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Old 09-12-2018, 03:58 AM   #1
Trigger Tough
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Default 2018 STi RA Alignment Issues

Over a week ago I bought a WRX STi RA edition. From the moment I drove it off of the lot it had alignment issues. It was pulling to the right. I took it to Subaru service and they re-aligned the vehicle. After the realignment the right front caster was still off, and it was still pulling to the right.

Subaru of America was contacted and they said it could be a tire issue since you can’t adjust for caster in a STi. They changed the right front tire. That didn’t fix the issue. As of now an engineer from Subaru is being dispatched to the shop to see why the alignment is so far off. They are still saying it’s an issue with the tires, but it seems to me like it’s more than just tires.

Has anyone driven or purchased a 2018 STi or STi RA with alignment issues like I’m having? What did Subaru do to try and fix it? Did it fix it? So far my vehicle qualifies for a refund under the lemon law and I’m thinking that might be my best course of action. This was car has been in the shop more days than I’ve driven it at this point because they can’t determine the root cause of the issue
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Old 09-12-2018, 12:06 PM   #2
CaptainSlowbaru
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trigger Tough View Post
Over a week ago I bought a WRX STi RA edition. From the moment I drove it off of the lot it had alignment issues. It was pulling to the right. I took it to Subaru service and they re-aligned the vehicle. After the realignment the right front caster was still off, and it was still pulling to the right.

Subaru of America was contacted and they said it could be a tire issue since you can’t adjust for caster in a STi. They changed the right front tire. That didn’t fix the issue. As of now an engineer from Subaru is being dispatched to the shop to see why the alignment is so far off. They are still saying it’s an issue with the tires, but it seems to me like it’s more than just tires.

Has anyone driven or purchased a 2018 STi or STi RA with alignment issues like I’m having? What did Subaru do to try and fix it? Did it fix it? So far my vehicle qualifies for a refund under the lemon law and I’m thinking that might be my best course of action. This was car has been in the shop more days than I’ve driven it at this point because they can’t determine the root cause of the issue
A lot to comment on here...

Welcome to the forum. Would you kindly put your location so we know about where you're live? I work for a dealer and I would like to help, but you could be thousands of miles from me for all I know.

With that out of the way, I must say I have noticed a few recent threads discussing this very issue. Apparently there is a claim of a bad batch of Yokohama tires? At the dealer, I haven't heard anything about this yet.

Do you have a printout of the alignment you could post? Caster does not make a vehicle pull. There's still no reason it should be out of spec, though. Camber that is mismatched side to side will cause a pull. Sloppy techs may notice that it's "green" and just leave it at that.

If there is a tire pull, the dealer should have rotated the tires first to see if the problem changed. If it didn't, it's not a tire pull. I assume they set the tire pressures correctly?

To me, claiming lemon law is harsh for just an alignment problem. If SOA is involved, it could take a week or two to get approvals for things that might need replacement. Be patient, let them figure out the problem.

If you're anywhere near SE Pennsylvania, I'd be glad to help.
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Old 09-12-2018, 03:53 PM   #3
Patrick Olsen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainSlowbaru View Post
Caster does not make a vehicle pull.
Mismatched caster will definitely make a vehicle pull - towards the side with less positive caster.

Concur that it would be great to see an alignment printout to see what the OP is dealing with.
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Old 09-12-2018, 06:21 PM   #4
CaptainSlowbaru
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My apologies, I stand corrected. I mixed up "pulling" with "tire wear". Bad caster does not cause tire wear.
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Old 09-12-2018, 08:22 PM   #5
subaru_gc8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trigger Tough View Post
Over a week ago I bought a WRX STi RA edition. From the moment I drove it off of the lot it had alignment issues. It was pulling to the right. I took it to Subaru service and they re-aligned the vehicle. After the realignment the right front caster was still off, and it was still pulling to the right.

Subaru of America was contacted and they said it could be a tire issue since you can’t adjust for caster in a STi. They changed the right front tire. That didn’t fix the issue. As of now an engineer from Subaru is being dispatched to the shop to see why the alignment is so far off. They are still saying it’s an issue with the tires, but it seems to me like it’s more than just tires.

