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Old 07-10-2020, 11:32 PM   #1
Raikkonen-F1
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Default Alignment issue and/or tire issue? 2018 STI

Hi all - have a 2018 STI with the original bridgestone tires (12K on them).
The car pulls slightly to the right when off throttle but as soon as you give throttle, it pulls to the left quite noticeably. I decided to rotate the tires - put the fronts in the rear and the rear in the fronts. Went for a test drive and now the inverse happens - pulls slightly to the left off throttle and to the right under throttle. At first i thought it's a tire issue but thinking alignment is also at play. I checked the tire depth on all 4 tires on different groves and they are all 7/12th. Will schedule an alignment at the dealer but was wondering if anyone had this issue before. Tire pressure is 32/33 psi (factory specs).
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Old 07-11-2020, 02:57 PM   #2
Samurai Jack
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While the alignment may be at least part of the issue, the rest, if not all of the issue, may be belt separation in the tires.

Why?
Because simply rotating tires front to back should not cause an exact opposite reaction.

I know there have been tire recalls in the past due to this issue ( belt separation ).

Check to see if there have been any tire recalls on your brand/model tire.
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Old 07-12-2020, 12:00 AM   #3
Raikkonen-F1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai Jack View Post
While the alignment may be at least part of the issue, the rest, if not all of the issue, may be belt separation in the tires.

Why?
Because simply rotating tires front to back should not cause an exact opposite reaction.

I know there have been tire recalls in the past due to this issue ( belt separation ).

Check to see if there have been any tire recalls on your brand/model tire.
I took all 4 wheels off and visually inspected them very closely - nothing stood out to me. They all head a uniform wear.
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Old 07-12-2020, 08:35 AM   #4
Samurai Jack
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You can't tell if the belts are separating by looking at them. They are covered by the rubber.
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Old 07-14-2020, 06:50 AM   #5
ians19832
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Since the issue changed from right to left and vice versa when you rotated the tyre's, Maybe an issue with wheel balancing? Unless you took the tires off the rims and rotated them?
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Old 07-14-2020, 01:22 PM   #6
rtv900
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The only thing I'm wondering is if you just moved rears to the front but didn't change sides?
Or you moved rears to front and switched sides at the same time and just moved the fronts back
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Old 07-15-2020, 07:34 AM   #7
cknowlen
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From my experience, a car which pulls in a specific direction on throttle and lets off after is usually do to a loose/failed bushing. In my specific cases it is typically one of the rear control arm bushings (on the front control arms). Now, since your car is a 2018, its really unlikely one of these bushings has failed already, but I would at the very least do a sanity check and get under the car to inspect all of the suspension bushings up front to make sure you do not have any that are worn or loose. Food for thought.
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Old 07-16-2020, 03:12 PM   #8
Raikkonen-F1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rtv900 View Post
The only thing I'm wondering is if you just moved rears to the front but didn't change sides?
Or you moved rears to front and switched sides at the same time and just moved the fronts back
Moved fronts to rear and rears to front. Did not change sides.
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Old 07-16-2020, 03:13 PM   #9
Raikkonen-F1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cknowlen View Post
From my experience, a car which pulls in a specific direction on throttle and lets off after is usually do to a loose/failed bushing. In my specific cases it is typically one of the rear control arm bushings (on the front control arms). Now, since your car is a 2018, its really unlikely one of these bushings has failed already, but I would at the very least do a sanity check and get under the car to inspect all of the suspension bushings up front to make sure you do not have any that are worn or loose. Food for thought.
Will have the dealer look at it - scheduled appt next week.
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Old 07-29-2020, 11:23 PM   #10
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What do you guys think?
That rear left toe isn't very symmetrical with the right rear.

Car still pulls in one direction under throttle and opposite direction off throttle but that's not caused by toe. I still think it's a tire issue but according to dealer it's not.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MyH...ew?usp=sharing
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Old 07-29-2020, 11:39 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raikkonen-F1 View Post
What do you guys think?
That rear left toe isn't very symmetrical with the right rear.

Car still pulls in one direction under throttle and opposite direction off throttle but that's not caused by toe. I still think it's a tire issue but according to dealer it's not.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MyH...ew?usp=sharing
I'm not an expert on this new gen of Subaru but in my old 04 WRX my front camber was always more negative than the rear....not sure why the rear on this has more negative camber than the front..? Anywho, I would check all your bushings like the other member has suggested..
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Old 07-29-2020, 11:55 PM   #12
Raikkonen-F1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by murrdogg24 View Post
I'm not an expert on this new gen of Subaru but in my old 04 WRX my front camber was always more negative than the rear....not sure why the rear on this has more negative camber than the front..? Anywho, I would check all your bushings like the other member has suggested..
I haven't checked bc swapping location of tires (i/e, front left with front right) has an opposite effect.
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Old 08-16-2020, 09:58 PM   #13
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Ok guys, just wanted to give you all an update. Car was taken to the dealer on 3 separate occasions and realigned a dozen times. Yokohama tires were replaced under warranty, and somehow they adjusted the differential specs per SOA. Car was given back to me and told it's still not 100% and pulls to the right and the steering is cocked to the left. It's so noticeable even at 30 mph and when you get on the hwy it just aggressively veers off to the right - again only under throttle. Off throttle it's fine. So today I decided to put on my "winter" set up which consists of 18 inch sparco wheels and good year f1 all season tires from tire rack. I get on the highway and it tracks straight like an arrow. Absolutely no pull whatsoever. It feels like a new car. I'm at such a loss. So then I put the stock 19s on but this time I swap the fronts with the rears and this time the pull is not as noticeable but again you still need to hold the wheel to the left to drive straight. So idk if it's the stock wheels or if the new tires have a defect. It's been incredibly frustrating.
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Old 08-17-2020, 09:44 AM   #14
Samurai Jack
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Did you ask the Dealership if the checked the wheels for trueness?

Given your situation, one would think they would have enough sense to do that.
Clearly, the issue is with the tires or wheels or both.

They should not have released the car knowing they have not resolved the issue or at least returned the car and provided follow-up plans for resolution.
I would take it back and tell them to fix it under warranty.

Question:
Have you had any hard impacts to any of the wheels?
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Old 08-17-2020, 01:28 PM   #15
Raikkonen-F1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai Jack View Post
Did you ask the Dealership if the checked the wheels for trueness?

Given your situation, one would think they would have enough sense to do that.
Clearly, the issue is with the tires or wheels or both.

They should not have released the car knowing they have not resolved the issue or at least returned the car and provided follow-up plans for resolution.
I would take it back and tell them to fix it under warranty.

Question:
Have you had any hard impacts to any of the wheels?

Thanks - will call them up today. No hard impacts on these wheels.
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Old 08-17-2020, 02:22 PM   #16
fathatch
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My bet...it's the wheels. My symtoms were slightly different (throttle amplified the tracking condition but it was still present regardless of throttle position). My car was realigned 6 times, and the wheels had been previously rotated once as part of the first Subaru tech escalation.
This last time, I engaged Subaru corporate first before going back into the dealer. They carried out a more in-depth assessment with Subaru's assistance and determined that the wheels were out of spec, and they could not get the amount of unbalanced road force below 50lbs. They realigned one final time (with better attention to detail to get the steering wheel straight) and replaced the wheels and tires. That fixed my issue 100%.
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Old 08-17-2020, 10:19 PM   #17
Raikkonen-F1
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Thanks for sharing. Glad your issue was resolved.
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