck's cardiologist, if you let go of the wheel for even a second you'd end up in a ditch. after installing a new set of tires (no alignment changes) it drove perfectly.

Roger good idea. Maybe I'll try a side to side swap first.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Kevin Allen wrote:

Put it on your lift and see if one of the wheels doesn't turn when running in gear. Wheel bearing, axle or sticking caliper.

Check the wheelbase on both sides (something could be bent on one side).

Sometimes when the tires are really soft, for example Continental ContiExtremeContacts, my Imprezas have pulled downhill. Maybe pump up the tires to 45 psi and see if it goes away.

That's about all I have.

All the wheels turn easily, no weird noises or apparent binding. All about the same speed too.

I put in 42 psi, no difference.

Need to swap tires side to side tonight.

Will check the wheelbase and look harder for bent/failing stuff after the wheel swap.

Thanks ... anyone have other ideas?

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Wed Nov 17, 2010 4:51 pm

How has the wear been on the tires? Any cupping or other strange wear patterns? I'm sure you have already looked at that, but nothing else makes sense. - AB

Dustin Fredrickson · **Posted:** Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:04 pm

MikeWhitney wrote:

Kevin Allen wrote:

Put it on your lift and see if one of the wheels doesn't turn when running in gear. Wheel bearing, axle or sticking caliper.

Check the wheelbase on both sides (something could be bent on one side).

Sometimes when the tires are really soft, for example Continental ContiExtremeContacts, my Imprezas have pulled downhill. Maybe pump up the tires to 45 psi and see if it goes away.

That's about all I have.

All the wheels turn easily, no weird noises or apparent binding. All about the same speed too.

I put in 42 psi, no difference.

Need to swap tires side to side tonight.

Will check the wheelbase and look harder for bent/failing stuff after the wheel swap.

Thanks ... anyone have other ideas?

This has happened 2x to me after rallyx - both times the camber had gone out of adjustment on one side. I finally realized that I had to over-torque the eccentrics, and it's been fine since (albeit I haven't RallyX'd but a few times in the last couple years). Sounds like you've already ruled this out, but maybe worth a second look. Otherwise, I'd start looking at things that could cause camber or toe to change dynamically under "load" (bushings, ball joints, etc...).

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

Yeah, the tire swap from side to side thing is good. I should've thought of that one, too, as my STi was doing the same thing with the drift tires toward the end of their lives. When the tires changed sides, it pulled the other direction.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Dustin Fredrickson wrote:

This has happened 2x to me after rallyx - both times the camber had gone out of adjustment on one side. I finally realized that I had to over-torque the eccentrics, and it's been fine since (albeit I haven't RallyX'd but a few times in the last couple years). Sounds like you've already ruled this out, but maybe worth a second look. Otherwise, I'd start looking at things that could cause camber or toe to change dynamically under "load" (bushings, ball joints, etc...).

Yeah, I have measured camber 3 times, reversing the car's direction once to again verify that I have a level slab. Camber is even side to side.

@Aaron - Tire wear is even but I don't drive the car much so I doubt I'd see anything...

Off to swap tires and drive it.

Kevin Hoff · **Posted:** Wed Nov 17, 2010 11:19 pm

I might have missed it, but have you checked to make sure the steering rack didn't shift a bit? I've had the rack shift after a rallyx and put the wheel off center. That's always rectified itself on its own though, and doesn't pull, it just puts the wheel off center.

--Kevin H.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

I think I found it. Right side front control arm bushing is leaking fluid (silicone I believe) and is pretty easy to shift side-to-side with a prybar.

Had no idea that these were fluid filled. I saw wetness the other night but assumed it was some water dripping from the hvac drain right above it. Touched it and it's obviously not h2o.

So the right front was probably picking up some dynamic toe-out and maybe some camber funkiness on that corner. I did notice that the outside edge of the RF tire *is* a bit more worn than the right.

Any suggestions on replacement? I'd like to be able to get something locally to fix it asap. If anyone has stock low-mile bushings out there who want to get rid of them let me know.

Fyi these were original bushings with 227k miles on them. Not bad.

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Subaru pulling right ... ideas?

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