Has anyone driven or purchased a 2018 STi or STi RA with alignment issues like I’m having? What did Subaru do to try and fix it? Did it fix it? So far my vehicle qualifies for a refund under the lemon law and I’m thinking that might be my best course of action. This was car has been in the shop more days than I’ve driven it at this point because they can’t determine the root cause of the issue
how bad is the pulling? I would say if you dont feel comfortable with it, yeah turn it in though the lemon law. or you can get a set of adjustable top hats and fix it that way. just saying
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Old 09-14-2018, 01:53 PM   #6
Scooby921
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I presume you've tried driving on a multitude of roads to make sure it's not just a crowned, grooved, or worn road causing your issues?
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Old 09-14-2018, 01:58 PM   #7
MedicDG
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Post alignment sheet please! From my experience with these cars that the rear camber is more negative on left rear tire. If that’s your case it will cause pulling problems. The camber on front and rear should be the same numbers not different numbers side to side. The fix is to buy rear lower control arms due to rear not being adjustable.
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Old 09-18-2018, 12:09 AM   #8
Trigger Tough
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I picked the vehicle up today with 4 new tires and SOA had the shop align it to these specs. Thoughts?

Left Front
Camber -0.4
Caster 6.4
Toe 0.14

Right Front
Camber -0.8
Caster 6.1
Toe 0.14

Left Rear
Camber -2.0
Toe 0.00

Right Rear
Camber -2.0
Toe 0.00

Steer Ahead and Thrust Angle are both at 0.00. Total Toe up front is at 0.28
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Old 09-18-2018, 08:19 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trigger Tough View Post
I picked the vehicle up today with 4 new tires and SOA had the shop align it to these specs. Thoughts?

Left Front
Camber -0.4
Caster 6.4
Toe 0.14

Right Front
Camber -0.8
Caster 6.1
Toe 0.14

Left Rear
Camber -2.0
Toe 0.00

Right Rear
Camber -2.0
Toe 0.00

Steer Ahead and Thrust Angle are both at 0.00. Total Toe up front is at 0.28
It's weird they didn't even the left and right front camber. Especially, when the right has twice the negative camber compared to the left. Also, why not zero toe on the front?
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Old 09-18-2018, 08:48 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fierysun View Post
It's weird they didn't even the left and right front camber. Especially, when the right has twice the negative camber compared to the left. Also, why not zero toe on the front?
i think you are overestimating most dealer techs and their level of care. if its in spec they arent going to make any adjustments if they dont have to. time is money and they get paid the same for not touching it. 99% or customers would never notice. when you go in for stuff like this, tell them you are picky and what you want the #'s to look like. if they arent willing to get those #'s then tell them you will switch to a dealer that wants your business.
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Old 09-19-2018, 07:16 AM   #11
Trigger Tough
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I eneded up going to an professional alignment shop that works on race cars as well as passenger cars. They said for what I’m using the vehicle for those numbers are just fine where they’re at. Thanks for the replies all!
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Old 02-26-2019, 08:38 PM   #12
Mconfuorto
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Default 2018 WRX STI RA acceleration/alignment problem

Quote:
Originally Posted by Trigger Tough View Post
Over a week ago I bought a WRX STi RA edition. From the moment I drove it off of the lot it had alignment issues. It was pulling to the right. I took it to Subaru service and they re-aligned the vehicle. After the realignment the right front caster was still off, and it was still pulling to the right.

Subaru of America was contacted and they said it could be a tire issue since you can’t adjust for caster in a STi. They changed the right front tire. That didn’t fix the issue. As of now an engineer from Subaru is being dispatched to the shop to see why the alignment is so far off. They are still saying it’s an issue with the tires, but it seems to me like it’s more than just tires.

Has anyone driven or purchased a 2018 STi or STi RA with alignment issues like I’m having? What did Subaru do to try and fix it? Did it fix it? So far my vehicle qualifies for a refund under the lemon law and I’m thinking that might be my best course of action. This was car has been in the shop more days than I’ve driven it at this point because they can’t determine the root cause of the issue

Hey man! I bought the same car in May of 2018. The day I pulled it off I thought the same thing. I brought it back and mentioned the problem as well to all American Subaru in old brridge New Jersey where I bought the car from. They mentioned an issue with the tires as well. When brought it the service manager said it was an alignment issue. I got the car back thought it was less noticeable but still there. Been driving since. A week ago I popped my front right tire. They replaced under warranty new Yokohama tire. Soon as I pulled off it was like the first day I bought it. Soon as you go through first and second gear you have to hold the wheel to the left to keep it from steering to the right aggressively. I love the car so much I didn’t want to admit an issue. However I’m starting to get concerned it’s more serious than an alignment. Looking to hear what happened with you RA.

-Michael
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Old 02-28-2019, 01:08 PM   #13
Trigger Tough
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Originally Posted by Mconfuorto View Post
Hey man! I bought the same car in May of 2018. The day I pulled it off I thought the same thing. I brought it back and mentioned the problem as well to all American Subaru in old brridge New Jersey where I bought the car from. They mentioned an issue with the tires as well. When brought it the service manager said it was an alignment issue. I got the car back thought it was less noticeable but still there. Been driving since. A week ago I popped my front right tire. They replaced under warranty new Yokohama tire. Soon as I pulled off it was like the first day I bought it. Soon as you go through first and second gear you have to hold the wheel to the left to keep it from steering to the right aggressively. I love the car so much I didn’t want to admit an issue. However I’m starting to get concerned it’s more serious than an alignment. Looking to hear what happened with you RA.

-Michael
There was a bunch of defective Yokos that went on a lot of 2018 STi not just the RAs. I’d take it back to Mike at the dealership and let him know. They’d probably swap out that tire for you if it’s a defective one

For what it’s worth my RA has been good since they swapped all 4 tires out and realigned it. That being said I’ll probably switch over to Michelin Pilot Sports in the future. I’m not a big fan of the Yokos on it

Best of luck. Hope to see you out there sometime!
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Old 02-28-2019, 03:47 PM   #14
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No issues with my Type-RA pulling, but the alignment was off from the factory a bit, miss matching toe front and rear.

Having worked at both a dealer and a private shop, I would never trust a dealer to do the alignment I want. As mentioned, if its "green" on the machine they won't do anything.

With my Subarus I usually zero out the toe all around and run as much negative front camber as possible with the stock bolts. Car drives great now and won't eat front tires as much during Autox/track days.
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Old 03-04-2019, 12:25 PM   #15
Mconfuorto
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The car's alignment isn't the issue I believe. when I drive and my foot is off the acceleration it stays perfect in lane. when I accelerate the car literally steers to the right only on the acceleration through any gear and at all speeds.
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Old 04-28-2019, 08:31 PM   #16
Tk421STI
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Hi guys,

I have a stock 19 that i bought at the end of Aug. Two months ago I noticed my steering is just a few degrees to the right. If I center it, it pulls to the left.

I am going to set an appointment with my dealership for an alignment..

Anyone have a solution?

Thanks
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Old 04-28-2019, 11:05 PM   #17
jasonwrx86
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tk421STI View Post
Hi guys,

I have a stock 19 that i bought at the end of Aug. Two months ago I noticed my steering is just a few degrees to the right. If I center it, it pulls to the left.

I am going to set an appointment with my dealership for an alignment..

Anyone have a solution?

Thanks
idk what you mean center because if you look closely the turn signal and wiper stalks are at different height. If you align these two to the steering wheel, the steering wheel is actually not center.
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Old 04-29-2019, 07:15 PM   #18
Tk421STI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jasonwrx86 View Post
idk what you mean center because if you look closely the turn signal and wiper stalks are at different height. If you align these two to the steering wheel, the steering wheel is actually not center.


Whoaa! Seriously.

So im aligning the turn signal and wiper stalks? Tomorrow morning I'm going to check this out...
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Old 12-04-2022, 12:49 PM   #19
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So I installed lowering springs on my 2018 Type RA.... I also installed an upper strut tower brace. The brace needed a couple love taps to get it to clear the passenger side top hat bolts. That was clue 1, that ignored.

Remove and reinstall of the struts were straight forward.... Until I got to the front passenger side... What a pain in the butt!!!! I should have known, when I needed to "pop" the strut out with a rubber mallet.. Trying to reinstall this thing, damn!! It was nothing like the driver side. End result, I needed to drill out (widen) one top hat bolt opening, to get this thing back in. Then add some elbow grease. Eventually got it in... Then had to get the two main bolts ack in... Air hammer made an appearance here.

So is this related to the issue you are all having? Just throwing it out there.
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Old 12-07-2022, 01:51 AM   #20
a5m
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shlondy View Post
So I installed lowering springs on my 2018 Type RA.... I also installed an upper strut tower brace. The brace needed a couple love taps to get it to clear the passenger side top hat bolts. That was clue 1, that ignored.

Remove and reinstall of the struts were straight forward.... Until I got to the front passenger side... What a pain in the butt!!!! I should have known, when I needed to "pop" the strut out with a rubber mallet.. Trying to reinstall this thing, damn!! It was nothing like the driver side. End result, I needed to drill out (widen) one top hat bolt opening, to get this thing back in. Then add some elbow grease. Eventually got it in... Then had to get the two main bolts ack in... Air hammer made an appearance here.

So is this related to the issue you are all having? Just throwing it out there.
Damn you drilled into the body of an RA? Bold man...

I had this issue on my 2010 WRX that I assume was on stock top hats at 117k. They had 'bowed out', which was realized when going to reinstall because there was no way they were going back in. Ended up with new STi top hats.

14k miles later did a suspension upgrade again and the top hats didn't seem to go in as smoothly as they did last time. No hammering or anything was necessary but I felt they had ever so slightly bowed out again.

Probably best to just replace them, which is what I would've done if I were you.
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